Be Yourself. Who Else Is More Qualified?
Monday, May 7th, 2007I chose the title “Be Yourself. Who Else Is More Qualified?” because it brings back memories.
My sister used this as her senior quote in her high school yearbook thirty years ago. I used to give her a hard time about it, poking fun at the quote. I used to think “No kidding , who else is more qualified, that’s being a master of the obvious right?”
Fast forward to the past couple years of my life and this quote really hits home. When you try to be great and do things nobody else is willing to do, you have to be comfortable with who you are.
For example, if you are reading this article, the odds are very good that you already have a champion mentality or are working diligently to acquire it. You want to do more with personally and professionally.
You may be a part of an organization where you work each day. You most likely don’t just settle for what the rest of the herd is doing on a daily basis, you want to do more. You want more responsibility - you dare to be great.
When you take on this champion mentality you have to be yourself, you can’t take on the persona of somebody else. You are who you are and that is why each of us is so special. You don’t need to follow the herd in order to be happy. It’s o.k. to have your own thoughts and your own vision.
In my former life in the corporate world I would see 99% of the employees in our organization exhibit the herd mentality. They would take their smoke breaks together (don’t even get me started on how much productivity suffers when just one person steps out for a “quick” smoke break. You can factor in a loss of 30 minutes minimum. It’s really special when they head outside to smoke with their boss, now that’s leadership at it’s finest).
Or employees would go out for drinks together and re-hash the work day complaining about somebody somewhere who was keeping them down.
A champion blazes thier own trail, they are unique and different.
It’s alright to not be part of the herd. The herd doesn’t help you pay the bills, they’re more likely to hurt your ability to realize sustained progress. Take more chances and make a bigger impact on the world.
But be sure to be yourself, who else is more qualified?
Sam Crowley