Who I’m being is more important than what I’m doing.

I can do all the right things.

I can make budgets and forecasts and track my pipeline and closing ratios, but that might not create more certainty in my finances.

I can map out my customer touchpoints, develop relevant case studies, and create compelling content, but still not develop enough leads.

On the other hand, if I live from a place of grounded security, where I don’t need anyone to need me, when I can generously serve each person I meet with no expectation of return, people want to find a way to work with me.

If I create a rich compensation and benefits package for my team, hold frequent reviews, and fund development plans for them, but I’m abrasive, critical, and unkind, they aren’t likely to stay.

Doing the right thing isn’t enough. In many cases, it’s not even required.

Can you think of someone for whom people want to do their best, even when the pay isn’t great, and there might not be advancement possibilities?

If being is more important than doing, what practices support your being?

The doing part is easy. We can google “how to be a good boss,” and there are millions of results. Your favorite LLM could write you a book on the subject.

But when we ask, “How can I be the kind of person people want to work for?” or better yet, give their best efforts in collaboration, that’s a more difficult question!

Some of the tools that helped me on that journey include:

• Being reflective. Weekly reviews, journaling regularly, taking retreats (usually alone).
• Being in the community. I have groups of business leaders, friends, and neighbors with whom I am vulnerable and who give me feedback.
• Asking for feedback. Feedback is always gold. It’s a courageous person who asks for it regularly.
• Looking for role models, either by reading biographies or by hanging around folks who have characteristics I admire.

How about you? What helps you become more of the person you aspire to be? What keeps you on that path of self-awareness?