My friend and colleague Bonita Nuttall runs a program called “Turn up the YOU!” and I love the concept.
Its power hit me at two different scales this past week, and both were a good reminder that we always have the opportunity to inject some personality into what we’re doing.
The first has to do with Out Of Office messages. When I send out my blog each week, I inevitably receive some OOOs in response. I read each one, mostly to track if folks on my mailing list have moved to a different role (including becoming parents!) so that I can keep in touch with them. But I also read them out of curiosity, to see what people are up to. Most of the OOO messages are so. very. boring. But a few of you offer some fun details that give me a glimpse of who you are and what’s important to you. A special thank you to those who make me laugh (Manal Sayid wins that prize most recently). If you can write anything you want, why not make it at least a little bit engaging?
The second has to do with Texas. I travelled there for the first time and, with no disrespect intended, it left me wondering why a city might choose to be like Dallas if it could choose to be like Austin? The place oozes personality. Why can’t every town choose to do the same, in their own quirky way?
I’ve written before about Marcus Buckingham’s Love + Work. It came to mind again as I remembered that we each have our own very specific preferences and ways of showing up in the world — in our email messages, in our streetscapes, and everywhere in between. Why not use every opportunity to turn up the you?