What’s Your Label?
Posted by Asa Beavers on Wed, Jun 03, 2009 @ 06:04 PM
Nerds, Jocks, Preps, Brainiacs… in high school we learned about labeling people different than us. Labeling is a basic human instinct to group people in terms of their behaviors and name them as a whole. And since we all have an innate desire to belong, we identify with those who are similar to us and perhaps reject those who are different. In politics we use the labels conservative and liberal. In socio-economics we use the labels wealthy, middle class, and low income. In business we have the Fortune 500s, and mom and pop businesses.
I got to thinking about how we label ourselves after a speaking engagement last week where I spoke to an audience of professionals all in the same industry. Often times when I start a talk I ask a question that solicits audience participation. Not looking to put anyone on the spot or make the audience too uncomfortable, the ususal response to one of my opening questions is a simple raising of hands. I got a most unusual reaction when I asked what I thought was a pretty basic question. The audience had just sat through a half-hour presentation that was fairly technical to their profession. I was the keynote speaker and the subject of my talk was about the business side of their profession. So to get the group of professionsals in the business mind-set I asked this question, “who are business leaders in the audience?”
Now I’ve given dozens of these talks over the years, and never, ever, have I had a response like this. Imagine my surprise when not one member of the audience raised their hand - no one, zero, zilch, nada. I was completely dumbfounded that a group of 40 professionals, many who own their practice, did not consider themselves business leaders. I know they view themselves primarily by the work they do, but they own a business, they interact with customers, they generate revenue and have expenses, they have a team of employees who view them as the leader. In my eyes and in the eyes of their team, their customers, and their vendors, they are, or should be, business leaders.
Now think about how you label yourself. Are you a banker, architect, engineer, doctor, manager, sales person, therapist, consultant? Interestingly enough, these labels are based more on our occupations than on our behaviors. Regardless of your specific capabilities, when you use a label to describe yourself, people assign a stereotype to you, based on their experiences, limited information, opinions and assumptions. When you use one of these labels people come up with an image that may or may not be favorable to you. Most the time the label you go by won’t help people understand the real value of the services you provide.
My point in all this is simple: regardless of the type of business you are in, if you have an ownership, management, sales or service role in a business, you are a business leader. It’s a label with a positive image, one that implies a person is knowledgable and in control of their business. But as we all know, actions speak louder than words, or labels. Business leaders recognize this and act accordingly because they know it’s not an occupation but a behavior that sets them apart. Now think about your label. Do you have a business leader mind-set that sets you apart?