This week, I’m writing from a beautiful beach in Lahaina on the island of Maui. My husband and I are celebrating another year of marriage and collecting special memories we’ll carry with us for a long time.
Memories are the stories of our lives. Most of the time they live in our hearts and minds, but some are worth sharing.
Ultimately, a vacation like the one we’re having won’t be remembered by the laundry list of activities we engaged in. Instead, we’ll hold on to the tender moments, the intimate conversations, and the shared feelings.
I think our professional stories work similarly.
A marriage isn’t summarized by an anniversary date, and a career isn’t fully represented by a resume.
Executives and business owners often possess a plethora of experiences beyond the titles, awards and accolades, or years of service listed on a LinkedIn profile – the lessons, the decisions that changed the trajectory of a business, the learnings from failed attempts at success, and the moments that shed light on why the work really mattered.
These are stories worth sharing too. They not only provide meaningful context to business goals and careers, but they help memorialize and create understanding of the person behind the expertise.
I know quite a few leaders who are exceptional at what they do and equally skilled at conveying and translating that expertise into meaningful narratives for the people they lead. But when you live and breathe your work every day, it can be difficult to recognize which experiences might hold meaning for someone else.
Sometimes we need distance to see our own stories clearly. And sometimes we need a skilled storyteller who can listen, ask the right questions, identify opportunities, and shape those experiences into narratives that connect with others.
That’s how I see thought leadership. It’s identifying which lived experiences are worth sharing and then sharing them in a substantial way.
And I promise, if you’re a leader, you have words worth sharing.
What story from your career do you hope people will still tell years from now?
