The Greatness Guy

I was having a conversation with a colleague in a coffee shop several months ago.  We talked about family, philosophy, exercise and food.  Pretty much the usual conversation when you meet someone in person for the first time.  As we got around to the work that we were preparing for that day my colleague shared with me his role based approach to his job.  On the surface someone that did not really know him would say that he has a sales role in our organization.  However, my colleague told me that he sees himself as a “Greatness Guy.”

To the uninformed, my colleague’s self-ascribed title might seem a bit arrogant.  But this bears a fuller explanation.  We work for FranklinCovey.  Our organization has as its mission the following:  We enable greatness in people and organizations everywhere.  My colleague (we can call him Mark since that is his real name) sees his role in sales in our company as one of creating opportunities for greatness for our clients.  Thus, the role of Greatness Guy.  

I was thinking about Mark today and that statement came back to me.  Imagine what might be different in your world if you stopped seeing yourself from just your job title.  Let’s say you are a third grade school teacher but instead see yourself as a Creator of Curious Minds.  Or rather than seeing yourself as a Manager see yourself as a Communicator of your team’s Worth and Potential.  As a Mom you could see yourself as a  Character and Competence Coach.  Or for yourself you could become a Corporate Athlete.

What Mark has realized is that there is great power in thinking about our roles from a different perspective.  When we focus on the outcomes we want to achieve we can see and do things differently.  Your accountability increases, and you establish a clear set of expectations about what you can be counted on to do and achieve.

A significant part of being productive is to first decide what you really want to achieve. We can choose to decide for ourselves what we want to do or we can wait until the priorities of others dictate our responses.  A focused and proactive approach to our own most important outcomes and priorities is fulfilling and increases the chances that we might actually get something done that really matters.

Oh yes, and as for Mark, he is not just selling solutions, he is enabling greatness with people and organizations around the world.  What roles do you play that you need to think about differently?  Let me know what you think.