One of a Kind

Monday, August 5, 2024

Its a cold winter morning and I'm sitting upstairs in my warm little office. Below, Nathan the builder is dismantling an old deck, before building the new one. He's a very good builder, but that's not why he's done so much work on our home. And it's not that he's often available. He's in demand. We're his client, but we wait for him. Perhaps we should be the centre of his world, his client, but we're not! He's the centre of our world, when it comes to building.

I've often wondered about this 'brand' thing when it comes to professional work. What does it boil down to? Certainly not your qualifications and certifications, or your time of the job. I wonder if Nathan thinks about brand? But to us Nathan's brand is simply Nathan, it's his humanity. He's one of a kind to us!

I reckon a big part of cultivating a professional brand is cultivating self as a worthy human being. Flawed perhaps, but worthy. A better human, makes a better professional in the eyes of others. It's about making the time to hone your personal strengths that align with those universal human virtues, like - wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence.

But also brand is about about being real, who you are. Being in a good relationship with all the parts of yourself. Being unashamedly you. We all know how refreshing it can be to come across someone who is truly themselves. But, that takes a mighty compassion, because we all know how truely messed up we can be. And practising compassion on ourselves builds our capacity for compassion for others.

Helps me be a kind, one of a kind.