Want to Create an Impact? Put Your Personality in Play
What enters a room about you before you start to speak is something you can develop and improve with a little self-reflection.
Have you ever thought about what makes a person impactful? How players take to the court or pitch pumped up, heads held high, ready to make their mark and show off their creativity and talent.
Last year I had the chance to join a women’s conference in London. There were many
powerful and inspiring speakers from multifaceted industries and companies with completely different backgrounds and experiences.
It was a great chance to open my mind, get out of my working routine, and enjoy some interesting exchanges with the many attendees there.
The standout workshop for me was about creating an impact and the mindset required to do so. We were challenged to think about how you can create your ‘own brand’? How to deliver a message while using body language, voice and words effectively?
Start with some self-reflection
Ask yourself – on a scale from 1 (introverted) to 10 (extroverted) – what kind of type are you? What rating would you give yourself during a business meeting? What rating would you give yourself walking next to your friends or family? Sometimes you are more a 10, sometimes more a 4. And this is totally fine! The important thing is to be aware of what you are and learn to work with your presence.
Introvert or extrovert? There’s a place for both
If you are a more extroverted type of person, you can learn to be more introverted, and give someone else more room on the stage – you don’t need to be the focus of every situation. We can learn to play many positions, from center forward, to playmaker or defender, depending on what the team needs at that time.
Use your energy wisely
Learn to manage your energy levels. You can act differently to change the atmosphere in a room – pull people in with a high energy intro and then, when it comes to developing ideas, bring a sense of calm to a meeting or brainstorm. Use all the facets of your personality and you won’t lose your authenticity.
What you might see as your weakness, others are striving for. It’s not about changing ourselves – instead we can all learn to play with our personality to influence perception.
So, let’s learn to convert our weaknesses to strengths and create that impact!
I really liked this statement, too. To add to that, I especially liked that the story focused on the importance of self-reflection. In a world that is often focused on getting feedback from the outside, people easily lose track of what they think about themselves, their performance and who they actually want to be. But actually, this is the basis for everything else.
Best,
Nina