It was a very cold winter. She must have been around 12 years old. I don’t recall the exact reason, but she missed the school bus – the only form of transport available to her and her village to get to school.
Undeterred, she put on an extra pair of socks, and she started walking. She walked the long, interminable 8 kilometers to school. It took her nearly two hours, but she pressed on, her mother’s words on the importance of education ringing in her ears. She was determined not to let a mere lack of transportation get in the way of her schooling. Not even for one, cold, solitary day.
Today, she’s a C-level leader in a cut-throat industry, excelling at her craft, and raising two feisty boys, with the very same ethos that kept her warm on that long, cold walk to school.
Yet, would this highly successful leader choose this particular story to share in a show-and-tell? Would she share this story on how deeply rooted her determination to succeed is? Knowing her, probably not. She would likely craft an interesting, politically correct, project turn-around story – a well-worn tale, predictable and expected.
Yet, of all the stories she has lived in time I knew her, the school story is the most compelling in illustrating her strength of character, her persistence, and her fierce determination to see something of importance through to its successful conclusion. Somehow, with the background of the story, it all fell into place for me, a deeper understanding dawning on me about her, even though by this time we had been colleagues to start with and developed a close friendship that is still strong today, almost 20 years later.
How do we choose our story? Which one in our arsenal do we carefully pick out to share when are inviting others into our world, work or otherwise? Those first couple of anecdotes, those glimpses into our past and what has shaped us, go a long way in painting a picture in the minds of our audience.
What story do we tell ourselves about our own self? Is it a story of triumph of the underdog or the misunderstood genius? Is it one of quiet leadership and loving strength? What picture do you paint to yourself about yourself?
Choose the right stories about you, your life and the essence of what makes you, well, you. Stay away from the stories that compromise how you feel about you. Amused laughter to self-deprecating pronouncements is just that – amused. Is that the first, and possibly the only impression you wish for?
Choose the stories that make you strong, that resonate strongly with your core beliefs.
Choose your own true stories: the ones that are true in fact, and true to you. You get to paint the picture, so choose wisely.
Choose the stories that serve you best, the anecdotes that truly reflect your nature, your purpose, and you.
So.
What is your story?