Tis the Season... for holiday parties. When you are at events catching up with old neighborhood friends or popping into happy hours with work colleagues, you expect to have questions that help people understand what's happened in your life since the last time you saw each other. Be wary of these questions. But, these simple question-answer interactions never represent everything about you, especially between appetizers and cocktails.
Just as when you are baking, different ingredients and events combine to make up the 'end product.' You don't always add the exact measurement in the kitchen, and you don't always recall the chemistry behind ingredient interaction that makes your cake rise or your candy caramel harden. Giving stats about your job, your home life, your recent moves doesn't say much about who you are.
When you answer questions, remember that it's going to be interpreted deeper than you may intend. Think of all of those quizzes about "what your favorite drink says about you" or "your favorite vacation says 1,000 things about you" - those are generalizations that don't give your story. You need to control your story and own it, because it's your own personal brand.
The best way to own your brand is not become braggadocios or egocentric (and at holiday parties after that first drink or two, that slippery slope quickly becomes a cliff). You can let your actions speak for you, empower your clients to rave about you, deliver the message through actions rather than words. Share a volunteering story or a meaningful book that impacted your vision - it's more interesting than where you go to work anyway.
When other people talk about your great qualities and humanitarian deeds, it's more powerful than you yapping about where you've been and all you've done since the last party. A canned speech about your last 365 days is boring... and no one wants to be boring! A carefully selected "peek behind the scenes" about what makes you tick is much more beneficial to your relationships with coworkers as well as potential customers.
Chose your actions carefully - perhaps even more carefully than your words. It's says far more about you... and someday, history will look back at your accomplishments and just maybe you'll rise to the top because of what you've done, not what you've told people you've done.
http://www.upworthy.com/15-badass-women-of-world-war-ii-you-didnt-learn-about-in-history-class
