Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Being yourself is good enough...


Vonnegut wrote some incredible fiction, full of all kinds of made-up characters. Imagination in his line of work is essential… not so much in the real-life characters we all try to be. 

 

·      We are who we are, and

·      People take us at face value.

·      While imagination may be good,

·      Exaggerating ourselves is not good.

·      Being just who we are is what’s important.

 

Like me, you probably submitted resumes when applying for jobs. Some employers take those at face value, others do background checks. Who you are, what your goals are, where you went to school, whether you served in the military, if you’d ever been convicted of something, and the places and jobs you’ve worked are all germane to hiring decisions. Your personality, hobbies, skills, and personal circumstances complete the biography known to your colleagues. People rely on that stuff when getting to know you, just as you do with them. And if it’s discovered that some (or all) is made up, that bank account of trust starts to run out. There’s no need to exaggerate - truth be told, your work is what others really measure you by and rely on. But even when that’s good, the questions raised if any pretend is uncovered hurts the trust that makes teams cohesive and effective. So, just be yourself and let your actions define who and what you are today.

 

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ((1922 – 2007): American writer fiction and non-fiction novels, short story collections, and plays.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Let involvement spur you on...

F or the people who grew up in the 60s, listening to John F. Kennedy say we were going to put a man on the moon in that decade sounded beyon...