Photo by Steven Lasry on Unsplash
In 2017, the coordinators of a national network of young and aspiring leaders invited me to provide a keynote address at a professional learning event for their Saskatchewan members. They were provincial coordinators for a partner network I had been closely involved with since 2010, mostly as a mentor. I was excited that these who I considered to be my peers had invited me to share my wisdom with them. I felt validated, brought-in, and respected. They affirmed I had developed a strong personal brand and was well-known and respected across the country because of it. They wanted me to speak about the keys to developing a personal brand. I am not sure if I have ever felt so stretched as I did when I started considering how I had arrived at a personal brand, and what was at stake as I developed my keynote presentation. You see, I had never considered I even had a personal brand before, let alone how I had created it. Yet, I prepared to share my insights with hundreds of young public servants in two locations over two days. This was a big deal to me. Until now, I had always been the guy bringing in the speakers, not being one.
As I developed my presentation, some fundamental truths became clear to me. Perhaps the most profound truth was that the people I had chosen to associate with directly impacted my integrity, influence and personal brand, both positively and negatively. I was a better person when I identified with strong communities of practice. I discovered through this process the importance and not only knowing my personal core values, but the critical importance of adhering to them, understanding how they worked, and how they impacted not only my decisions but also my attitudes. But stay tuned for more on core values in a future article.
I was a better person when I identified with strong communities of practice.
When the day came, I did not speak directly to finding and belonging to strong communities of practice, although it was key to developing my brand and becoming known. Indeed, one of the reasons for the invitation was I had been instrumental in developing, supporting and coordinating a strong coaching and engagement community of practice in Saskatchewan since 2010. Together we designed and delivered workshops and used that which we taught to facilitate planning and corporate design discussions across Saskatchewan and Canada. We mentored and supported each other. We learned together from shared and sharing experiences, readings, discoveries and contemplations. We tried new things and took risks together. We challenged the status quos, implemented new ways of doing things, and developed best practices together. We were and continue to be a community of Edgewalkers. People knew who I was and wanted to be a part of the community.
Association with a community of practice can have a profound impact on a person. When I joined the above-mentioned community in 2010, I had no idea the influence it would have on me. The community encouraged me to grow as an individual, to develop my personal leadership practice and, though I did not realize it at the time, to develop my own personal brand. In the process of personal development and while remaining within the community, I strengthened and encouraged other in the community to grow and develop. The result was a community of Edgewalkers committed to the development of self and others.
As Edgewalkers, we embody servant-leadership qualities. We have a constant focus on the others in our community. This becomes our personal brand. When we learn and contemplate new ideas, we instinctively consider who could benefit from this new learning and the best way to share it. We are quick to add these ideas to our personal leadership practice so we can in turn support the same development in community members. As Larry Spears of the Spears Center suggests, we are deeply committed to the growth of every individual within our community. We take a personal interest in the ideas and suggestions of others, encouraging every person’s involvement in decision-making, and actively assisting every person to find their place within the community.[i]
This might leave us wondering “so what?”
Consider this: servant leaders who collectively demonstrate the unlimited commitment to others create enough critical mass as a community to pull away from the status quo of organizations to see and share new visions that ultimately take organizations to the next level. To pull away from status quo as an individual is a difficult if not impossible task. But as a community of like-minded Edgewalkers, the impossible becomes probable. Individuals who experience radical change in their own development transfer radical change ideas to the community, which transfers radical change ideas to organizations. The result is lasting transformation.
To pull away from status quo as an individual is a difficult if not impossible task. But as a community of like-minded Edgewalkers, the impossible becomes probable.
Back to my keynote address. I confidently shared ten principles to personal branding that opened doors of opportunity for me. I reflected on the importance of learning my core values and encouraged event participants to get to know theirs. Since that day, I have been invited to four different events by other organizations to speak on the same topic and have since drafted a workshop and process to help participants specifically discover and understand their own personal core values. These are just several of the deliverables I have developed as a servant leader and Edgewalker on my journey to personal and community growth.
Donovan Mutschler, MA
For more information on the content or processes included in this article contact Donovan Mutschler at donovan@edgewalkers.ca.
[i] Spears, Larry C. (2010). Character and Servant leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. The Journal of Virtues and Leadership. Vol. 1 Iss. 1, 2010, 25-30. School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University.
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