It is not about WHAT you are.. It is about WHO you are

[GuestUserX09]

I had the pleasure of getting some knowledge nuggets from Suzanne Shank yesterday. She's an owner of a publicly traded financial company who gave a talk to me and a group yesterday.

I sent an email telling her that the biggest takeaway I had was its not "What you are", it's "who you are".

It IS NOT, what you are.

It IS, who you are.

I know that many budding entrepreneurs get caught up in titles. Being CEO, Company Owner, Business Owner, etc.

These titles will add no value to YOU and serve no purpose to your larger goals.

What WILL make a difference is WHO you are. Your character, your personality, your own swag. That will make you tons of money and take you many places.

I've been guilty of this myself in the past but the trend is dangerous to the name of entrepreneurship. Just scrolling through LinkedIn and Twitter, you'll find thousands of CEO's with no employees or Investors with $100 in their portfolio.

This hurts your reputation. Instead, what would be more valuable is to say something humble about WHO you are. That will speak loudest and most positively. Your personality and intended business culture is what anyone cares about.

One day when you finally make it, to all your financial goals and dreams. You'll realize, people got you there from WHO you are, not WHAT you were.

 

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[axiom]

Truth.

Being an entrepreneur has become something of a fad.

So many people are selling t-shirts, fitness ebooks, and all manner of knick-knacks just to label themselves as an "entrepreneur". A self-starter.

Stop calling yourself a CEO and go do something that matters. I'm an independent contractor working on behalf of many different companies in the construction industry. Technically, I am the "CEO" of my personal LLC. Do I refer to myself as such when I get in touch with prospects?

Hell no. I call myself an independent consultant or something similar. Really, if your company isn't past AT LEAST the $1 million threshold, nobody will take your status as CEO seriously.

Keep your ego out of the equation until you have something worth being egotistical about. At that point, you've earned the right because it was from your own hard work that you actually earned that title.

 

[PTP]

Keep your ego out of the equation until you have something worth being egotistical about.

Thats a really good point. The funny thing is though that it seems like once someone reaches that point of success, they dont really care about what people think of them. They dont really need a title to let them or others know that they are successful. They just let their track record speak for itself.