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Who are you? What do you want?

Submitted by on January 29, 2013 – 11:01 pm5 Comments | 770 views

“This is not an answering machine, this is a questioning machine. Most people walk through their entire life without knowing the answer to this: Who are you? And what do you want?” – this was my welcome message at my cellphone voice mail for years.

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The interesting part is that most of the messages I got was raw laughter or “listen to this” – I even had friends call me up to ask me not to answer the phone the next time they called, because they wanted to play the message to friends.

But these are two brilliant and powerful questions. The answer can be: “me, call me” or it can result in a major midlife crisis.

So I ask you this today, not only to challenge you – but to also because I would love to get to know you.

Who are you?
What do you want?

Frode Heimen

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SelfAwareness2 6 pts

Brilliant questions Frode and they're both at the core of healthy leadership. When leaders understand themselves and are genuinely happy they are able to let go of the behaviors that get in the way of success and practice ones that lead in a much more positive direction.

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FrodeHeimen 8 pts moderator

 SelfAwareness2 Hi Guy, thanks for reading. Glad to connect with you, and I like your blog too. (For new readers, take a look)

My latest conversation: I know who will win.

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AnjaSchuetz 5 pts

I'm sure Brett Chitty will have something really philosophical to add :)

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AnjaSchuetz 5 pts

Haha! I'm surprised you got any messages at all on your questioning machine, if you asked people the most difficult question EVER! As a coach, this is the very reason people come to me - to explore those questions (not quite mid-life crisis, but Thirties-Crisis :))

 

I think as soon as we ask "Who am I" we tend to put on labels. Depending on the situation that label may be our name or our job title. (I once had a lady decline an invite to a networking event because she had just lost her job and didn't know how she should introduce herself. Talk about loss of identity!) Labels are traps. People don't like traps; they like freedom. 

 

I like to ask "What am I?" and the answer is "I'm an experiment."What do I want? "To see how the experiment will turn out!" :)

 

If I'm an experiment, I can choose "Who I am" in any situation. I think this is most important. Who do I want to be right now, in this conversation with a friend, in this conflict with my boss, in this situation with my customer? Do I want to be a loving, approachable and agreeable human being, or do I want to be right at all costs and walk out a "winner"?   

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FrodeHeimen 8 pts moderator

 AnjaSchuetz Hi Anja - Thank you for an insightful response. Really adding value to my post.

My latest conversation: About the Leadership top 100 - 2013

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