You have more to give others than you think

Every time I complete a personality profile, whether it's strengths finder, SDI, Myers Briggs, the spot I find myself in is a "rainbow." Neither high or low extrovert or introvert, I'm a promoter and a supporter, mainly informal in style but can dial-up the formality when required, I don't find it difficult to adapt my style. I'm grateful for that.

One of the things I work on from my introvert side is a tendency to over-analyse. Maybe it's just certain things. Or is it everything? You get my point. If you need someone to help you overthink something: give me a call. All this means my internal voice is strong: I spend a lot of time in my own thoughts. This serves me well when I need to do critical thinking and we have a complex problem to solve for but it can hold me back. I am 10x more critical of myself than anyone else could be. For my team mates, coworkers, friends; I'll not judge. I extend empathy and understanding. I'll be the first to point out how hard they are being on themselves and to celebrate what they are overlooking or taking for granted.

Extending this to myself is not a strength. As a result when situations present themselves to share learned or lived experiences, my default is to shy-away, politely decline. Why would anyone be interested in what I have to say. Back in March, I was invited by Sultan Murad Saidov - Co-Founder and President at Beamery - to guest on the Talent Blueprint podcast. Despite the fact I have got to know Sultan and his fantastic team recently, I found myself in the same decision-making path. Once again on the verge of politely declining, I revisited an exercise I completed earlier in the year: what is my purpose and what do I want people to associate me with? I am looking at my apple notes app right now. The first line reads: "Serve other people." So it was with this purpose in mind I committed to do my first ever podcast. It's also for this reason I've shared learnings from the process and learnings about myself for anyone taking the steps I did.

You can listen to the podcast via Beamery, Apple, Spotify and Amazon

1. The process of "prepare, prepare, prepare" lifted me out of my comfort zone and created new habits: What is our employer value proposition? What are some of the customer case references we have, what's our talent philosophy? What are the principles of building cultures of inclusion and trust? These are all things I talk about every day with talent team mates and coworkers, in the knowledge that if I get any of the detail slightly off, it's no big deal. The process of learning all of these inside-out so that I can do my best job representing meant I had to learn much more than I initially anticipated. It's made me realise how much I don't know. I've now allotted 1 day per month on my calendar solely for learning. I gain so much from the podcasts I listen to however during the last 2 years, these regularly fall off the radar thanks to conflicting time demands, zoom meetings and timezones. I've built a list of content I want to learn and roll it all into my monthly learning day. What I don't get to, I roll forwards to the next time. I just completed my first dedicated learning day and it has re-energised me equally as well as 1 week off work would have done. Win-Win!
2. Prepare, prepare prepare: Speaking of preparing, this is one of the tips I picked up from reading (actually, listening to) "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story"by Arnold Schwarzenegger,. Arnold talked about the fact that when he started on his new path serving as Governor for California, he was known for his insightful and witty speeches. People would give him credit for this. Arnold shares he puts this down not to being an award winning writer or orator, something more humble: his habit of "reps reps reps" he learned as a bodybuilder and talks even about prepping 50 times for each speech. Whilst I certainly didn't do that, it's a great habit to get the best version of yourself out there.
3. Learn about your host, create a shared purpose: I've got to know the team at Beamery over recent times via Clare and Sultan. Beamery's mission is something which is close to my heart. The great migration is forcing companies to transform and upgrade outdated cycles of the talent cycle. How we look at engaging talent we want to hire in the future, landing, multiplying and then retaining that talent, is changing forever.
4. You know more than you think: During my preparation: the feeling of being underprepared predicated me. When I got to the point of the podcast itself, I surprised myself with what I know. So, why don't you get out there and surprise yourself?
5. Renewed admiration: For people that do this every day. There is a lot of content out there for all of us to consume. We are living in the golden age of information. We are so lucky to have what we have at our fingertips. I have renewed admiration for anyone who shares content to serve other people and enrich their lives. Thank you!
6. Pride. This process has been a watershed of sorts for me. It's made me realise how proud I am to serve the community I work and live in and the role I play for them: my family, my friends, my team and all the stakeholders we serve inside and outside of ServiceNow. Learning more about NHS Scotland, whilst I knew the story, I'm proud that what we do is impacting someone's life for the better. I'm also incredibly proud to serve in the people team at ServiceNow. Last year, the talent acquisition team created a digital mosaic to represent what we do, how we impact people's lives and what our values are. It's taken this process for me to step back from the mountain trail, where some days there are seemingly high winds and driving snow in your face, turn round and look how far we have come. The view is one worth taking-in.

Fulfill your purpose. Do your best work. Live your best life. That's our "people pact" at ServiceNow, and one of the ways we're driving talent strategy. To hear more, listen to my conversation with Sultan Murad Saidov?here:?https://bit.ly/3CZx3fL