Lean Musings and other stuff....

People Packaging

My introduction to the alcohol beverage industry came via wine. I sold beer, water, mixers, and spirits, but mostly wine. I still remember standing in front of a wine section in my first week on a sales route and the feeling of total confusion about what I was looking at. It was a wall of red, white, or pink bottles. But the closer I looked, I noticed certain bottles were more distinctive. Some because of the shape of the bottle, some because of the art, color, or use of the label. This was the first time I really began appreciating the impact of packaging.

How do you choose to present yourself? Simple question, maybe not so simple an answer? There’s a lot to unpack on the level of intentionality you have around how you “show up”, as there is in the premise you have the opportunity to choose how you enter a room or moment every time you do it. Like all processes, how you present yourself to the world around you, has steps – a progression.

Step One – Assessing the situation you are about to be in or find yourself in

Step Two – Reconfirm what you want out of the moment

Step Three – Choose what aspects of yourself you’ll present

Step Four – Assess if that choice achieved the purpose

Step Five – Learn and adjust

Simple right? Or is it……

Step One – How good are you assessing situations, group dynamic, or others? How do you know you’re good at it? What does your track record say about the choices you’ve made in the past? Do you find yourself self-sabotaging moments because your approach actually made your objective harder to achieve? Do you lack self-awareness that means you might be oblivious to the answers to these questions? Or, do you not care enough to even consider the impact of the choices your making when you enter a moment?

Step Two – Who are you focused on in most moments? Which moments or settings make you more likely to be “others focused” versus self-serving? Or, is that last question even a question? How likely are you prone to arrive in moments without checking in on yourself? Are you really ready for that setting, conversation, energy/vibe the other person will likely bring? Are you intentional about what you and others need from the moment or are you “wingin’ it”?

Step Three – Always be you. Don’t fake your way through your day to day. But at the same time, not every moment needs the default you. You are a multifaceted person capable of being analytical, patient, excited, empathetic, stern, chatty or silent. You are always you, but which parts of you serve the moment best?

Step Four – There are a lot of resources and discussion on being “self aware”, but how skilled or interested are you in being situationally aware? Are you reading the room? Do you understand body language and what changes in tone, volume, and cadence in speech mean? There are a lot of barriers to situational awareness from ego to lack of practice. But, choosing to be situationally aware is the first step to being able to assess if your choice about how to “show up” is actually working. It also allows you to adjust and learn.

Step Five – I once heard someone say “that guy only has one club in the bag”. I’m not a golf expert, but I got the gist that this was a reference to someone not having more than one way to operate. The idea was that could you, over time, build out your ability to have multiple ways to adjust your approach and style based on the setting and audience? Over time, you would at least have a few clubs in the bag and know when and how to use them. That concludes the golf references.

Packaging is an attempt to often reinforce and/or communicate a brand. Branding is an attempt to associate certain attributes or qualities with a product.

What’s your brand? What do you do to reinforce or take away from that brand with how you choose to package yourself in meetings, emails, phone calls, or conversations? How does your choices in “packaging” precede you as you enter moments? Does it make your life easier or harder?

Does your “packaging” serve you well?