What are you known for?

“Please think about your legacy, because you are writing it every day.”?Gary Vaynerchuk.

What are you known for?

As the world has opened up I’ve been running into people I haven’t seen in person for a long time, and they’ll ask me a few variations on the same question: “When will you do Erma again?” Or: “When are you getting back on stage?” I’m flattered by the questions because hopefully it means they enjoyed the production and the performance. But I’m also taken aback because the last time I performed in the one woman show Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End was in November of 2019 – in the before times.

Since that time and even during that time, I have been on many stages (virtual and actual) only the character I’ve been playing is myself:?Pam?Sherman, speaker, facilitator, and coach.

And I asked myself – don’t they know all the things I do?

The exchange made me think of Leonard Nimoy who famously played the character of Spock on Star Trek and who wasn’t always happy to be identified by the iconic role. He said about being known as Spock, “Yes it does preclude you from being?offered certain kinds?of work, but at the same time it gives you an identity. And that identity in the acting business can be very useful.”

The same is true in any business – your identity, your brand, what you are known for, can be very useful. The important thing is to make sure that your brand isn’t just about what you do or even the roles you play - but the impact you make when playing the most important role: yourself.

That’s how you start writing your legacy.

Going back onstage and taking on the role of Erma Bombeck was an incredible opportunity not only in the performing of the play, but the lessons that I brought back to my clients. Lessons like:

• Creation comes from Collaboration:?Working to produce something on a?deadline required intense collaboration and coordination – and from it came?the creation of something truly unique and special.
• Find the Clues in the Script:?To understand the role you play in your?organization the clues lie in the script – AKA the organization’s purpose,?mission, and vision.
• Trust Makes Magic:?There is a moment of trust as you stand in the dark?before you hit the spotlight that together the team will transport the?audience. The same is true in business - trust is the magic ingredient of?success.

And the most important one: sometimes you have to take on new roles to grow your identity and write your legacy. I’m proud to be associated with the role of Erma Bombeck. My identity, however, comes from all the roles I play in the world: actor, writer, speaker, coach and yes, even, recovering lawyer. And as I play them, I’m writing a story and creating a legacy that is all about the impact of my presence on others wherever they are - in an audience, in a boardroom, or on a zoom call.

What’s your identity and most important, how are you writing your legacy?