What's in an adventure...

I will be using the definition of adventure rather liberally; using it figuratively and will definitely be using it as a verb! It’s far more action oriented that way.

ad·ven·ture [adˈven(t)SHər, ədˈven(t)SHər]

NOUN: an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.

VERB: engage in hazardous and exciting activity, especially the exploration of unknown territory.

It seems that being an experiential learner, having a fundamental belief invaluable skills are learned on adventures, and knowing that with a new year there will be great opportunity, has me thinking of adventures lately — and if you have gotten this far, it has you reading.

It’s easy to think of adventure as travelling to a new country, climbing a cliff face or trekking the highlands of Scotland — and although adventurous, it is limiting when you consider the full scope of what an adventure can be. This is why I like thinking of adventure as a verb; especially when you think of it as exploration of unknown territory.

Now you have something to work with —

Only know one language and it’s holding you back — learn a second language. It’s an adventure!

Not very good with your hands — break out the tools and build that bunkie* you need. It’s an adventure!

Someone is looking for a volunteer to solve a problem — raise your hand and say you will solve it. It’s an adventure!

Instead of saying you can’t drive standard — ask someone to teach you. It’s an adventure.

And although the big adventures are great to share with friends, I’ve found the real opportunity to grow and explore is with those small potential adventures that come your way on a daily basis. I’m a big believer in taking on these small adventures as a way to broaden your abilities, increase your view on the world, and simply become more interesting.

Here’s to adventures both big and small !!

And if you are wondering about any adventures I have on the list this year, my daughter and I are going to build a small off-grid bunkie with all the modern conveniences we can muster — talk about exploring unknown territory.

iamgpe

* a hut holding a bunk or bunks, a free-standing bedroom separate from the main house, which may or may not have other facilities (a fully outfitted outer house would be a guest house and not a bunkie)

Energy and Angst... here's to 2019.

He was a old school General Manager — he smoked too much, definitely enjoyed his scotch, would go toe to toe with anyone over the business, and protected his people with a passion. He was the sort that would have his feet up on his desk when he spoke with you… ever crotchety, ever prickly, and ever insightful; I learned much from him. I remember sitting across from him once lamenting over the dynamic environment we found ourselves in.

“I feel like a cork bobbing in the ocean, I’m not able to grab onto anything, and just moving around at the whim of the ocean. There’s just no control over any of it.” He looked at me and simply said, “Me too”.

Don’t get me wrong we were running a solid business with good leadership, a good team, plans were in place, over plan performance was commonplace, and we had just enough operating mechanisms to ensure we stayed the course (but weren’t repressive). If memory serves me (and it doesn’t always) this was a time when the corporation was starting the journey towards a multi-billion dollar company, and it was a time of more and more “corporate reach in”. There were a growing number of things happening that we just hadn’t seen before — it was a interesting combination of Energy and Angst. It was a time where positive energy and confidence finds itself irrationally dealing with the future and a perceived unknown.

This is something I find also seems to occur at the beginning of each year — you don’t really have to look any further than those New Year’s resolutions or New year’s words people rally behind.

2019 is a year that will have 365 opportunities, and if you are paying attention to the pundits, may also be a year of turmoil (but then again I think they say this every year). All of this energy and opportunity, balanced off (sometimes disproportionately) with events beyond your control is what we have to work with to make the most of the coming year.

I can’t truly say if ever stopped being that cork in the ocean or just got very good at being “a cork” — either way I survived, as well as thrived. Some of it was a result of just going with the flow, some it was finding the proverbial port in a storm, some of it came from knowing what needed to be done when the waters were calm, and sometimes it was simply knowing when to hold on tight. Yes, all very metaphorical but nonetheless helpful. Each year I have had a plan regarding how to handle the year’s ocean; sometimes complex and sometimes simple, but I have always had a plan. And I have always gotten it down on paper. This has always been my anchor.

This year I want to go with the flow, see where things take me, and maybe wash up on some shores I’ve never experienced before — and to ensure I don’t get lost, my plan for 2019 will consist of one word. And that word is desire. It will be interesting to see where it takes me.

A friend of mine mentioned his word for 2019 is deliverance — I’m sensing my seas will be much calmer.

iamgpe

Personal Branding or just self indulgence...

I got it in my head a couple of weeks ago I needed to update my professional photograph as part of my ongoing, ever evolving personal branding to ensure I’m portraying an image that reflects my value. It’s a classic marketing pursuit.

After a quick Google search you’ll find Wikipedia defines Personal Brand (or Personal Branding) as the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. While previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal-branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. The term personal brand is thought to have been first used and discussed in a 1997 article by Tom Peters. And if you take it a little further, the same Google (with the help of Business encyclopedia) defines Brand Equity as a marketing term that describes a brand’s value. That value is determined by consumer perception of and experiences with the brand. If people think highly of a brand, it has positive brand equity. When a brand consistently under-delivers and disappoints to the point where people recommend that others avoid it, it has negative brand equity.

Yes that is exactly what I was doing — keeping my Brand Equity front and centre using the subtly of a photograph to reinforce it.

Being an accomplished Sales and Marketing Leader with a reputation for effective strategy, creative problem solving and execution; highly experienced in sales and marketing management with a number of awards. And also someone who brings a wealth of cross-functional skill sets in product, price and marketing management as well as sales management and development to help business leaders with their commercial problems, I set out to build a brand.

Using my initials and the belief I’m clever, I built the name GPEStratagem — I adopted the Scottish Unicorn as my logo (because it is unique, speaks to my heritage, and is full of character, as well as strength), and adopted the moniker iamgpe. I had a very professional photograph taken and build a web site with social feeds where it made sense.

And then I started to blog for no other reason than if you want build a personal brand you need to articulate its value.

Over the years I have evolved my web site and expanded my social channels but I hadn’t done anything with that original photograph. Why get a new photograph now after all this time? Maybe it was the desire to keep my brand and image fresh, or maybe the belief that social media photographs shouldn’t be “too dated”, or simply a belief there were subtle changes in who I am, or what my value has become. Whatever the reason, it seemed new photographs were the only way to get the message across to support my personal (and professional) branding efforts.

A very talented photographer named Phillipa Croft (who likes to work with natural light) was able to help me in this regard. Having the photographs in hand I have know uploaded them onto my web site and various social media feeds, and even got a blog topic out of the little adventure as a bonus.

Arguably I’ve done a reasonable job of couching this in my personal branding strategy… although I suppose I’m just indulging myself by showing off my new pictures and how the natural light captures my features nicely.

In either regard, you have to admit Phillipa takes a fine photograph.

iamgpe

PS — OK, OK… it’s self indulgent. But then again, isn’t that an important component of effective Personal Branding.