The New Nimble

CHAPTER 1Know Yourself (and Let Others Know You, Too)

Having coached people for more than 25 years, I've often reminded my clients of the old adage, “The only person's behavior you can control is your own.” You can't make other people do something they don't want to do. All you can do is change the way you interact with them to see if you can get a different response from them.

You can't control how other people might ask you to change, that is, be nimble. But if you know with conviction what you stand for, what you will and won't do, then when others expect you to flex in the moment to accomplish a goal, you'll know the extent to which you will bend and accommodate. You'll also know what's outside of your boundaries. If other people know who you are and how you approach the world, they'll know intrinsically what they can ask of you. If your personal brand is unclear, or if other people don't know you, their demands on you to be more nimble and adjust your approach may seem, well, unseemly. Their requests will appear too demanding, or just inconsistent with how you are capable of adjusting.

The same is true on an institutional level. If people both inside and outside your organization know who you are and what you believe, they have a sense of your parameters for your behavior. They then target their requests and demands accordingly. As a result, it becomes easier for you to adjust on the fly, respond to crises, and manage the demands likely to come your way. Knowing your purpose, ...