Who are you?

As a matter of fact I found some inspiration for this at a friend’s blog which she just recently launched. She was tired of all regular blogs regarding make-up, shoes and alcohol and decided to start writing about one of her biggest interests — Leadership. Her first post was something that sparked some thoughts for me with her main statement; That it is odd that when people are asked “What do you do?”, we immediately think in terms of work. Is that all there is to it? Basically it is one of the most often used ice-breakers at a party or other kind of social gathering. But why?

What do I do? Well I study at the University of Gothenburg, more specifically within Business, Economics and Law. It’s my first year here, both at the school and in the city. I was borned and raised in Southern Sweden, Viken, and went to school there and in Helsingborg. What more do I do? I’m launching a business with two of my absolutely best friends which we have high hopes for as we will try to change the way business interacts with each other! (Link at the bottom) What more…? I have a part-time job at Gothenburgs nicest hotel, Clarion Post — GREAT place. So, that’s what I do, question is though, did it make me interesting? Or were I just reciting my curriculum?

As I’m in the start-up world I guess I have thought about hiring people a few times. Not that we can afford it at the moment, but you know, for the future. As a matter of fact, those thoughts can be applied to social life just as well. By reciting what I DO, I will not tell you who I AM! Would I hire someone just by looking at their CV? No. What do I want from an interview? I want to ask the person, who he/she really is? Why? Simple! Because I want to know that the person can actually add something more to my team! There are thousands of people out there with the same knowledge as this person sitting in front of me, but there is only one person of him or her. Do we want this one? Just to make sure, I do not mean this in a rude way! I tend to like most people and our current team of three are very open to new people, but this is inviting a new person in a tight team — we need to know that it will actually work! We need to get to know this person as good as we possibly could in a limited amount of time, that is not going to be done through a curriculum.

As I’m currently writing along in this text when I probably should be sleeping, I kind of get why the “What do you do?” is so popular. It is tangible, whereas “Who are you?” is not. What I mean is, a job position is pretty self-explanatory, however “being creative” could be interpreted in many ways. As a matter of fact, I find it hard to describe myself in this very moment. As a human though I can really appreciate some challenges here and there, so I’ll give it a go… The following is what I would try to mention in an elevator-pitch-long description of myself:

So my name is Didrik Birkemalm, I’m 23 years old. I see myself as a very creative person as I like to create things, be it with crayons, code or coal. I also enjoy to meet new people, just as we are now, as I think that makes us grow. I see myself as an honest person and I think most people I know do as well, not because I don’t lie, but because I give that kind of impression. I also like stress, it makes me productive. It makes me feel on top of things as I can stay calm when others can’t.

I actually think that the last text, despite the fact that it might not be 30 seconds long — need to make room for the other person also, is far more interesting than answering what I currently do.

So go on, write a pitch about yourself and who you ARE, and go out there and ask the question, challenge someone to do something different, that is also how we grow.

[Sources:]
Blog of my friend, in swedish though: http://apollonia.devote.se/
My company, in swedish as well (sorry) http://www.spacelease.se/