Why do I do what I do?
When I was a kid, I didn’t really fit in.
As a chubby chess-playing, computer coding choirboy in a council estate, I wasn’t exactly rolling in friends.
It wasn’t until I finished high school and started my A-levels that I found my tribe through sport; specifically, basketball.
It didn’t matter about my height; or my clothes; or my taste in music. I belonged.
And I could score.
But I got far more pleasure from learning about my teammates and how they like to score. Do they need eye contact before the pass? Where on the floor do they like to be? How do I set them up for success?
If I’m hosting a BBQ, it’s not about my food. It’s about the music being right, your drink being topped up and the environment being conducive to your enjoyment.
Throughout my life, that has been the common theme.
How do we create spaces where people can purposefully contribute without fear of ridicule or reprimand?
How can you be you?
It’s not about conformity and changing who you are. It’s about knowing who you are and having permission to be that person.
We all have blind spots too. How do we recognise when something’s in that blind spot? When something exhausts us? When we impact on others?
And how do we recognise that diversity so we can create inclusive spaces?
That’s why understanding personality and culture is so important.
And that’s why it’s my why.
