In an effort to better myself and my future, I am conducting an exercise (experiment if you will) to determine the kind of image I have been putting out to the world. I NEED YOUR HELP!! As some of you may know I have been trying to get my company moving and off the ground for quite a while. I have been less than organized in this effort so my progress has been much slower than I would like. I have decided to take more initiative this year and really start to get the ball rolling. The first place I need to start is with something called Personal Branding (this is where you come in). For the next 2 weeks I plan on leaving this post up so everybody can read what I am doing and give their feedback. OK, so here is what I need!
I need you to tell me about me! By this I mean, the good the bad and the ugly. I need to know PERSONALLY what kind of image I am putting out to the world so I can work on improving my negative qualities and enhancing the positive ones. If this turns into a Dan bashing session, then so be it. I NEED TO SORT THIS OUT. I know we are all big boys and girls, here so this needs to happen. You are all that I have to lean on as working from home and having two kids does not lend itself well to having a social life. I don't care if we have met only once or if we have been friends for years your input is very valuable and I want to hear it. In fact the less you know me the better, because you will see what I project immediately without being clouded by "getting to know me".
Let me give some examples of what I've been told by someone who would like to remain anonymous, so nobody else feels shy.
I am caring, loving, supportive, intelligent, generous and creative. They also say I'm: "bold", "loud", "sort of cocky sometimes", "abrasive", "obnoxious", "too candid", "too opinionated", "kind of unorganized", "some times a little too selfish", "say too much" and "intense".
Well that last one, I can live with.. sometimes. I am asking you to be open and honest. Just take 10-15 minutes and think about the first time we met and the vibe I gave you right out of the shoot. Then tell me about it. PLEASE ELABORATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. The more information you can give me the better. Anyway, I think you get the point. This is not a joke and I am taking this VERY seriously. The one thing that will make me unhappy is if this turns into a big joke. I know this is strange and unorthodox, but I have nowhere else to go and I really, really need your help!!
Thank you,
Dan
9 comments:
There, sent an email to practically everybody I know and on facebook. That should light this fire cracker!!
Dan,
My first impression of you was a good one. I thought you were friendly, outgoing and funny. I still feel the same way after what, 5 years? You are one of the nicest and funniest guys I know. Extremely easy to like and you're very personable.
If I had to give you areas to improve: You are too hard on yourself and you care too much what other people think about you personally. You're a great guy and you really need to lighten up on that. Oh, and you could edit yourself a bit in a conversation. You tend to reiterate when it's not necessary. Be more direct, you are very articulate and people get it the first time around.
I couldn't ask for a better friend (or son lol)- I hope this helps - Love ya buddy!
These are great guys.... thank you! Please keep them coming.
Bear with me, I'm doing this on my iPhone. Dan, you are one of the good guys. And nice guys finish last. Period. start being a dick. You know your shit, continue acting like you know your shit. Promote yourself, teetering on being accused of a self promoter. But don't take it too far by trying to make yourself look better by putting a colleague down. In your field, nobody wants an ok computer dude. They want a kick ass genious with an open mind and a sense of direction. Like George carlin put it, nobody wants an airplane with a smiley face, if you must paint a face on an airplane, make it a look of determination.
That's all I got.
Ps, with that said, don't be like one of those geeksquad douches with no personality.
Dan,
OK here goes, you get the added benefit of getting both my personal and professional opinion since I am astutely aware of our family dynamics. To start, you are a very personable, sensitive, caring and passionate person. However, you need to work on getting over the intense anger and frustration that you hold onto about how "things are not fair" or "how things should be". This way of thinking limits you, which then transforms into the other negative traits, i.e being intense, abrasive, loud, opinionated, inflexible etc. Yes work on being more direct in communication, skip all of the uneccessary details and just get to the point and say what you mean. no more beating dead horses!(yes I know it is a learned behavior, lol). Work on becoming more confident in yourself and accept your flaws with grace, we all have them. Let go of the past and move on, its not worth dwelling on. Don't put yourself down in front of others even under the disguise of joking, your insecurities show through. Be more open minded to other ways of thinking, be a better listener and give your opinion when asked to do so. Hope this helps!
LOVE YA!
LOL.. Mike, you had me pissing myself.. Thank you! Dawn, pure gold!
Dan, I think you present yourself as confident and knowledgeable. I really have nothing negative to say about you. Stay golden Ponyboy.
Dan,
You are my brother and I love and respect you as my brother and as a friend too. With that said, I do think that you can at times be a bit over the top. You do mostly manage to pull it off though and have your high energy personality and high enthusiasm work for you. You have many great and interesting ideas that you always talk about with such vigor, but I think you need to follow through with some more of them. That is why I am very happy that you are doing something with Rion and TouchDocs and very willing and eager to help you make an idea come to life.
I think that you have a genuine and sincere love of life and the people you surround yourself with. You have a contagious sense of humor and when you get going you can make a whole room start laughing. That's why I've always thought it strange that you can be so hard on yourself and how quickly you can become frustrated. You need to learn how to accept that some things just need to be or will never be but that it is still OK and you can work around them, this is something that I need to do too. I guess its genetic. Either way, you have a big heart and a very likable personality. I know that you are a great person and that people love to work with you. You wouldn't have made it anywhere near where you are if they didn't think the same thing.
I've always been able to talk to you about all of my worries and dilemmas so I just want you to know that if you ever need to talk to me, feel free to call in a favor every now and then like I always have. That's what brothers are for. Good luck with all of this Dan, and I hope you figure out whatever it is that you need to.
Love, your brother,
Kurt
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