‘My Gutsy Story’ Is a Weekly Contest

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Author/blogger Sonia Marsh, on her Gutsy Living blog, holds a “My Gutsy Story” contest, every Monday featuring someone’s “My Gutsy Story.”

At the end of each month, a poll asks readers to vote for their favorite “My Gutsy Story.”

Stories can be in the form of written text, a 3-minute video, or an audio file.

Submitted stories should be about something that:

  • Changed you.
  • Changed the way you think about something.
  • Made your life take a different direction.

Submission Guidelines:

  • The story should be no more than 1,000 words.
  • Accepting videos, no more than 3 minutes max.
  • An audio file.

Link to contest page here.

Author Seeks Gen X Workplace Stories

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Business consultant, leadership development coach, and author Nathan R Mitchell, is giving members of Generation X the opportunity to share their personal story in an upcoming book titled Turn That Frown Upside Down: Discover Meaning and Fulfillment in the Workplace.

“I’m extremely excited about having the opportunity to introduce my readers to a number of business owners, career professionals, entrepreneurs, leaders, and executives who have battled through the tough times of transition and struggles in the workplace to ultimately find purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in what they do,” says Mitchell.

Mitchell hopes the book will inspire readers to learn as much as they possibly can in their current roles.

Individuals who are interested in being a contributor to the book may reach out to him via his website at http://www.clutchconsulting.net/contact

Questions to Inspire Personal-Brand Story

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Not sure how I missed this post by Dana Leavy-Detrick from the end of March. She writes about the difference between expressing your brand as what you do — and breaking that brand into smaller stories that enable your audience to connect with you on an emotional level.

That’s essentially what I advise in my book Tell Me About Yourself: Developing one or more stories that supports your personal brand, that exemplifies it and captures your brand in a nutshell. The brainstorming device I offer in the book is a list of story types that could support a personal brand.

Leavy-Detrick offers a list of questions/prompts to accomplish the same purpose.

  • Talk about what drove or inspired you to become involved in your field. Did you have any mentors, or people that you looked up to, or perhaps an event that really inspired you to do this type of work? What was it that really pushed you over the edge and inspired you to take action?
  • What do you think are the most beneficial tools, skills, and resources that you picked up along the way?
  • What challenges did you encounter along the way, and more importantly, how did you work through those challenges to grow and learn?
  • How have you used the lessons you’ve learned by tackling those challenges to get you to this point of knowing you’d like to work for this company, or be in this role?
  • What aspects of your professional journey do you consider particularly unique and why?
  • How will your past experiences make you successful in this particular role, and contribute to the goals of the organization?

I say the more tools the better for thinking about the stories that best illustrate our personal brands.

Veterans Encouraged to Tell Their Stories on The Frontlines

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I don’t usually single out story-related Web sites or blogs, but instead list them on my inside pages.

Nathan Tierney, however, sent me an email appeal about his newly launched site The Frontlines.

The Frontlines aims to combine the 40,000 organizations that support veterans into one network of veterans, active duty, military families and citizens together to overcome the obstacles vets typically face. The Frontlines is a network for armed forces, veterans and citizens to provide 400,000 filtered resources, education and the ability to share their stories. The site is used also used for mentorship to aid in gainful employment, supporting wounded veterans and success during the transition from the military.

The site tells veterans: “Think of The Frontlines as a living time capsule for your stories. Through the experiences of those that have actually lived it, future generations will have a better appreciation of the sacrifices and most importantly the lessons.”

Could a Storied Resume Address Top Resume Flaws?

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Dr. John Sullivan’s article on ERE.net about the many flaws of resumes as the “currency of recruiting”, directed at recruiters and hiring managers rather than job-seekers, lists 30 problems with resumes from the hiring decision-maker’s perspective.

Some of these issues could perhaps be addressed by the elusive storied resume — the form of which I have never quite been able to pin down — or perhaps by a new currency of recruiting that allows for job-seeker storytelling.

Sullivan (pictured) writes: “… resumes are merely self-reported narrative descriptions of the candidates’ past work.” Of course, the content of most resume actually is not especially narrative. The reader sometimes gets some sense of narrative in reading the bullet points that describe the candidates jobs, especially if the candidate has crafted those bullets using one of the story formulas I and other career experts recommend (e.g., Situation (or Problem or Challenge) –> Action –> Result).

But generally, even these storied bullet points don’t address the criteria Sullivan mentions next: “Obviously because resumes are essentially job histories, they don’t tell you anything about the person’s character, how they would act in your job, and their potential.” He’s also looking for evidence of “expectations, goals, motivators, energy, [and] innovativeness.” Would it be possible for a resume to be constructed in a way that it does tell a story about character, potential, on-the-job behavior, and the other traits Sullivan seeks? What form would it take?

The content problems with resumes can be summed up with one question, Sullivan asserts: “Does your resume accurately reflect what you are capable of doing?” to which, he says, “the answer is almost always no.” It’s possible a new form of resume could paint a picture — or tell a story — of what the candidate is capable of.

Sullivan notes that resumes also need to tell a future story:

Resumes are 100% historical, so at their very best they only cover what you have done in the past at other firms. However, those making the hiring decision need to project into the future. They need to know how you will act in this job and at this company when you are faced with this firm’s current and future problems. But unfortunately, resumes don’t include forecasts or projections on how you would act differently in this job and working environment.

It’s possible to hint at a future story on a resume — I’ve done it for clients — but it’s not easy by any means.

Of course, Sullivan lists a number of resume problems, particularly in the way employers assess the documents, that a storied resume could not address.

He also lists a number of alternatives to resumes that could solve the problems of resumes. Of these, LinkedIn profiles, portfolios, and interest-and-skills questionnaires could potentially be storytelling tools that job-seekers could deploy to give a more complete and storied picture of themselves to employers. I could especially see questionnaires written in a way that encourages applicants to tell their stories. They could be asked the same kinds of questions typically asked in a behavioral interview. These questions explore past on-the-job behavior as a way to predict future behavior (sample question: Describe a problem you soled for an employer.)

Don’t Let Your Personal-Brand Story Just Sit There

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Let’s say you’ve developed what you feel is the optimal personal narrative to support your brand.

Are you done?

Jeff Rock says no. In an article called Nurture Your Narrative, Rock says your story needs to be “developed, nurtured, and protected until such time as it can survive on its own.” (How do you know it’s ready to survive on its own? That’s one of several questions the article leaves unanswered.)

We should not, Rock advises, “put it out there and let it fend for itself.” Left on its own, the story “takes on a life of its own or just perishes,” he says. “We discount its importance and believe our work will speak for itself. It doesn’t.”

My struggle has long been with finding a personally resonant process for developing a brand story, let alone knowing how to nurture it. Rock helps by suggesting the story include your “value proposition, accomplishments, and what is important to you.” If you don’t nurture this story, “someone else may fill the void,” Rock warns. “You are neglecting a powerful tool for placing yourself in the context of other people’s lives.”

That’s important. Our brand stories help market us by enabling an emotional connection with others — who see themselves in us.

I’d like to know more, though, and see examples. “Your brand becomes more potent as your narrative proliferates,” Rock writes. “But it has to be right.”

Like so many articles on personal branding, this one could benefit from examples. What makes a brand story “right?” What identifies it as one that has not been nurtured? I would love to see what Rock considers to be a “right” personal-brand narrative compared to one that is “not ready to survive on its own.”

My Sunrise Bike-Ride Story

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One of my occasional forays into my own story …

Early on in our residence in Kettle Falls, WA, I realized that we have more hours of daylight here than anywhere I’ve lived before because of how far north we are. We’re roughly at the 49th parallel. Looking at a Daylight Hours Explorer on the Web, I can see that, today, for example, we have about 15.7 hours of daylight, compared to the 13.6 hours we would have if we still lived in Florida. That means the sun comes up earlier here and sets later than in any place I’ve ever lived.

I was aware of these long hours of daylight our first summer here when we came to build our house and the following year after we permanently moved here. But it wasn’t till last year that the early sunrises affected my lifestyle.

It was so light in the early-morning hours — often before 5 a.m. — that I started getting up literally with the sun. I found I enjoyed a couple of hours of quiet to get work done before the rest of the household awoke. So even during the winter when the sun rose later, I had gotten into the habit of getting up between 5 and 6 a.m.

Despite adding extra time to my day, I was hard-pressed to find enough time for exercise (not to mention that a painful achilles tendon had hobbled my activities). This spring when I started a new weight-loss program, I had the brainstorm that I could simply get up even earlier so I could exercise.

I started getting up between 4 and 5 a.m. to walk. I got really interested in the timing of the sunrise and printed out several month’s worth of charts from SunriseSunset.com. I knew, of course, that the earliest sunrise (4:49 a.m.) would occur on the summer solstice, but I was curious about the span of days during which the sun would come up not much later than 5. I identified an eight-week period during which the sunrise was at 5:04 on the first day and 5:06 on the last day.

My motivation was two-fold. I figured if I could walk that early, I could ride my bike, as long as it wasn’t too dark. During this eight-week period, I determined that if I was on my bike by 4:30, I would have enough light to bike safely (I also wore a reflector vest) and could see the sunrise.

And that was my other motivation. Seeing — and photographing — beautiful sunrises. And then I took my thinking a step further. What would be even more amazing than seeing a spectacular sunrise? How about seeing it from the top of a mountain? And over the Columbia River? I could experience that splendor if I rode my bike up a very steep, challenging elevation.

So here was where my exercise/weight-loss ambitions merged with my sunrise-viewing aspirations. I had been losing weight fairly rapidly on the rather calorie-restricted weight-loss program I’m on — as many as 5 pounds a week in the early weeks. By the time I conceived the bike rides, the loss had slowed down to about 2 pounds a week. I reasoned that I could bump that figure back to 5 by doing the bike rides. (The weight struggle of my adult life is a whole other story.)

I began the bike rides on May 21. I envisioned that I would do them daily, but a few days in, I felt I was struggling too much when I biked on consecutive days. I remembered that I’m really old and out of shape. I decided to cut back to three days a week. Bad weather or oversleeping were the only things that stopped me, and even then, I simply postponed till another day or later the same day. On alternate days, I walked. I took one day a week to rest. The most difficult part of the rides was how cold May and June mornings are in Eastern Washington. Many mornings, I faced temperatures in the mid- or even low-40s.

After the first week, I was dismayed to have lost no more weight. After the second week, I had actually gained a few pounds. This phenomenon made no sense. My weight-loss coach told me that the body sometimes goes into survival mode. Already calorie-deprived, my body might be hanging onto every bit of mass in the face of the exercise. She shared with me tales of other people on the program who’d gone weeks without losing an ounce while exercising intensely.

Thus, I considered quitting the bike rides. Ultimately, being out in nature at the break of each day, being in tune with the rhythms of the sun, and the way the bike rides made me feel outweighed the lack of progress on the scale. I also decided not to weigh myself for the rest of the eight weeks of bike rides. I know I’ve lost some weight. My clothes are fitting differently; measurements show I’ve lost inches; and people have noticed my weight loss.

Today was my last sunrise bike ride, alas, a cloudy unphotogenic morning in which I even encountered rain. I could keep doing them and just set out later on my bike. But I still like being at my desk around 6 a.m. and starting to work. The eight-week period seems just right, a special time to celebrate the longest of days and glory in the blooming of each wildflower in its time. The sunrise bike rides are something I can look foreword to every year. Of course, I won’t rule out going on a sunrise ride anytime the spirit moves me.

Online Storytelling Festival Aug. 1-3 Strengthens and Honors the Human Family

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The 10th JustStories Festival on Aug. 1 – 3 takes place on Facebook. Events are scheduled roughly an hour apart throughout the days of the festival. Attendees can visit the festival’s Facebook page to watch the videos, participate in live chats with featured storytellers, and gain access to other resources and materials on the subject of race relations, social justice, and storytelling.

Go here to read a FAQ about the event.

More about what the festival is all about, as stated on the Facebook page:

The JustStories Storytelling Festival is devoted to strengthening and honoring the human family.

Through the talents and art of many professional storytellers we will tell original stories about race relations, ethnic identity struggle and pride.

We will laugh and cry about the continuing “dance” between outsiders and insiders.

We will seek to build bridges across our divides.

We will seek to connect with those who are different than ourselves.

We will celebrate through our personal and universal stories the human gifts of cooperation and understanding.

The JustStories Storytelling project is an initiative that brings together diverse professional storytellers to develop, write and perform stories that deal with ethnic identity, race relations and dealing with differences. This project seeks to use storytelling as a tool to bring together the races, bridge differences and increase understanding and cooperation.

This project also includes a JustStories Fellowship that supports professional storytellers in developing, writing and readying for performance their own original story about race relations, belonging and inclusive themes.

Angels Studio is a communications ministry of the Chicago Province of the Society of the Divine Word, an international Roman Catholic Order.