This was originally posted on LinkedIn.

How do you show up? Being human is tough.

Generally, I can tell you that I am hit-and-miss, inconsistent about how I show up.  In both my personal and professional life.  There is no distinction between how I live privately or show up at work.

Could showing up be a part of our problems? Is it one of the “whys” behind our challenges?

Basically, I do not know, but I am trying to figure out if showing up is a factor in our challenges.  Let me pause here to offer some context as to what I perceive as “showing up.”

To clarify, for me, showing up is parts authenticity, curiosity, determination, grit, transparency, and probably more nouns than this post allows.  Specifically, I work hard to avoid “cognitive dissonance”; inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, in the personas, roles, and stances I find myself in daily.

For me, it takes self-discipline to show up daily in life; it is a constant struggle.

Being human

I was encouraged by a conversation I recently had.

So, I asked one of my mentors, Ravi Verma, this question during an Agile for Patriots coaching call.

“What made certain graduates successful at finding roles as Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Product Owners?”

I was surprised by the insight he shared.

Ravi stated that in some ways, successful graduates relentlessly pursue improvement. 

For example, he explained that successful graduates are like a runner who sets a goal to shave a half-second off or her race time. Additionally, The runner then sets another goal for a half-second reduction and repeats the process to achieve the desired results.

Maybe this might help you in the coming week. Please let me know how it did.