The Identity Code

As an award-winning leadership and performance coach who helps people discover and communicate their identity, I’d urge the powers-that-be to erase this question from the English language:

“What do you want to do?”

It’s lazy. It’s the default small-talk question we ask someone starting or changing careers, and it’s usually met with: “I don’t know (yet).” 🤷

Try answering this instead:

“Who do you want to be?”

Much harder isn’t it. Answering this means knowing who you are, how you show up with others, and what character traits appear when you’re under the cosh.

I’ve spent years wrestling with that question myself. When I left a long and successful Army career, I thought the answer was clear. Life soon became cloudy. I chased the metaphorical soccer ball of career choices around the park for 5 years before running into coaching. How I wished I’d been forced to answer that question at the moment of choice.  

Now I help clients answer it far quicker than it took me. It’s that critical. The framework for doing so is like an airport runway; four connected parts that get you airborne and flying in the right direction. 

“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.” Lao Tzu

These four steps take you from self-awareness to self-evidence; a complete framework for discovering your Identity and communicating it with confidence.

Step 1: How you show up (DISC Profile) Your DISC profile reveals your natural behavioural style—how you typically communicate, make decisions, and approach everyday situations, under normal circumstances.