Heroic Moment: Change Your Actions, Change Your Image

I'm not picking on LeBron James. At least, I'm not trying to. Just like the media and the administration don't really pick on the groups I work with - fraternities and sororities. What do they have in common? Each one of them has an image problem.

"What should I do? ... Should I be who you want me to be?"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtejCR413c]

The implication, of course, is that James is resisting, even frustrating, the expectations that others have for him. But, what does he stand for?

The lack of clarity about one's identity and purpose creates a void at best, and a vacuum at worst.

In this case, "apathy" is the failure to have a core identity and purpose. It is an indifference to your true values. If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything.

It is clear that James is resisting any sort of expectations or identity that others may want from him. The result is a vacuum, which is being filled by the boat full by assumptions and James' own missteps.

Who is the real "LeBron James"? What does he stand for? We know only what we see.

Do the members of your organization ever "push back" against the core identity and purpose of your organization? Do they act in ways that frustrate the organization's values? The people outside know only what they see, so you have to ask yourself, "What are they seeing?"

Every person is an ambassador of your organization, every day.

If you want to change your organization's image, you have to stand for something. Really stand for something. Otherwise, you're asking others-inside the organization and out-to fill the void and define you based on negative behaviors, self-serving impulses, and stereotypes.

Change your actions, change your image.