Become a Profiler

“Become more aware of what works, what does not work, and why you’ll gain greater confidence in your ability to venture.” – Dr. Ronald K. Mitchell

Become a Profiler

I’ve worked with my friend Brad Bertoch for more than twenty years now and I’ve just begun to appreciate newly discovered value of our time together.  What I mean is that we have a history that allows us to reach into the past and use comingled information that is unique and not understood by others.  And, the beautiful part of it is that it’s a relationship dynamic that exists in all types of relationships.

It could very well apply to you with your siblings, parents, spouse, exercise partner or even a pet.  So, don’t think that what we’re talking about here applies only to business because it doesn’t.  You can use this information for every area of your life. Begin to think of your long-term relationships as having “institutional memory.”

Brad and I were meeting to discuss how to more effectively move our nonprofit educational initiatives forward not long ago and used our institutional memory as a catalyst.  As we talked, we had an amazing synergy begin to unfold before our eyes.  It was as if we could see pieces of a puzzle and where they fit together.  It was exhilarating!

And at one moment, it dawned on me that only two people could have seen these pieces of puzzle.  We were the only ones that had this shared knowledge of the past and present.  So, we were the only ones that could see where the pieces could be used and applied to the future.  It was a process akin to profiling.

Profiling is the act or process of extrapolating information about a person or business based on known traits or tendencies.  I’m sure you’ve heard about it in relation to finding and stopping a criminal or in finding an appropriate person to date or marry.  In our case it was related to discovering traits or tendencies of entrepreneurship.

One of our friends and associates, Dr. Ronald K. Mitchell, one of the world’s foremost experts in entrepreneurship, worked with us over many years to develop an “entrepreneur assessment profile” program.  The program assesses how well an entrepreneur communicates in an interview with his/her resume with investors through evaluating an individual’s entrepreneurial skill set.  It’s a template to organize and test for entrepreneurial attributes and helps the entrepreneur improve their chances for venture success by charting a course for improvement.   But, it does one more thing that I really like.

It provides a list of a person’s specific attributes and gives examples of famous, successful people with similar characteristics.  It opens a window into possibilities, and it’s shown me that an individual can follow a personal profiling process to open a window into possibilities for their own positive future.  Here’s how you can start this as a formal, personal process.

Sit by yourself and write down a list of what you think your best skills and attributes are.  Don’t rush through this.  Make yourself sit and think through difficult situations of the past where you were challenged and then make note of what you did to create a successful outcome.  But, don’t stop here.

Find someone who has known you for a long time and ask him or her to tell you what he or she see as your most important attributes.  When I did this I was astounded to hear a close friend tell me what my most valuable attribute was in one simple sentence.  I never would have recognized this trait as “special” because it comes so naturally to me that I think everyone has it.  I guarantee you that you have the same kind of dynamic going on.

Next, take time to read biographies of people who are of interest to you.  As you read, make a list of attributes you have in common and how the person you’re reading about used them to her or his advantage.

Finally, use the information you’ve gathered about yourself to map a new course, future, that will allow you to use all of your special puzzle pieces to fit into a personally designed future.

Profiling yourself is really a designing process.  It will allow you to get to know yourself and your potential better than any way I have ever discovered.  So, use it as a way to discover your past, present and future.  Become a profiler.