“In a
recent educational summit that Susan and I attended, psychologist and speaker
Connie Podesta asked the audience to categorize themselves as squares,
triangles, circles or squiggles. No thinking involved.” (Lori)
“I had a
tough time choosing, but the first shape that came to mind was the circle, so I
stuck with it.” (Susan)
“I wrote down squiggle… I dunno why, but I liked the
shape and the term ‘serpentine’ came to me—thank you Peter Falk. Ok, does
anyone remember the movie The Inlaws?” The other shapes seemed too
predictable, but that ~~~now that
was something I could hang my hat on—it had movement!” (Lori)
“Connie
then asked for the circles to come on stage, then the triangles, squares, and
squiggles. Upon seeing the squares and triangles, I realized I had made the
correct choice. The circles that stampeded to the stage looked like me.” (Susan)
“Squiggles came up to the stage and yep, I saw more people
like me. We consider ourselves to have a creative bent, are visual thinkers and
tend to think outside the box, always looking for solutions and new ideas. When
I take notes it’s more of an art form—I write sideways, draw in
between and I’m probably the only one who can read my own notes. “
“Circles
like me laugh the most, but are also the most emotional. We are caregivers and
fun-loving. We enjoy being with people and over-commit a.k.a. I hate
to say ‘no.’ We worry too
much, and we… I…try too hard to please.”
“Here’s what I learned from Connie: circles are always
socializing; squares are the gimme-the-facts and 10 minutes early people;
triangles want people to get to the point and are competitive. The squiggles,
well, we are out-of-the-box thinkers, creative types who carry great-looking,
empty organizational binders. Our notes have doodles and sketches around the
important stuff. And let’s say we meet at 10 ish. I
laughed out loud on that one.”
“At
dinner later that night with our Rodan and Fields teams, I, of course, asked
what shape they thought I was. Most said I was a triangle, which is focused on
the bottom line, efficient, confident, competitive, impatient and outspoken. My
inner Carrie Bradshaw wondered which shape I really was? And, why, if I’m more comfortable as the
circle, do my friends see me as a triangle? The life happenings of the last 20
years have reshaped my round self into a tight triangle. It is constricting! I
have been too busy doing what I HAD to do (take care of my children, earn
a living, etc.) to be my comfortable self. Today my R+F business and friends
are allowing me to breathe and the circle in me is busting out !”
“I had a similar reaction to Susan’s. When stuck behind a desk during my corporate years, I
felt compelled to become a more ‘acceptable’ shape. I sometimes gave up my best self – the one that is passionate, creative and caring and wants
to know how your day is. I had a boss ask me ‘why do you
want to know how I am?’ Why do I have to explain that I
actually care about people I work with? I’m investing myself, my time, my
energy, my best when I clock in. I’ve learned we need to be bold
about who we are. If you have to try too hard to ‘fit’ maybe you should ask yourself if you’re settling into an unfamiliar shape.”
“I guess you can say we are all happier, more productive
ladies when not bent out of shape?”
“Totally! Perspective is a good
thing. And, if we can learn from our past--even better. It’s all about being your very best self. Every shape has
something really great to offer so why do we concentrate on making ourselves or
others fit a mold?”
“It was great for me also to see
how I should talk to and work with other personality types so that the
team benefits from the unique contribution each offers.”
“ We all want to be accepted
and appreciated. Time to be bold and let our true selves shine. P.S. Susan
Thetford, I love my circle friend and business partner — you’re helping me, reminding me, to
be my best me.”
“Why
thank you, Lori Quinn. You are my
favorite squiggle!”
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