As life skills go one of the hardest is to see yourself as others do – they apply all kinds of filters and interpretations, and of course we’re often reluctant to let go of our own biases that filter our own vision. It’s easy to get hung up on the negatives or potential negatives and not think about the positives, something my friend Tjay reminded me of with this blog post. He picked some people (including me) and tried to write in a few sentences something positive he felt about them. 

I consider it to be an amazing effort. It takes some time and emotional energy to write what you feel on a personal level, the risk of getting it wrong, of not doing justice to someone you like respect, etc.

I was surprised to be on the list (Tjay knows many people in our world), and more than surprised by his comment about me:

“If you are looking for a quite rock of knowledge that will thoroughly impress you and impress upon you that you need to be a better person, seek out Andy Warren. His quiet way will shock you into the reality of continuous improvement. Listen to him when he talks, and how he talks, and watch others learn from him. He is a giant of a man and you should be humbled to simply learn as much as you can from him.”

I thought “that’s me?”. I’m quite sure if he had left the names out I would not have picked that one as matching to me. I feel like I need to grow into that description. A strange but pleasant experience to see yourself for a moment as someone else does, and one that will resonate with me for a while. Thank you Tjay!

Later in the week I was on a panel that included my friend and occasional mentor Kevin Kline. We were going back and forth on a few topics and we got into branding, Kevin mentioned that he saw me as a “producer” because I get things done. That one was easier to understand,but still interesting (and would it be self serving to confirm that Kevin is indeed a ‘wise man’?).

So many lessons to learn!