I admit that until I read the article, Who are you as a Leader?, I had never heard of an identity map. It’s a pretty simply thing: mapping all the important things that you identify with, that make you who you are. This isn’t something someone else can fully build for you. After all, no one else is going to know the importance of various aspects other than you. So how do you go about building your identity map?
First, identify what makes you who you are. The article suggests several headings to get started. I’ve put these into an Excel spreadsheet and added a few general suggestions. In this step, you’re just doing a brain dump. You’re not prioritizing. You’re not connecting. You’re just getting the ideas out of your head and down somewhere, whether it be the template or on a sheet of paper or something else.
Then, in the center of your workspace, whether it be a physical piece of paper, a slide in your favorite presentation software like PowerPoint, or some other tool, draw a little circle and label it “ME” for your starting point. Look over the list of things which you jotted down. Put those that are most important to you close to “ME” and those not so important farther away. If you know certain items are drawn from others, make sure you put those in proximity to what they are related to. For instance, I have “The Citadel” and “physics” and “mathematics” close together because I earned those degrees from The Citadel. Finally, draw lines to connect things together as they relate.
How does putting together an identity map help us? First, it helps us align what we are trying to do (including potential career transitions) with who we are. Second, it helps us perform better when we can align what we are doing with some aspect of ourselves. Third, it can help us understand what’s truly important to us and how that impacts how we live. For instance, most folks hide some aspect of themselves at work and in polite company. Do we understand why we hide those part of ourselves? Should we be hiding it?