Why Being ‘Weird’ Might Be Your Greatest Strength

I HAVE RARELY FOLLOWED the conventional path. As a child I was shy and creative, so I spent a lot of time in my own imagination. While other kids were outside playing, I read. When they went to parties, I went to Girl Scouts. When they played Spin the Bottle, I … did not.

I was told I was too quiet. That I daydreamed too much. That I should try harder to
fit in.

In my youth I hated being “weird,” but as an adult I have come to realize it’s my superpower. A lifetime of trying to fit in now allows me to enter any room with confidence and a belief that I belong there. Decades of being uncomfortable in my own skin have been replaced with a deep respect for my body and an appreciation for what it has allowed me to accomplish. And a childhood spent being “too much” of this and “not enough” of that have brought me to a place of radical acceptance and an embracing of “my weird.”

Normal is a fallacy anyway. Everybody is a little weird. In fact, not being weird would make you weird. But here’s the secret little Dee needed to learn: All the best people are weird. All the best stories involve weird people, or places, or events. Embracing your weird is the only way to truly feel alive.

Luckily, I have been in this industry long enough to recognize that it attracts some similarly fashioned folks.

If you’re picking up what I am putting down, then our Big Story (page 30) — offering up an Alternative Manager’s Toolkit in flagrant flouting of conventional business wisdom — is likely right up your alley.

It’s amazing how life just gets better when you stop trying to be what you’re supposed to and just become who you are. Weird bits and all.

Best wishes for your business,