Give Yourself a Label

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“You know me. I’m the turnaround guy.” –CEO.

A profound determinant of your career trajectory isn't your resume, your network, or even your skills: it's the identity you've assigned to yourself—your label. And, if you listen hard enough, you’ll hear the labels people give themselves all the time, and more importantly, the labels you are giving yourself.

I've seen this repeatedly with incredibly successful clients across industries. The people who reach exceptional heights don't just *happen* to behave differently; they've labeled themselves in ways that reinforce and drive their actions. And these self-assigned labels become self-fulfilling prophecies with remarkable consistency.

A woman I worked with would tell me, “I’m the closer,” and guess what? Every time she was brought in, she confidently approached the client meeting and closed the deal. I have people who are self-labeled connectors, closers, turn-around guys, and all sorts of self-labels…and they all make good on their own labeling.

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These aren't coincidences. Here’s how to check the detrimental labels you might be overlooking—and the techniques to challenge yourself for more powerful internal positioning.