What is your narrative?

We all have a story worth sharing

Author

Yukta Parikh
March 01, 2024

I recently read a Harvard Business Review article (is it giving I’m getting my MBA?) called, “Discovering Your Authentic Leadership” by Bill George, et al. It was all about how to be an authentic leader and we discussed it deeply in my leadership class. You do it by figuring out the narrative of your life. Your life isn’t just a series of things that happen to you but a story you can tell. We all have a narrative to tell, whether it’s to make you a better leader or not is up to you.

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“Over and over, you replay the events and personal interactions that are important to your life, attempting to make sense of them to find your place in the world.”

Bill George, et al.

In a way, I’ve always created a narrative for my life, whether on my college essay, cover letter, or job interview. My narrative is my in. I guess that makes me a leader? Just kidding, but it does make me effective at a skill we should all have. That skill is finding the lessons from your life. Every experience has taught me something about myself and the world around me. 

Finding your narrative

Our lives are so much more than what college we go to, what city we move to, our job title, when we get a promotion, or how much money we make. We are more than our failures, job rejections, firings, or shortcomings. We are our values, how we show up in the world, and how we react to the things that happen to us. I also like to think that we are what we love.  

That is where your narrative comes from. 

In my college personal statement, I wrote about something that had once been deeply traumatic for me. My essay answered the question, “What was the biggest challenge you ever faced?” It was difficult to write and I showed it only to my English teacher at the time. It forced me to face myself and draw something positive out of a situation that honestly sucked. I began to see what my trauma gave me, not what it took away. This is where I began writing my narrative. 

I learned that I wasn’t weak, I was resilient. I wasn’t scared, I was brave. I wasn’t insecure, I was confident in who I was becoming. 

Figuring out your narrative is a great tool for becoming an effective leader, but beyond that, it’s a great tool for figuring out who you are outside of all the fluff. Our titles and degrees can only do so much. The person we are behind it and the stories we tell do the rest. So what’s your narrative? 

Currently Consuming

Reading

  • Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice For Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

    • This is so interesting and I love Vera.

Watching

  • Love is Blind Season 6

    • Honestly just watching for drama at this point. Nothing will ever beat season 1!

Listening

  • I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

    • Such a powerful book to listen to. Listening to everything Jennette went through made my heart ache for her.

  • My February Playlist

See ya!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week!

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