Style

style |stīl|
noun
• a manner of doing something : different styles of management.
• a way of using language : he never wrote in a journalistic style | students should pay attention to style and idiom.

- excerpt from the New Oxford American Dictionary

The first time I heard the word "style" applied in a business context was also the first time I had been given meaningful criticism in the workplace and I remember feeling like I had been punched in the gut. My ex-supervisor (and current mentor) had said: "You are a star, but you need to work on your style. You are very impatient and it shows to your coworkers. Many times your message is accurate but your impatience gets in the way and you end up antagonizing the people you work with. Don't worry, you will get there - just relax and give everybody else a chance to catch up to you." I remember her also giving a few examples of my missteps and mentioning that self confidence would help improve my style. This was 5 years ago, but it has stayed with me to this very day, because it was as sincere as it was accurate.

Since then, I have tried to be a bit more self-aware, and a big area I have focused on and will continue to work on throughout b-school is this concept of "style." I am a strong believer that there is no one style that is the best; everybody is unique. Rather, the right style for you is one where you are comfortable in your own skin, one where you capitalize on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. For me, the end goal is to communicate effectively. However there are many different ways to do this. Donald Trump may be the in-your-face authoritarian, but Meg Whitman has been described as "matronly," and using influence rather than force. I don't think you can say there is a "right way" or "wrong way," as both CEOs have achieved legendary professional success, but certainly one of the methods may gel more with you than the other. When I was an undergrad, I tried to shape myself into what I thought was the cookie cutter mold of a leader. I ended up feeling unnatural, and worse, unsuccessful. Rather than trying to force myself to act in ways I find contrived, I will concentrate on exploring and finding what works for me. I have no illusions that this will be a decades-long if not lifelong process.

Like I often tend to do, I have managed to write this post backwards, as what sparked this cogitation was a comment made to me last night, as we were passing stories back and forth over drinks. I have rarely heard other people use "style" in the same way as I do, but this definitely got me thinking:

Classmate: "----, your talking style is very much like an entertainer's."
Me: "Is this good or bad?"
Classmate: "It's very good."

Certainly the first time I have heard anything in this vein as an observation of me, and I'll admit to being really surprised. It just shows that often, your own views of yourself are as one-sided as others' views of you. I look forward to discovering out more about myself and my style in the next 2 years, and I hope my fellow classmates feel the same.