You don't. Instead you appreciate that someone with a long history of work in corporate America wants to find the time to learn and experiment, has the appetite for growth -- the company's and its employees -- and the gusto for going for great. Why insist on categorizing all of this?
This is my 201st post at Conversation Agent and I've been called the most disparate things. Some people classify me as a communicator, some as a PR person, others as a marketer. Some think I am a consultant with my own business, others say they have no idea of where to fit me. And that is just perfect.
"A page is good only when we turn it and find life urging along, confusing every page in the book. The pen rushes on, urged by the same joy that makes me course the open road. A chapter started when one doesn't know which tale to tell is like a corner turned..." [Italo Calvino, The Nonexistent Knight]
Most of the jobs that exist today we invented. I'm the product of an education in the classics and an absolute passion for results: a hybrid for sustainable work. There are a lot more people like me out there, more than in the past. Our careers have become nonlinear, we have taken control and we have decided to become ourselves despite all the indications and warnings that we should indeed learn to fit in a specific box.
Even blogging is a disruptive activity. Those who have done it for a while know what I'm talking about. We challenge our own assumptions and formulae to come up with fresh content that people will find the time to read. We are the building blocks of a conversation started first in the course of our experience and then spilled over the page.
I would not be at 200+ posts without the support of all of you, my readers. And without your curiosity and contributions, I would not have advanced to 536 unique permanent inbound links in such a short period of time -- remember that I have a split personality even on Technorati: domain URL and Typepad URL. I have achieved much more than I set up to do and all in good fun.
So what's next? We'll be talking more about brands, products, services, and business. My aspiration is to continue to be link-worthy, especially if I got an unexpected link from a Hugh MacLeod at gapingvoid (I know there is a cartoon in it too, and he has me almost convinced that Microsoft is a good company), Tony Hung at Deep Jive Interests (who got his very own cartoon from Hugh, and just about convinced me that the word Herald with Blog makes sense), and from John Moore at Brand Autopsy (he has me almost convinced that Starbucks is a good place).
Nothing is ever set in stone. This chapter was started on purpose to turn a corner and find life urging along. Thank you for reading.