Every company needs an identity. When we say that, we usually mean “brand”, right? But suddenly, after the last couple of days in a twilight zone where waterfowl are popping up everywhere, I think identity is more than that. It’s really soul. It’s passion. It’s what you can stand to spend time on as a business owner, as opposed to those things you can’t stand. You make your loud, quirky, memorable choices, and that’s what makes your identity.
I encountered the first waterfowl yesterday a couple of hours after driving away from Lincoln. I was headed for Colorado Springs and a cut-rate Living Social solo retreat. The birds probably were not really waterfowl, but they got the ball rolling. Can someone tell me if Sandhill cranes are waterfowl? There was a flock of them (Is that the right term?) right near I-80…not so unusual for this time of year, but spectacular to see. Those cranes gave the field personality (identity), because they were different, and so PERFECT for that time and place. It was a delight to see them.
The next time waterfowl showed up was on a highway pond. You couldn’t see the water, because there were so many snow geese. They stopped me in my Jeep tracks. I pulled off to gawk and take pictures and video, and I shared it on Facebook. It was breathtaking and scary at the same time. It jarred me out of my road trance, lifted my spirits, and made my heart race a little. That moment had lots of quirky, unsettling but heart-soaring energy…or identity.
The next time was on a small lake on the grounds of the lodge where I am staying, Sundance Mountain Lodge on the edge of town in Monument. I walked down to the lake, and to my delight shared the next half hour with an odd but amazing assortment of ducks, geese, and some crazy-looking leader of the pack with mottled feathers and a big mass of red on its face. They were tame, almost interactive. They were just a couple feet from me. They did not beg for food, so I’m guessing they were well trained by the resort to be a delightful feature of the facility. THAT’S what you call memorable (along with a lot of other wonderful things here). So…identity is memorable.
The last time, so far, that ducks showed up was when I was slicing a luscious filet in the affordable, but stylish Bistro inside the lodge. It was very quiet, then suddenly my phone rang, and I had to laugh. The ring I chose long ago is a quacking duck. It’s the one I can hear the best, and ironically it’s the one I can stand, because it’s fun. I about destroyed Corona-number-two (long story…see Facebook) in my fumbling effort to silence the thing. And it made me think that the quacking has become part of my personal identity in this moment of my life. It’s funny and impossible to ignore.
So there you have it, grasshopper: the lesson of the waterfowl for businesses…and for people by the way. The quacking duck was my choice, and it has become a sincere and memorable part of my identity that I love.
