Happy 2016!  It’s the beginning of the year and many of us are making goals for 2016.  These goals might be personal, professional, physical, mental, spiritual, or social.  There are a wide variety of ways to go about creating goals, and I’d like to take a look at making goals from a different lens by asking a grammar related question.  What would your name mean as a verb/adjective/noun?  What your name would mean depends on who you are and how you demonstrate this to the world.  The question to ask is, “If people used my name as a verb/adjective/noun, would it mean what I wanted it to mean?”

Here are some examples of what I mean.  I was working in training and was discussing a challenge in a staff meeting when I said, “Toss me a marker and I’ll Charlie this problem.”  To Charlie is a verb meaning to take complex problems and break them down into strategic process steps in a beautiful manner on a white board.  If you know Charlie, you knew exactly what it meant to Charlie before I ever explained it.  If you’ve ever been impressed by my strategic thinking on a whiteboard it’s because I learned that from Charlie.  Let’s look at another example.  When I introduce an initiative to someone I Steve or Derek the situation.  To Steve or Derek means to have an intentional focus on sharing the WHY behind any initiative or request you are making.  You can’t talk to these guys for more than 5 minutes before they say, “Let’s make sure we really drive home the why.”  It’s what they do and who they are.

As I think of my own name there are things my name would mean right now that I’m happy about.  Maybe my name would mean to be creative, deliver a great presentation, send email with awesome clip art, etc.  In the future I hope what my name means continues to evolve.  Down the line I’d like people to say, “I just Andrew Embryed that challenge” and mean that they pulled some miraculous leadership feat that elevated a large group of people to a new level, unleashed some marketing genius that impacted millions of people, or cared so deeply about others that it changed their lives.  (Aim high, right?)  If I want my name to mean these things, then these are some areas where I will have to continue to grow as I face new challenges in 2016.

What does it mean when someone says, “I just  _____ (your name) that challenge?”  Does it mean what you want it to mean?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry