What Are You Hardwired To Do?

"Success isn't just about hard work; it’s about the alignment of your external roles with your internal Encodings. When they match, you don't just perform; you flow."

Jim Collins is a writer, thought leader and leadership expert who never misses a beat IMO. His works have become standard study in the business world, always offered in a clear, applicable and powerful package. His latest book What To Make Of A Life finally arrived in early April, and I devoured it like a huge plate of poutine at 2:00 am after a big night out in Montreal. His writing is so precise and economical, with literally no wasted words. The stories he tells in the book with fidelity and passion about notable people like Jimmy Page and Grace Hopper pull you in like a great novel. His insights are profound and rich, yet universally applicable and accessible to anyone.

I could write for miles about the learning from this book. But the biggest one for me was Encodings. What Collins articulates with a perfectly crafted name (Encodings) is something that is elemental to leading a fulfilling and purposeful working life. He nailed it.

Encodings are the inherent, often hidden, patterns of personality, talent, and passion that define who a person is at their core. They are your “native mode” in which you operate with remarkable flow and function, and where your capabilities and skills shine forward.

These are not just a grab-bag of skills acquired through practice and years, but the fundamental predispositions that make work feel effortless and deeply rewarding. In our lives, our goal is not to try and manufacture ourselves into something we’re not, but to detect and connect to these internal codes that live within each of us. 

That’s to say Encodings are:

…what you were born to do.

…what you value above all else.

…what you are perpetually obsessed with.

This resonates so deeply for me because it has a natural path back to the work I’ve done in recent years on the Personal Brand Wayfinder. In that, I articulated the concept as Essence. The core idea is that everyone has an Essence. And when we are able to work from that Essence, we are able to make meaning. Working from Essence is how we can effortlessly create impact in the world. Essence is the most essential you. 

So now I think Encoding is what lives underneath the Essence. It’s the hardwiring and circuitry that comes to life through your Essence.

One thing that’s important to clarify here is this: your job is not your Encoding. It never was, never is, and never will be.

Your job in the simplest terms is a container…a temporary holding place for your talents, behaviours and competencies. But you are never defined by your job; doing so would abdicate your self-identity in a way that will inevitably lead you astray. In fact, I believe that people who feel lost in their careers often have solely seen their identities and Encodings through the lens of their jobs. What a shame that is.

I’m loath to tell my own story as the vehicle to share my leadership thoughts, but my lived experience here is too compelling not to share.

In 2017, my coach helped me discover my Encodings. I was 25 years into my marketing and communications career, and felt that this would continue to be my craft, my place in the work world, and my pursuit. But underneath, I was lacking a sense of purpose and internal fire as I thought about that continued journey.

One day during a regular session, we elevated the conversation to a different plane. After a long pause, he asked me the most profound question of my career:

“What do you really love to do?”

With little pause, I responded almost by instinct:

“I love being the person who enables people to do everything they are capable of in their careers.”

“I love to help teams be the best they can be.”

“I love building intimate and connected one-to-one relationships with people.”

Then, after another long pause, my coach offered this:

“What if you did those things all the time?”

Whoa. Hold the phone. What just happened here?

While he may not have been intentionally doing so, he helped me name and claim my Encodings right at that moment. 

That conversation was the spark and self-discovery I needed to eventually move into the world of coaching and personal development. While there were challenges and hurdles along the way, it happened with relative ease and an absence of friction. My Encodings are at the forefront of my work each and every single day. They are hardwired into what I’m here to do and why I love what I do. They set me into a flow state and guide me in this amazing second chapter of my career.

You deserve the same. Everyone should experience the rapture and joy of your Encodings running wild across your life’s work.

Your Encodings are within you. Maybe the demands of life, constraints of jobs, or the influences and voices of others have obfuscated them. But they are there. They always have been. You just need to have the conviction and courage to uncover them. And once you name and claim them, then you can live into them to find the fulfillment, flow and joy that you deserve in your work.

So here is your nudge to uncover your Encodings. Here’s some questions (adapted from the book) to get you going:

What Encodings have you discovered within yourself? 

What do others think are your Encodings?

What percent of your time in work is fully aligned with your Encodings?

To what degree do you trust your Encodings? How could you find out?