One of the guys I’m following is Tony (@Schlanghole). He owns a successful business here in Boise (don’t bother heading over there if you’re on an iPhone… the whole site is Flash, except the footer. Boo, I know.). Tony recently started a blog to share some of his thoughts and musing on life and business. Last night he posted a great, uh…  post on his staunch “No Prick Rule“. I loved it! Basically Tony believes that the people you hire matter. Not just what they do (which is important) but who they are (which matters more). I think we should all adopt this rule.

But it got me thinking about how different people interact with one another in team environments. My personality type has been known to cause more than a little conflict on teams. And I’m no exception. Playing devil’s advocate comes very easily to me and I have to keep my desire for conflict in check at times.

Having said that though, I know that I do my best creative problem-solving when I have 2 or 3 or even 4 divergent views being advocated for vigorously by invested parties. I call those times of discussion–those times of conflict, creative conflict. I love creative conflict. Its a tight rope though. It can easily just become conflict with winners and losers, victors and… well, you know. Creative conflict isn’t about winners and losers. Its about solutions and win-win. Its about that 5th way (in this case) that brings everyones ideas to the table and finds the best way to move forward for everyone.

I know… it sounds ridiculous. There are always winners and losers. And I suppose that’s true. But when you work somewhere that has a “No Prick Rule” you’ll care less when you lose… and more importantly you’ll care less when you win. And that’s when “creative conflict” can happen. I wish there were more business owners who followed Tony’s philosophy.

Those are my 3 words. At least today they are; its the best I can do on such short notice. I’m putting together my résumé and as I’ve been looking at others, one had their 3 words listed under their name (I wish I saved where I saw that, but I didn’t). I loved it. And it got me thinking, what are my 3 words? So today I spent some time thinking about that and this is what I came up with.

Leader. I’m a leader. In my family. In my business. Even in my interactions with others. Every day I have a choice to lead or relegate. I want to choose to lead, and lead well. What’s amazing about leadership is we are all given that choice every day. We are all leaders. Unfortunately we don’t always take that seriously or do it well. But I’m taking it seriously and I’m striving to do it exceptionally well in whatever situation I find myself with that one choice: lead or relegate.

Creator. I debated between creator and inventor. But I felt like inventor sounded like I was some mad scientist toiling away my evenings in the garage. I still wonder if creator is right. Perhaps innovator. Or explorer. Or visionary. Whatever the case is, its that certain way at looking at the world that brings clarity to chaos. It finds the best solutions to complex problems and ways to maximize opportunities while minimizing obstacles. Its that instinct, that way of thinking, that lets you create your own path and see your own vision. Its about helping and making others better because you can see in them what they have not yet seen. Its that creator gene. And I’m making it my 2nd word.

Storyteller. One of the greatest distances between us homo sapiens and all the other creatures in God’s Big Zoo is our ability to tell story. I love story. I could tell stories all the time. True stories, fake stories, those in-between stories. All of them. My favorite program (on any medium) is still This American Life because its all about story and the art of telling the story. I’ve learned more about being a storyteller from that program than all the other resources I’ve ever used to hone my craft. My future is in flex, but I do know that storytelling will always be part of it.

Update 01/31/10: So I did a google search for “my 3 words” and apparently this isn’t a novel idea… at all! Just wanted to let the internets know that before the self-assigned honesty police come on by to flame me!