Your "Persona" is your EXTERNAL IDENTITY. It is how others will characterize and identify you, based on their perception of "who you are". But your "Persona" is a mask and you can change that mask at will! For example, you can change your "Persona" to be more dominant in situations where leadership is required, such as in your career or business. Or you can adapt a "Persona" that is more aligned with your spouse or children. In fact, you will create or adapt a "Persona" for all types of different situations and you will do so without consciously thinking about it UNLESS you you want to harness the power of a "Persona" in order to achieve a specific objective. By using the right techniques, you can create such a "Persona" and internalize it so it becomes a part of you. Successful leaders do this all the time!
The bottom line is that we all have "Personae" that we hide behind and these "Personae" become our PERCEIVED IDENTITY in the eyes of those with whom we come into contact! Our "Personae" are usually created with the best of intentions, for we all want to be seen in the best possible light. They are intended to create the best "perception" about who we are in any given circumstance! As a business leader, a politician, a parent, a romantic partner, a person of faith or a coach!
But no matter how well we intend to have our "Persona" represent "who we are", it will always be a PERCEIVED IDENTITY. And because our "Persona" is created in the image we wish to be portrayed (consciously or subconsciously), it becomes an IDENTITY OF OUR EGO. There is nothing wrong with that. A healthy ego is an integral part of "who we are" and "why we are"! But it's NOT OUR TRUE IDENTITY!
Our TRUE IDENTITY is a "Spiritual Identity". It is an identity that others may experience when they meet us, but cannot see. It is the identity that we were born with. It is inherent in all of us. And it manifests itself through our "PERSONALITY" which is the aggregate of all our inherent characteristics and talents. Our "PERSONALITY" is the moral compass that guides our "Persona" as it becomes our representative to the outside world. It preserve the integrity of our "Persona". And it adds a dimension to our "Persona" that makes it uniquely ours.
Occasionally, our “persona” is in conflict with our “personality”. When this happens, we will experience stress and anxiety. IF our "PERSONA" is not aligned with our "PERSONALITY" (or our TRUE IDENTITY), the "Persona" we created will be in conflict with the "Personality" we inherited. When this happens, we experience anxiety and stress, for our "Persona" no longer represents the way in which we want to be perceived. For example, if we "pretend" to be someone other than who we inherently are (based on our personality) and if we create a FALSE IDENTITY based on a "Persona" that tries to create the perception that we are someone else, our "Personality" will not be able to support or sustain such a façade. This often happens when we try to create a "Persona" for a job we want, a relationship we seek or a goal we want to achieve. If these objectives are not congruent with our inherent personality traits, we are destined to fail in these endeavors!
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About Allan
Allan N. Mulholland is the founder and president of PersonaCoach (Int'l) LLC, which provides training and certification for life & business coaches. He is the author of “Change Your Perception, Change Yourself!” and writes on all aspects of coaching training and development.
To get Allan’s free book “Clients Don’t Pay for Coaching. They Pay for RESULTS!” go to www.resultscoachmastery.com
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