Leading with intention: Individuals

What do your colleagues and employees mean to you? I’m not just talking about the money they make for your company, but the value they bring with all the different perspectives they have.  

Oftentimes, especially in larger organizations, headcount becomes simply a matter of output and outcome. But we miss many of the things that make those great results possible when we view our workforce as a disembodied whole rather than seeing each individual that makes up the team. 

Identity is our business, but the concept of identity has really been integral to SailPoint’s success on many levels. Our people, captured by our core value of “Individuals”, is the focus of this piece. 

With COVID, the blurring of our work and personal lives has never been more present than it is right now. That isn’t to imply that life-work balance is gone, nor should it be, but rather to address the reality of our new environment.  

How many of us have been joined by a teammate’s toddler on a Zoom call? Or had to talk over the neighbor’s barking dog during a meeting? Or joked about our collective lack of groomed hair?  

Like a real-life Mad-Libs, you can likely fill in the blank on ways you’ve experienced the “realness” of WFH during a pandemic in conjunction with your co-workers.  

I’ve been amazed at the adaptability and resilience of our team as this new mindset about embracing each other, our whole selves, has led us to recognize that we can do great work despite extenuating circumstances. As a matter of fact, I have come to believe it helps us do even better work. We are finding new ways to get work done, getting creative with our calendars and making new and better connections with people with whom we might not have otherwise interacted.  

But what does this have to do with individuals? Everything.  

Embracing individuals, recognizing and celebrating everyone’s unique identity, gives us the power to look at things differently. It gives us the power to do great work together.  

And perhaps, as we are all experiencing this together, we can truly hold each other up. We can grant each other patience and understanding. And most of all, we can feel confident that we can truly be ourselves and put our passion into our work.  

After all, as noted by the great Bishop Desmond Tutu, we can only be human together.