​

Last week at Sandbox Summit I felt more sooo alive than I have in months.

​

I wonder what makes this experience so engaging.

What can we learn from that to bring our day-to-day work experience? (which is my focus now, supporting people to be even more engaged with work)

There were many reasons: the magic, the beauty, the full range of emotions and so on. (come check out some recaps here)

But I think it boils down to three reasons:

1. Satisfying relationships. I know these dear friends well enough, and they care about me, and I care for them *For me, *care is “wanting the best for another person, AND in a small and big way, doing something about that.”
2. Knowing myself : Not so much in developing new ability (”doing”), but more about being affirmed as this guy Khuyen (”being”). My uniqueness was embraced. I knew exactly what made me valuable , being kind of a nice Vietnamese guy a weird mix of thoughtfulness and challenge. 😜
3. Knowing exactly what I contribute and doing it. I point out things that helped raising awareness for our whole community.

So now, how does “Know your uniqueness and focus on contribution” relate to work, especially if you are a people leader or somebody who cares about being engaged at work?

Here’s a real example.

Yesterday I was talking with this brilliant analyst at our company. PhD in math. Olympiad math medal in high school.

He said he beside his scope of work, he hates to see things disorganized.

He could streamline our entire onboarding process for new hires.

But he’s waiting.

Waiting for someone to ask him.

Waiting for it to become his official responsibility.

Waiting for permission to use his strengths where they could actually make a difference.

I told him straight up: “That’s on you.”

Most people think engagement happens TO them.

Better manager. More recognition. Clearer job description.

That’s surely nice. AND that’s on us.

Peter Drucker nailed it decades ago in his classic “The Effective Executive” in principle number two: Focus on contribution (which I wrote about exactly 10 years ago)

You figure out how your unique strengths serve the bigger picture.

Then you step into that value.

Note:

It’s true that most workplaces don’t support the ongoing reflection needed.

“What have you learned about yourself? What are you getting better at? Where do you want to grow next?”

That’s individual work few people ask.

Weekly reflection. Honest assessment. Constant refinement.

Because your uniqueness keeps evolving.

What made you valuable last year isn’t the same as today.

—

At Sandbox, I know my evolving role: flip people’s thinking just enough for us to see new possibilities.

(As I often joke: My superpower is to do something so badly that other people look at it and say, “I can do better.”)

--

In mid career work, most people will come to know what they’re good at.

Many just don’t often take ownership of finding places to use it.

I know you're not that. You want to be more engaged. Contribute more, do better.

I'm with you.

​

Take care, and take some risks,

Khuyen

​

P.S. What’s your unique strength that you’re not fully using? And where could it make a real difference? Come check out a free offer from my colleague and teacher Brandon who is just phenomenal. Just tell him Khuyen sent you!

​