It is that time of year – the promise not to eat the cookies but do anyway – got to set some goals but don’t – I am too busy – and forgot to get my sister’s dog a present again – time to go back to the gym but don’t – time of year.

But one thing I have learned to do, even if I don’t go to the gym and do eat the cookies, is consider my vision for what my life will be like and what I will create. This is work I usually do on the Friday after Thanksgiving as I am not a competitive shopper. It is always work I do by the end of the year. There are many ways to set about this.

Liz has a theme for the year, which she talked about in an earlier post (“Living on a Theme – A New Way to Approach Goal Setting”). I just call it my vision. One thing I have been clear on since my single parent days (1996 – 2006) is that I want to create a company that actually works. One that honors the other commitments people have in their lives and is responsive and responsible to the work and clients. One that makes money, does good work and rarely has me up at night obsessing about something bad. A company that almost never has big emergencies that make people work obscene hours. One where a sick child does not ruin mom’s peace of mind and make her fear for her job. With good planning, you can avoid a lot of that craziness.

Marketing is not an emergency room. I have talked about this vision a lot and told each person we interview. Dawn was totally onboard from day one and practices what we preach. While I hate the whole work/life balance concept because it does not make sense to me, I am committed to a life and a company that works.

Do we do this perfectly at Ingenuity? Of course not. But we are on the path. Here is what has happened as a result of Dawn and me sharing this vision:

Staff reviews this month were an honor. Each person in the review chair has taken the time to tell us how proud she is to work here and how basically not crazy our firm is. They appreciate the strengths-based culture and the direct feedback. They like working with a team with no shirkers and no meanness allowed. They have their lives – their spouses and partners, friends, children, travel, their novels, their creative work, their passionate pursuits – and, even though we have high expectations while they are here, it works for them.

This is very honoring feedback from very smart people with loads of choices and experience. We have grown to 11 people (thanks Dawn!) and keep expanding nearly every month. We have some of the best clients you can imagine working with – smart, energetic and demanding.

There are a million ways to make your dreams come true. All of them start with asking yourself what you want to create and then sharing it with others. Get other people involved in your dream or idea or vision. Talk about it. Get others excited.

So what is my vision for 2008?

• Vibrant health
• Inspiring, effective leadership of a rapidly growing, profitable company
• Abundant peace, love and respect leaving loads of room for creativity and generosity

Question: What is your vision?

I’ve managed to get through most of my life without being called very many names. But lately, for some reason, I’m frequently being called the wrong one. Right or wrong, here’s how I’ve handled the most recent “wrong-name calling” encounters.

I’ve been working with a firm for several years. About a month ago I was in their office working onsite for the day when one of the staff – let’s call her Diane – came in to chat with her co-worker who was seated near where I was working. They were talking about Diane’s recent engagement. Diane decided to invite me into the conversation and said to me, “Dawn, do you know when the next wedding fair is?”

Dawn is one of my boss’ names. My boss who’s had very minimal interaction with this firm.

My first instinct was to ignore the error and avoid the awkwardness of having to confront her, but I quickly decided it was better to correct her than have to correct her a month later. Diane felt horrible (even though I corrected her in a joking, light-hearted manner), and has apologized several times since. I think she’s finally over the embarrassment and happily I have my identity back.

The next identity crisis happened at a client’s holiday party. Upon arriving at the party everyone was given a name tag (with their rightful name). During dinner I was lucky enough to sit next to one of the firm’s leaders, with whom I’ve had several conversations, been in meetings with, sent emails to … you get the picture.

He called me by a name five times throughout the evening.

The first time he called me Liz.
The second time he called me Dawn (yes, him too).
The third time he was handing out gifts to everyone at the event by announcing our names and handing us the gift, which had our names written on it. He said the name “Liz” and handed my gift right to me.
The fourth time was when I was asked to participate in the evening entertainment. Being that the said leader was still seated next to me, he decided to cheer me on by saying “Good job, Dawn,” loud enough that most of the room could hear.

At that point I leaned over to a co-worker who was with me and asked if I should politely correct him as other people were hearing his mistake. We decided that I wouldn’t because he had called me by the right name twice. The right information was floating in his head somewhere.

The fifth time was when we were leaving. I attempted to use another non-verbal prop (the name tag obviously wasn’t working) to guide him to use the right name. I naturally held my gift – name out – in a position that was easy for him to read. I then subtly tapped the gift with my finger tips to draw attention to my name written on it. After I thanked him for inviting me he said, “Thanks Dawn and drive safe.”

What I’ve learned by living through these two identity crises is that subtly doesn’t work.

Even though it’s uncomfortable for you and awkward for the other person to point out that they’ve called you the wrong name, it’s best to say something right when it happens.

It’s ideal if you can humorously correct the person in private versus in front of a group. Either way the correction needs to be done.

Otherwise you’ll find yourself anxiously waiting for the next time it happens. When you finally get around to correcting them they’ll feel even worse that so much time lapsed before you said anything.

Unfortunately, this is the situation I’m anxiously awaiting to unfold.

Maybe I should just change my name to Dawn.

Question: What are your tactful tips for correcting people when they call you the wrong name?