The Element of Signature and Its Hope for Appreciating What’s Unique About Every Human Being

Each of us has a signature.

It could be anything about us –

A mannerism.

A way of talking.

A way of dressing.

A way of entering or leaving a room.

A certain type of humor.

A special dish.

A quirky way of doing something.

A favorite song, dance or catch-phrase.

What we come to be associated with – that is our signature, that is our “special sauce.”

We may want to be all things to all people.

We may get defensive when someone says, “you’re such a Bertie Wooster”, or “do you still wear sweaters all the time?”

But like it or not, there are some things about us which will stick out to everyone.

And rightly so!

If everyone was all things to all people – how boring would that be?

How would any one keep track of everyone else, if we were all Stepford wives and Stepford husbands and Stepford relatives and Stepford friends?

Thankfully, each one of us is unique.

And makes our own special stamp on the world.

Each one of us has our own special way of signing our interactions with the rest of humanity.

Thinking about some of the people in my life – here are some signatures that come to mind...

My friend Ajay Sachdev’s signature: His good-natured humor and Bertie Wooster way of expressing himself. Read his post “A Short Stint in Advertising”, and you'll see what I mean. P.S. A Short Stint in Advertising is a hot favorite post on my blog.

My brother David’s signature: The song Hava Nagila would be one of them. David sings this song whenever our family gets together. You can read all about our family jams in my post Family Songs.

My friend Cindy’s signature?  That would be her cards.  I get cards from Cindy all the time.  Cards for Easter, cards for Christmas, cards for Mother’s Day; cards to thank me; cards to say she is thinking of me; cards to cheer me up. The best thing about these cards are the messages Cindy writes in them. 

Here’s one of them:

Dear Minoo,

I trust all is well with you and Tanita, your family, friends, and the demands of work. (To say nothing of keeping up with your gym work-out, your meditation; and your Blog as well!). You are one busy lady!! To all there is a season, and this is your season of productivity. For me, it is a time of reflection, of significant dreams that play out later in waking times.  Your friend in fun times, Your friend in tough times – Cindy.

Cindy has contributed several posts to my blog.  Favorite posts of readers are Laundry Day, Letters to Lucas and How To Say Goodbye – Part 2.

My brother-in-law Mohamad’s signature:  His biryani.  The magic words which will get people to come to any event are “Mohamad will be cooking biryani”.  Everyone in my family has their own signature dish, of course, and I’ve covered them all in my post “Our Cake Boss Family”

My nephew Vikram’s signature? His imitations. Vikram can imitate anybody.  He is famous for using his imitations to prank call somebody.  Once he made a prank call to me. On this call, he pretended to be a country bumpkin from India who had just come to the US and wanted to marry me.  “I am very good at ironing” is one of the statements I remember “Thomas Pillai” saying.  I was completely fooled by the call and I am sure Vikram enjoyed all the awkward politeness with which I turned down Thomas Pillai’s proposal.

My friend Julia’s signature:  It would have to be her nutrition advice. I shared some of this with you in my post 4 Healthy Eating Ideas I Learned from My Friend Julia. There’s also Julia's Goldilocks maneuver. Goldilocks maneuver - what’s that?  Well, you will just have to read my post The United States of Friendship – Part 8 to find out, won’t you?

Minoo’s signature?  Aha.  Do you want the 1.0 or the 2.0? Minoo 1.0 racked up a whole host of ahem, shall we say, embarrassing signatures. One such was wearing a sweater come rain, shine or 100+ degree temperatures – as described in my post “How to Become More Unique”. Another was wearing shades day and night for a couple of years.  My signature to those who last saw me like that and lost track of me after might well be “the girl who wore shades at night”. And if you were with me during my early MAA days, perhaps you might remember me as the “the gal who broke into mid-song at her desk, going “won’t you take me to Funky Town?” Ranjan Thomas, are you around?

These are just some examples of signatures.

The point is that each one of us is unique. And each one of us has our own special signature.

A signature we shouldn’t have to keep hidden. A signature that should be cherished.

Because it's what makes us different and special.

When White Hat Security was first started, Christal, one of the finance staff, would sing Happy Birthday to each and every employee who had a birthday.

Singing is Christal’s signature.

And White Hat was the kind of environment that encouraged people to express their signatures

White Hat Security is all grown up now and the practice has ended.

I think something is lost when this happens.

The thing I liked most about my MAA days (captured in Ajay’s post A Short Stint in Advertising) is the fact we could all bring our signatures to work.

If I broke out into “Wont you take me to Funky Town?” , every now and then, it was because the atmosphere was so relaxed; you didn’t feel the need to walk on eggshells – you didn't have to think about whether you should do this or that, not do this or not do that.

In fact, nobody ever said to me “Minoo, stop that” when I used to break into song, and in fact, I was blissfully unaware I was doing it for the longest time.

Companies should cherish each employee’s “secret sauce”.

It would go a long way to make a person feel engaged and connected, if we took the trouble to find out what each employee’s signature is, and to show we cherish and appreciate that signature in some way. 

So here’s to more "Christals singing Happy Birthday" and more Minoo’s breaking into “Won’t you take me to Funky Town” and more Ajay’s saying “Have a good trip” while he sticks out his leg.

3 Cheers for each of us being able to express who we are…..

3 Cheers for our signatures.

P.S. It is my hope that though White Hat Security has grown, the continuity of its CEO and some of the folks there should help the company retain the personal touch that marked its early days. 

P.S. 2: As always thanks for reading and have a great day and week…..one in which you will hopefully have plenty of opportunity to express your own special signature.....Minoo