Respect Through Your Flava

When I was packing for the Ruckusmakers event, I had no clue what type of clothes I should bring along.

So I packed for both casual and business casual just in case.

It took me a while to decide what I was going to wear. The reason it wasn’t an easy decision is because I was worried about how people would perceive me.

After all, it was my first Seth Godin seminar and I had not met anyone from his tribe yet. I was off to meet strangers and wasn’t sure if I would fit in.

Then it dawned on me. One of my greatest qualities was slowly fading. It was the quality of not caring if I fit in or not.

Growing up on the streets taught me a lot. If you’re a follower on the streets and model yourself after others, you’ll always be a nobody.

Street folks can tell who’s being real and who’s being fake. It’s instinctual for them since a fake person can’t earn respect on the street.

The same applies for the breakdancing world. Bboys (another term for “breakdancers”) call unoriginal people “biters”. They bite off of other people’s style and claim them as their own.

Biters don’t earn the respect of other dancers because they haven’t brought their unique flava to the dance floor. In the dancing world, “flava” derives from “flavor” but really means “style”.

We all have our own flava. After all, there is only one you.

The business world could learn a lot about originality from my teachers: the street and the breakdancing scene.

Here’s a clip I stumbled across last night while researching one of the greatest Bboys of all time, Bboy Ivan. Even if you’re not a dancer, try to see if you can apply what he’s teaching about originality to your world.

By the way, I went to the seminar as myself by dressing casual and kicked the guy who was trying to fit in to the curb. It’s time I regained my senses and put more of my flava into my work.

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This post is for Day 3 of the #RuckusmakersChallenge. If you went to the Ruckusmakers event, feel free to join us even if you’re starting late. We know you can hang!