You Don’t Hear the Name Gary Anymore: Rethinking Your Leadership Identity

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

I did some research the other day. Apparently my name, Gary, peaked in usage back in 1952. I wasn't even born yet. There were 38,838 registered uses of the name Gary for newborns during that year. Since the 1950s, the use of the name Gary has declined sharply — to only 5% of its peak, or around 1,900 times per year—that kind of bums me out. If you hear the name now, it almost certainly belongs to someone in their 50s or beyond (like me). If my complete identity is built around my name, I am in the tank.

"What's in a name?" Juliet, a character in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, asked that very question and made the phrase famous. Juliet argued that Romeo's surname, Montague, is irrelevant to who he truly is.

According to the dictionary, names are arbitrary labels that do not alter intrinsic qualities. Juliet's question challenges the idea that titles, lineage, or social labels determine identity or worth. Essence outweighs labels.

Yet, as leaders, we can often get caught up in names and titles. Sometimes I sign my name as Gary A. Runn because I like the symmetry. In high school and beyond, my friends often knew me simply as G Runn. I always thought that sounded pretty cool. Later in life, I began to care more about the letters and words after my name — titles such as Regional Director or National Director. I wondered what letters I should be sure to add to the back of my name — letters such as M.B.A., PhD, or Founder. I began to equate essence with labels — and hoped the rest of the world would too when they looked at me. But my name, the titles that go with it, or the letters after it don't really tell you anything about me. They may indicate a season in life when I had outsized responsibility or worked really hard to achieve something — but not my essence, who I really am.

What should we build our leadership identities upon? The English word identity comes from the Latin identidem, meaning oneness or sameness. Until the Enlightenment, identity was more conferred and affirmed than chosen. Family, community, and faith. The Enlightenment shifted the narrative from family, community, and faith to the self. Identity was no longer something to be conferred and affirmed but something to be created and chosen. Identity was something to be achieved, not received. Sameness and oneness became individuality and fluidity. Instead of resting in a received identity, we now needed to hustle, wrestle, and come up with some authentic self that made us stand out in the world.

From a biblical worldview, we realize that we are all created in God's image (Genesis 1:26-28). In these few verses, we have three identifying marks that are eternally valuable: inherent dignity and distinction, a built-in purpose, and God's blessing. This reveals our sameness, our oneness, and our uniqueness. We have a foundational identity that confers meaning and beauty. This is a portion of our received identity that we can rest in and freely use to serve and bless others. This becomes our leadership grounding for expressing the dominion God has given us. By the way, dominion is a leadership word.

If you and I choose to achieve — to hustle and wrestle toward some artificial identity to make something of ourselves or to gain the world's respect —we will place our leadership on very shaky ground. We will use people rather than love people. We will love things as status symbols of our leadership power. And we will worship self instead of God — which often leads to abuse of power. We might become known for great accomplishments, but at the price of a wake of failed relationships and organizational wounds.

I have pontificated enough. But I want you to consider what your leadership identity truly is. And is it what you truly want it to be? Will you build on your greatness or His? Your leadership foundation and results will be only as strong as the identity you receive.

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