An autobiography is interesting because of the glimpse it provides into the perceptual reality of the writer. It’s his take on his life and the experiences and relationships that make it. It’s the soul peering sill that can only originate from the one who lived it. A biography is interesting because it provides a perspective of a life but from an observer’s perch. The biography is somewhat removed and detached providing a less-biased account without autobiographically-colored glasses. However, biography is only as good as the sources it draws from.
An autobiography is about experience. A biography is about objectivity. Both are able to provide experience and objectivity but through their respective lenses. To get the whole story they need to operate as filters for each other. The autobiographer might miss something by only looking within. The biographer may misinterpret the real heart and motivation by not allowing for the perceptual reality of the subject.
If you’re going to tell your story you better have your voice woven throughout. It should also be filtered through an observer’s lens. If done right, the reader will experience you in compelling fashion. The trouble in business is that the autobiographers, the business owners, have lived it but don’t have a frame of reference to tell their story properly. They’re too entrenched to be objective enough for anyone to really care enough about them. The problem with many of the contemporary biographers, the marketing firms and writers, is they don’t take the time (or exercise the discipline of discernment) to identify the realities that deserve illuminating. They get creative but the story lacks the intimacy of experience and authenticity necessary to build tempered bonds of curiosity and meaningful relationship.
You’re telling your story daily. Being an autobiographer on an island will only prove how great the sea between you and your customers truly is. So, autobiographer, what next?