If there's one thing I've done in my life that encapsulates perfectly who I am, its that I studied Philosophy as an undergraduate. And I was a Philosophy major on Day 1. I didn't go to college undeclared and take some courses and try some things. I knew before graduating high school that I would be studying Philosophy in college.So, what does this say about me?- I am able to devise logically sound decision-making processes and follow-through on the results without bias.When I was deciding what to study, I devised a simple plan to use my sister's course book, hide the department codes, and then read and score each course description.When it turned out that the majority of courses that were of most interest to me were in Philosophy, that was that.- I am capable of identifying and taking calculated risks.I had no idea what I would do for work after I graduated. But I knew two things... I had 4 years to figure it out and many things were likely to change during that time anyway, so I didn't sweat it and trusted myself to figure it out when the time came. And I did.- I am a strong presenter and can be surprisingly persuasive.We were taught to always consider the opposition to our point of view. For tests, we were told we would not be graded on our perspective, but instead how well we defended our position.Because of this, I am able to effectively identify the concerns of others and tailor my communications to address those concernsMost recently, I convinced a CFO and COO to support our efforts to completely replace a core technology with a new partner and new strategy. It was not easy, but about a year after our implementation, that same vendor named us a "Customer of the Year" for 2024 for Best B2B Project.- I ask the right questions.The most underrated skill of all, I am able to get to the heart of matters faster than most, identify problems sooner and spend less time trying to figure things out.In my first role after graduation, the founder of the company pulled me into a meeting. He told me to just ask whatever questions I had. I did... and I tanked the project. I felt terrible. I asked a question that revealed a show-stopping problem and so, we decided not to move forward. I went to his office at the end of the day to apologize.He just laughed it off. "Either way the project was going to fail. The only difference is I would have been $200k out-of-pocket before I realized it. So, think of it that way. You didn't kill a project, you saved me $200k."