finding the nexus

I am pretty passionate about getting in touch with our strengths, and then leveraging them to really make an impact on things that matter to us.   To shape careers around the things we love and are best at, so that we can make an outsized impact.   To leverage the things that differentiate us in the best way possible and make our careers more fulfilling in the process.  

But some of us may have never been that intentional about our path.  We take a job and often stay in that space where it may take us, taking on more responsibility in similar roles over time.  Years go by, and we may not feel like we are growing or fulfilled.  We may know we have talents and abilities that we aren’t bringing to bear, and feel like we are working hard but perhaps without a sense of purpose and significance.  This sense of missed opportunity and untapped potential can be signal to point you to this deeper development work.  And it’s not just ‘what makes you feel good’ exploration – it’s about directly translating your abilities and interest into the wide array of possible jobs and industries or and careers that would play to those strengths.  Are you positioning yourself to maximize the happiness and impact you can derive from your strengths?  

We each have a unique profile of gifts, experiences, culture, interests, social issues we care deeply about, etc.  The range of potential opportunities for employment or volunteerism are vast.  Imagine the number of possible combinations where your specific profile and the world’s set of needs/employment opportunities meet up.  It’s expansive and full of possibility. 

What are you great at, and who needs that particular flavor of greatness? 

It’s like one of those cooking shows where the contestants get a bunch of random ingredients and each make a different creation … we all have our ingredients, but what will we do with them?  How creative will we be in imagining the possibilities, in preparing and presenting it to the world?  

Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

In doing development work in this space over the last year, I came across the Japanese concept of IKIGAI and was SO excited because its precisely about this work.  It is a concept that relates to finding our purpose, where you find that intersect between these four quadrants:

• do what you love
• do what you are good at
• do what the world needs
• do what you can be rewarded for

Here’s a terrific Ted talk on the topic to pique your interest. 

Maybe I’m a talent nerd … but this is EXCITING, right? Who’s with me?

Well it’s exciting enough to think about bringing your life and career closer to this nexus, but they imagine doing it with your CHILDREN – your adolescents and young adults that would benefit from thinking broadly and expansively about the possibilities they might pursue.  Helping them take stock of their interests and abilities, helping them explore and navigate the wide range of possible ways to channel their talents.  With ikigai, you can move the discussion from a place of scarcity (can I find a job) to a place of abundance (who needs what I am great at.)  Folding this into our parenting has the potential to bring self awareness, purpose and life planning into our discussions with our children.  

So this self professed talent nerd is thinking about what type of offering or workshop might help others explore this idea and map out the possibilities, so that career planning can be more aspirational and intentional.

6×6 – Declaring Your Focus

Does your calendar fill up with demands on your time that don’t seem vital, squeezing out the time needed to advance the goals that you have to drive?  I think – by default – that’s true for most of us unless we do something very deliberate to take back control of our time and our focus.  If we are not careful, our time during the workday and workweek becomes time that others control, pushing our own priorities and goals into evenings and weekends, or not getting done at all.

But there is another way.  We can choose to be very deliberate about those things that we must invest our time and focus and energy toward.  Those things that we need to drive or contribute toward to shape the outcome.  Those priorities that require us to really personally commit ourselves and our time.

Some years ago I attended the Global Leadership Summit and picked up a small and simple technique that I have now used for many years – creating a single 6 x 6 grid.

Priority 1	Priority 2	Priority 3
Priority 4	Priority 5	Priority 6

Here’s the idea:

• What are the 6 priorities that are going to personally pour your energy and focus into to help achieve a strong outcome over the next 6 weeks?

Sure … it could be a 4 x 4 (4 priorities over 4 weeks, etc) … make it work for you.  But I learned the 6 x 6 and come back to it regularly to check my focus, especially during more demanding times.

It’s not a list of everything you might do, or everything your team might be working on.   Just those things that require your time and attention.  Often some of these are things that no one will schedule your time for.  They require you to take an action to carve out time for thought, focus, planning.  It’s also a terrific and easy way to share your areas of focus with your manager or members of your team.

• Maybe there is a particular member of your team you want to invest coaching time in, or
• a critical initiative that requires some forethought on approach, or
• something that’s not going quite right that you need to invest some focused time around to reshape the approach.

Here’s a sample 6 x 6 with some space to declare what you will try to do around your top 6 priorities.

In some ways the list is just as important for what it excludes as for what it contains.  If something does not make that list but its consuming your time, you should reconsider why your time is being spent there.  Maybe your team can handle it without your direct involvement?  Perhaps it needs to be re-prioritized behind some of the more critical areas of focus?  Maybe you just need to see meeting materials and it doesn’t require your direct participation.

People are notorious for multi-tasking on conference calls.  If you are doing that, perhaps ask whether you need to be there at all.  Either commit to be engaged, or step back if not needed.  Otherwise its just wasted effort – and time is our most valuable asset.  Invest it wisely.

No matter what action you take, I have found that the exercise of doing this forces me to get clear on my priorities and be thoughtful about where I commit my time.

Try it – see what you find.

 

Disruption – what does it mean to you?

I read an  HBR Article this morning that got me to thinking about disruption in our professional lives.  It’s actually a topic I come back to a lot in my life and career, thinking about how I want to grow/reinvent/shift?

It reminds me of the quote on the cover of my journal …  “Not all who wander are lost” … feels perfect for my sense of exploration and a desire to really seek out growth and new perspectives.

In industry, we think of disruptive companies or technologies as game changers, something elusive and highly sought after.  If you are the disruptor company you are leading the pack, redefining the game.  If your company and business model is disrupted, you are reacting to change, trying to figure out the new rules and quickly adapt.

But that same idea of disruption can and should apply at a person-level, too.  Sometimes we get too set in our ways and it can be good to deliberately shake things up.

Last night while we played Star Wars Monopoly and waited for midnight, I asked my youngest son about what sport or hobby he wanted to pursue in 2016.  He had come to the natural end of one stage of his study in Tae Kwon Do – so I asked whether he wanted to go deeper in that, or mix things up and go in another direction.  He decided he wants to swim more.  He’s a great swimmer, but needs to learn some of the strokes and would like to be on a swim team.  This is a little disruption for his life – but one one forced on us, one that he chose.  And one that will open him up to new people, new skills, new adventures.  He can keep doing Tae Kwon Do, but is opening up a new avenue that he wants to focus on.

But in a work context, I think we often think of disruption as something that is done TO us, the reactive side of change.  Are we doing enough in our professional lives to be disruptive in how we show up- disruptive in finding new approaches, new skills and knowledge, cultivating deeper and different types of relationships, in shaping our experiences to create the reputation that we hope to have.  And that doesn’t have to mean a dramatic change of career or industry.  Disruption can be smaller but no less significant in the way we show up and the career that we build.

Perhaps, like companies, we should be scanning for the opportunity to disrupt ourselves every now and then.  if you think about the way you show up every day, the way you lead, the way you problem solve, the way to engage with others … that’s your norm. That’s your brick and mortar.  When we show up this way we are often on autopilot, and the pattern of how we approach our work – even if once great – may no longer meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow.

• Where is your most valuable asset – your time – suboptimized, and you need to make some radical changes in your approach to invest your time more wisely in 2016?

• Where do we have strengths that – if really honed – could truly differentiate us in our ability to make an impact?  What action can you initiate to move toward that differentiation in 2016?

• Where do we see gaps in our skills or experience that – once closed – really take our leadership to the next level?  What kind of step could help you close those gaps in 2016?

• Where do we see the ability to give back more, to help others in their development – knowing that coaching and teaching will also develop a different dimension of our leadership.  Could you offer to coach or mentor someone in 2016?

• Where do we need to balance out our perspective – get out of the details and challenge ourselves to think strategically, or dig into the complexity and detail to expand your strategic point of view?  What first step could you take in that direction in 2016?

• Where do you realize you have been flying solo and need to cultivate some thought partners to help navigate complex issues?  Who might be excited to be part of this network with you in 2016 … everyone needs a few people they can bounce ideas and dilemmas off of?

If change were not just about bracing for impact but about deciding where a shift would be good  and seeking it out, then perhaps we will think of it less like an affliction and more like a door.  Sometimes we open that door ourselves, other times its opened for us.

 

Rather than make a resolution that might fade in a week or two, maybe think of a small disruption that could shift and enhance your perspective and career.

Grace Under Fire … or Hair on Fire?

When the going gets tough and the risks emerge on a critical project or situation, how do you handle the intensity?

If asked to describe you in stressful situations, would your friends and colleagues describe you as:

Grace Under Fire

or

Hair on Fire?

Now I have to admit that I’ve always been partial to Mr. Heat Miser and his little heat minions 🙂  But that’s definitely not the reputation (or image) that I’m striving for.  How about you?

As leaders,  our perspective, tone of voice, and attitude are crucial.  Whether we intend to or not, we set the tone for how we manage conflict and respond to challenges as we navigate these situations.  It matters a lot and deserves our attention.  None of us are infallible, but just being mindful of our reactions and how we recognize and encourage our teams makes an impact.

When I size up a day, I will inevitably see moments where I could have handled a situation better.  But, thankfully, I also see bright spots where I may have succeeded in recognizing an accomplishment  (not just the challenge ahead), the effort that the team put forth (not just the amount of time til work is done,) the teamwork during a difficult situation (not just the issue we might have been dealing with.)

I am grateful to spend my days with a group of talented, committed and kind people that are working toward a common goal.  We have our moments, don’t get me wrong.  And stressful situations will test you as a team, but when we get it right it also forges our sense of common purpose and willingness to help one another.   Little by little the trust grows.  And the more trust there is, the better we can go:

“hard on the issue, soft on the person.” (quoting Henry Cloud)

So here’s hoping that we can all try to keep enough perspective and self-awareness when  stressful situation arise.

Staying Open in Crisis Mode

What part of you shuts down when you go into problem solving or crisis mode?   Does it help or hurt your goal to show up as your best self?

When we jump into that problem-solving mode, lots of things can happen very quickly within us.

• our focus narrows
• we come highly alert
• we prepare ourselves for anything
• brace ourselves for battle
• feelings can take a backseat to analysis

This is exactly what we need when we are in danger.  But if our immediate safety is not at risk, the way we steel ourselves for problem solving may prevent us from showing up the way we really want to – as present, open, aware, insightful, wise.   By getting out of our self/soul/heart and into only our head, we can leave behind parts of ourself that we need of we are going to be authentic in those situation that require is to make decisions, solve problems and resolve crises.

To be at our very best,  we have to stay focused on both HOW we solve the problem as well as WHETHER we solve it.  Some days we will be happy with how we showed up, others we will take stock of what we want to do better next time.

Ultimately, our relationships and careers are made up of a series of moments strung together – so how we show up day to day in these situations translates into the quality of our life decisions and the health of our relationships.

Like so many things, this is a discipline and a practice – something we try to be self-aware and mindful of.  For me as someone who is analytic by nature, it requires mindfulness – daily practice.

A passage in Mark Nepo’s Book of Awakening focused on this question of our minds and hearts in crisis, and was a wonderful reminder to be watchful of how we show up in these situations.  

 

The Book of Awakening is an inspired and insightful book of daily reflections – a lovely book that I definitely recommend.  I come back to it all the time when I need to get quiet and grounded.   Book Link

 

 

A Burden to Carry Gracefully

Last night’s reading in John Ortberg’s Soul Keeping touched on grace and humility in a powerful way.  He recounted a discussion with Dallas Willard on being challenged by someone in a very negative way and just letting it go.  Willard replied:

“Being right is actually a very hard burden to be able to carry gracefully and humbly.  That’s why nobody likes to sit next to the kid in class who’s right all the time.  One of the hardest things in the world is to be right and not hurt other people with it.”  Dallas Willard

He went on to say that he was practicing the discipline of not having to have the last word.

Not that any of us are right all the time – or even often.  But when we are, how do we carry it?  How do we help bring people along to get to the right answer together.  How do we let go of the need to have the last word.  What a great reminder to stay focused on the words we choose, our attitude, our approach.  At the end of the day we leave a wake of both relationships and results, so getting to the right answers and results in relationship with others is critical if we want both our results and our relationships to be strong.

For me, sometimes its more nature to focus on our approach in one setting and not another.  What about you – do you do best at leading with grace and humility (even when you are right) with your partner, your kids, your team at work?

 

If your time were money

If your time were money … would you let others decide how you spend it???

Who among us has not complained about how busy our lives are, about not having time for this or that, about how we are over-scheduled and just worn out?     At work, a week full of meetings scheduled by others (sometimes double and triple booked) can leave one laughing at the idea of taking the time to grow and develop ourselves.  The best of intentions have not translated into growth – crowded out by the more immediate issues of the day.

But if we allow this – and it IS a decision – we can see years pass in our career where we are really not progressing and growing professionally.

I don’t just mean promotions.  In fact I don’t mean promotions at all – because sometimes chasing that has us focusing on the wrong things.  I mean US growing and becoming better and better at what we do – going from good to great in our areas of strength, or focusing on development to improve on a weakness that is getting in the way of our progress.

I am in the midst of reading two books by Christian authors that – unplanned by me entirely – both touch on the question of our soul and our purpose, and how the decisions we make about the pace of our life and how we invest our time matters.  Here are the book links:

Soul Keeping by John Ortberg  Soul Keeping Link

The Best Yes, by Lysa TerKeurst Best Yes Link

I love this topic and can absolutely attest to how vital this is.  Every week I look at the calendar ahead – the coming week, and the next several weeks ahead. – and I ask myself two questions about each and every meeting:

1. Am I crucial to this meeting.  More specifically, if I am not there, can the goals still be accomplished?  If all I need is an update, surely someone can send that along.  If the answer is no, its off my calendar.  Period.
2. What are the things that I want to accomplish that no one else will schedule my time for.  Something that I need to be the catalyst for – whether that’s personal development, mentoring others, or thinking more broadly about the business.  Then I schedule myself into those things.

Because if you are not very focused and intention about how you spend your time, it will be wasted.  I like the idea of opportunity cost – the opportunity cost of spending time on something of limited value is the value you could have received from spending your time in another way, on something more impactful.  Whether that’s something like strategy that can get squeezed out by the immediate, a complicated issue that requires some reflection, a new initiative you want to get going but you need time to plan, or time needed to meet your personal development goals … these can all get crowded.

Of course sometimes things interfere, schedules change and we adjust.  But without the two things above – day in and day out, week in and week out – we will be left to work longer, add less value and grow less in our abilities as leaders and as people with the ability to make a difference.  CRITICAL WORK, right?

The exact same thing applies outside of the office … but that’s for another day.   If time were money and you were investing each minute of it, what would you change about your schedule?

Joy in what we do …

 

I love it when topics that are on my mind and your heart  show up in other stories, readings and learnings that I stumble upon .  They are happy discoveries along the way that sort of energize my thinking around a topic.  Love when that happens!  Lately, the topic has been happiness, and how purpose and meaning are tied to our happiness.    If you didn’t see my earlier post on the topic, here’s the link: Nexus of Skills and Passion

In the last two days, I have read two wonderful pieces on this topic.  In very different ways – one spiritual and one professional – they both reinforced for me how critical it is for our minds and hearts to know that we are working on something that matters to us.  How ‘work’ and ‘life’ really can’t be compartmentalized as much as we say or think … one informs the other.  For better or worse.

First, was a wonderful daily reading from Mark Nepo in The Book of Daily Awakening (love this – highly recommend!)  Book Link – Mark Nepo.  The reading talked about the importance of living out our true nature, not living just to please others or be what they expect of us.

To discover our own truth and try to craft a life that is true to that.  He ended with a statement that especially stayed with me:

“JOY IN WHAT WE DO IS NOT AN ADDED FEATURE; IT IS A SIGN OF DEEP HEALTH”

Wow!  That somehow made it feel more essential to be authentic – core to health, not just a nice to have.

(The gorgeous rocks are from the happiness garden at Newcastle Elementary School in Virginia Beach.  LOVE them!)

Then, I read a NYT article – written from a business perspective.  Here’s the article link: NYT Article Link – Liking Works Really Matters

The study and article show that when we find personal value and relevance in our work, we perform at a much higher level.  So a deeper sense of health and better performance – seem like two great reasons to try to bridge work and our purpose and passion.

 

Happy Sunday!

Are You Building a Cathedral?

I have always loved the story of the Three Bricklayers.

Once upon a time there were three bricklayers working alongside one another.  When asked, “what are you doing?” they reply quite differently.

First Bricklayer: “I am laying bricks.”

Second Bricklayer: “I am building a wall.”

Third Bricklayer: “I am building a cathedral.”

 

 

I love this little story because its so simple and yet so packed with meaning.  Usually when we talk about it, we are focused on either attitude or engagement of the bricklayers to emphasize the importance of getting the right kind of talent in our organizations.  Other times, we look at the story from the vantage point of a leader and the importance of casting vision, to create a compelling vision that others want to join and follow.  Absolutely!  Love it!

But interestingly … we usually reflect on the story from the outside looking in, as a leader assessing the situation and looking for a leadership lesson – particularly about how to get more cathedral builders on our team.

But what if we look at the story with ourselves as the bricklayers, not the leader?  Which would you be?  Easy to say the third … but is it true?  Even a very talented and capable bricklayer could show up as any of these three if they are not careful about placing ourselves into roles that inspire us, that we feel committed to, and that we see and love the vision .  Do we come into work and see the cathedral under construction and know that we want to be a part of it.

Are you building a cathedral lately?  If not – why not? 

 

 

Nexus of Skills and Passion

Thanks to many AP classes in high school, Natalie returned to her second year of college as a junior.  So we have had a few discussions about volunteer service, internships, and career planning.  Great stuff, I do love talent development!  

 

In our chat, she shared a terrific insight about herself and a path she had been considering.  She reflected on  and how some of her strengths and her leadership style didn’t seem to line up well with what success looks like in that potential career path.  Wow – I was so impressed by the self-awareness and insight!  That got us to talking about the many ways that her gifts could be applied and the wide range of career paths that were open … but to think about what issues really mattered to her and try to find pathways to use her strengths in that direction.  To try to match skills with meaning and impact.  That got me to thinking about how much better we could do at getting ourselves and our kids into careers that line up ability and purpose better.  

There’s some debate circulating on whether its best to find and follow their passion or focus on building skills and passion will come later.  And after hours of reading, reflecting and writing – I couldn’t get behind either one.  Sort of like politics, people seem to be picking sides and pressing their arguments – black or white. 

• Passion – grounded in the idea that if you figure out what you love and make that your work, you will be happier and more fulfilled.  Question is can you be ‘successful’ and what does that really entail – now and for you specifically?

 

• Grow Your Skills – iconoclastic idea that without skills you can’t build any successful career, and its a fools errand to focus on your passion before you build some skills.

 

But the key question underlying both of these ideas is the question of how we define success.  Money, prestige, reputation, growth, accomplishment, service ???   The first two have been the norm so many people are burnt out, unengaged and uninspired at work – so maybe that isn’t working so well.   I read a provocative statement in an essay this week that said:

If you want ambitious people to do errands work, just make it prestigious.  

So how we define success matters, to avoid spending our life on fools errands I think the question isn’t about which side of the argument you pick at all.  Its about meaning, and purpose, and adding value.  

 

I would suggest that success comes from knowing we are having an impact, making a difference in the world.  And that doesn’t need to be a utopian idea that runs counter to a successful career.  But it does require us to think about our potential and our career paths very differently.  To find and cultivate roles that can deliver security and meaning.  How?  Here are a few thoughts … still developing them, so perhaps they seem obvious.  But they are not the way we typically chart our course.

 (1) SELF AWARENESS: From a young age, be mindful of your gifts and strengths and work hard to cultivate them – through learning, practice, volunteerism etc.  (I remember when the kids were younger we would talk about the fruits of the spirit and they would score themselves, then we would score them, and we would discuss.)  What can I say, performance discussions are in my blood 🙂 But no matter the format, can we look at ourselves objectively and see our greatest abilities?  

(2) GLOBAL AWARENESS: Seek out the problems that are in need of the kind of solutions you can deliver – the issues of the day or of the century that light you up and make you want to make it better.  That could be a specific domestic problem, a global issue, an entire industry or something else that isn’t working well in the world.  

(3) FIND THE NEXUS:  Now … what is at the NEXUS of ability and passion – that array of possibilities for volunteerism, jobs and careers that use your skills toward something that matters to you.  It’s not one perfect job in many cases, especially in our ever changing world and economy.  There may be a whole array of ways that your abilities can make a meaningful difference.  But we have to seek them out.    

 

Maybe the question isn’t what the perfect job is, or what exactly my title should be in 5 years, but what space to I want to work in that feels important and meaningful to me, and (knowing my strengths) what kinds of roles could help deliver solutions.  Maybe  you need to develop some more skills, perhaps you find or create a volunteer way to work in the space that’s calling you while you prepare for the job you want.  But using your skills to deliver meaning and impact matters – whether its your full time career or not.  

 

And while I first put down these ideas in the context of teens and young adults, as I write and reflect they apply to us all.  And in this rapidly changing world and economy, the ability to translate your abilities into the kind of solutions that countries, companies and non-profit agencies need is critical.  Finding the problems you can help to solve may be the first assignment of the knowledge workers of tomorrow.  Would love your thoughts on how we navigate this space – whether for ourselves or for our kids.  

The Soundtrack of Opinions

Authenticity is the name of the game this week in the Gifts of Imperfection course.   And I had lots of time to reflect on the drive home from DC today.   I kept coming back to a time when much of my sense of value hung on the achievement and praise of others, and not just on who I was as a person with my own mix of gifts and talents.

The words would run on a loop in my mind … ‘great job,’ ‘smart,’ ‘talented.’  Compliments and praise for a job well done would have me feeling great, and the soundtrack of good opinions and success would replay again and again.   And it didn’t serve me well.

Great to celebrate and feel good in the moment, but holding onto it and then measuring your success and worth by when it happens again is a pretty precarious place to spend your days.   If we find our worth in praise and achievement, we can fall into a pattern where we are only as good as the last (or next) success or recognition of a job well done.

The same is true in reverse – and maybe more so.  If achievement and praise was translating into value and worth, then anything negative gets in the way of that achievement and praise and threatens our sense of value.  Like the positive soundtrack, this one can also run on a loop – playing back negative comments and affecting our sense of self and growing a fear of failure.

Well, some years ago, I remember reading something from the Four Agreements about not taking anything personally.  We all know that’s best, but it can be hard to live out.   One line from the book resonated and stayed with me over the years.  Paraphrasing, it basically said that we should hold others opinions of us lightly in our hand … observe them, learn from them, then RELEASE them.  Let go of the good opinions just as much as the bad ones so that you are not their prisoner.  We need to travel lightly through life and need not carry this baggage with us.

And that visual has really stayed with me over the years.  Now when people share their opinions and observations with me I try to see them in the palm of my hand – and try to let them go.  No matter how tempting it is to close my fist around them and hold on.   Over the years this becomes more natural, even automatic.  But now and then, if we are feeling more vulnerable, we may find ourselves holding on again.   And you have to know that if you are being authentically you, and doing your very best, that this is enough regardless of other people’s opinions.

And its not a lesson we learn once and are done with.  To live authentically each day, we have to be willing to show up as our very best version of ourselves, imperfect though it may be, and turn off the soundtrack.

Where Are You … on the leadership map?

You know those mall maps that have the little circle that says You Are Here … well when I think about talent development and working on becoming a better leader, I think it all starts at that map.  (And I suppose you will come to know that I  am a sucker for a cute dress, so a mall analogy works nicely for me too!)

Anyway … if you don’t know where you are,  how in the world would you navigate your way to your destination (whether leadership goal or cute dress shop?)   Our journey must start with important and personal work to  honestly reflect on how we show up as leaders today.   As Henry Cloud said in yesterday’s quote … “what is your wake … around results and people.”   How do you feel you lead, and how do other experience you as a leader?  The exercise is not at all about your circumstances, or the environment you are working or leading it … its about YOU.   Here are a few dimensions of leadership to think about … maybe even score yourself on or rank them.

• Big Picture Thinking – how well can you see the big picture, see how complicated things come together, connect the dots, being innovative.

• Working with Others – how well you work with others, collaborate, create a sense of team, help people converge around ideas.

• Executing/Getting Results – how well you plan, manage time, organize, delegate, hold others accountable for results, manage risks, and deliver more with less

I might be incredibly strong in one domain, average in another and weak in another.   Figuring that out requires us to invest time to reflect.  To unpack these different aspects of our style and how you lead to really assess ourselves.

And in the course of doing that, do you see something that you think really differentiates you – something that does (or could) set your apart as exceptional.  Circle/star/flag/underline/highlight that.  We will come back to it and its essential!   Conversely, do you see anything that is getting in your way (inside of you and how you lead, not those around you.)   Something that is or could overshadow those great aspects of how you lead.   Many of our strengths often have a darker side if too exaggerated … assertive can become aggressive, patient can become passive, etc.

As we understand that about ourselves, we can own it and decide how we can develop in ways that will help us lead better, get better results, and allow us to be more successful in our careers.  We may choose to start by building on our strengths to get from good to great.  Or we may realize that we have a weakness that is so critical it is getting in our own way and we need to stabilize that situation first.  But we will work out the journey in due time … first grab a journal and find a quiet spot to reflect.  It’s important work.  Settle into the fainting couch and happy reflections …

Follow the blog and stay tuned.   I will share a little more about my own journey through strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, and the journey that I have been on (and will stay on) in my own career.  We can chart our courses together.