Managing Your Strengths

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We all have strengths and weaknesses. Success comes from strengths. Failure, on the other hand, comes from doing what we are not good at.

If you wan to succeed in your life, use your strengths, not your weaknesses, to get what you want.

To manage your strengths, according to Robert E. Kaplan and Robert B. Kaiser, ‘… is to accept them. If you literally don’t know your own strengths, you have no way to calibrate or modulate it.’

‘… to stop overplaying your strengths does not mean … to stop using it. It means using the strength more selectively.’

overusing one’s strength not only corrupts the strength, but it begets weakness in yet another way.’

Leaders who develop versatility don’t lose their range, they embrace it.’

Versatility requires knowing when a certain approach is appropriate and when it is not.’

‘You best chance of making change stick is to do both the outer work and the inner work of improving.’

‘… an iterative cycle of reflection and action is required to achieve lasting change: insight begets action begets insight begets action.’

Changing yourself is an admirable exercise in self-control. But it is wise to also employ counterweights- process or people- to aid your efforts.’

‘… to accept yourself is to look at yourself as if you are somebody else.’

To accept yourself is to be courageously objective about yourself, inside and out.’

Source:

Robert E. Kaplan and Robert B. Kaiser (2013). Fear Your Strengths: What You Are Best at Could Be Your Biggest Problem.

The Power Of Personal Connection

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When you connect with other people, your world gets bigger. If you want to do well in your life, connect with other people.

But to do that, according to Tom Gartland, ‘Connect with your heart, so that you can connect with the hearts of others.’

We cannot win by ourselves. Everyone owns it. And we all need each other.’

As a leader, you cannot truly connect by staying in your ivory tower. And the only way to connect is in person. And you can only do that one person at a time.’

‘You can train all you want, but if it does not come from the heart, it will not connect.’

We need to see beyond ourselves.’

Seeing the potential in people takes time, a shift in focus, practice, and care. It takes getting close to those around you.’

Leading is not about right now. Leading is about seeing the future in others.’

Treat people well and it will come back to you in spades.’

Truly connecting with those around you means being honest– about them and about how they are fitting (or not) into the organization as it (and they) move forward.’

Leading is about opening ourselves, and those around us, up to new possibilities.’

Source:

Tom Gartland and Patrick Sweeney (2018). Lead With Heart: Transform Your Business Through Personal Connection