This week’s challenge comes from Kate Dwyer, the coach who works with me from time to time.
Good day, team,
The coach’s challenge this week is to use what you have, rather than strain for what you don’t have.
We waste a lot of time coveting and imitating the strengths of others, when we could just be maximizing our own. We all have what we need to produce the results we want-we just don’t have the same combination of strengths as those around us, so our route up the mountain is going to be different than theirs.
The great advantage of taking an assessment like * “Strengthfinders” is that it gives you a perfect place to start focusing on developing strengths in yourself that will blossom most effortlessly and produce results most quickly. There are different paths to success in all traits. Take leadership. Some of us lead by “command,” some of us lead by our ability to “facilitate” compromise, some of us lead through “inspiration,” and some of us lead through “tenacity”-we don’t quit, so our team doesn’t either.
In this world of 24-hour-a-day marketing and spincraft, authenticity is in short supply and people are hungry for it. Real leadership is about sharing the qualities of our own true nature, not about faking out the
competition. We all want more of the real thing. When you offer more of who you are to your team, it’s like a blast of fresh air from the top of Mt. Hood for them.
So the challenge this week is to lead with your authentic strengths and see if those around you don’t respond in a positive way. I’m so sure they will that I’m offering an extra incentive: If your efforts come back to bite you, the next latte is on me. If it works, the next latte is on me too, as a celebration.
How can you lose? And as for me, I’d better open a savings account. I have a lot of lattes to save up for.
Have a great, authentic week!
All the best,
Kate
Kate Dwyer
Pathfinder’s Coaching
* From “Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham.