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“Do not neglect the gift which is in you, [that special inward endowment] which was directly imparted to you…” (1 Timothy 4:14, Amplified Bible )
This verse recently got me thinking about a counter-intuitive lesson I learned while starting a business a couple of years ago.
Being the creative type, I could cook up a great product, but completely sucked at sales, accounting and a couple of other skills needed to run a business. So I immediately hired a business coach with the goal of mastering those areas.
While my coach was invaluable in getting me to think and act strategically, improve internal processes and close a few more sales, one thing became clear: No matter how much I worked on my weaknesses, they remained my weaknesses. Meanwhile, I neglected my core strengths because I spent so much time and energy polishing those weak spots.
One day I shared that concern with marketer and business strategist Tiffany Sauder of Element Three. Tiffany told me something that still rings in my ears today (to be fair, I think she got it from some best-selling business book):
On a scale of 0 to 10, let’s say you were born a 6 in one area. You work hard at it, and over time, you climb up to an 8. The problem is that the world only pays for a 10.
Now, I’m not saying we should give up on bettering ourselves - on the contrary: Increasing knowledge, wisdom and practice are essential to success in any facet of life. The problem is that many of us are miserable and overwhelmed because we’re trying to pattern our lives, habits and performance after someone else’s. Rather, we make the most impact (whether in profits or people’s lives) when we operate in our innate gifts.
Dan Miller, best-selling author of No More Mondays, agrees: “How sad that we often diminish our best gifts by struggling valiantly to develop in someone else’s area of ability.” He adds, “Find an area where you run like the wind, with few competitors. Then you’ll rise from mediocrity and experience uncommon success.”
The advice proved true in my case. I found success by focusing on what I do best - my “10″ areas - and joining forces with professionals whose skills complement mine.
Along these lines, Dan offers the following rule of thumb for our work strategy:
- Work where you are the strongest 80 percent of the time.
- Work where you are learning 15 percent of the time.
- Work where you are weak 5 percent of the time.
What strength have you neglected while trying to develop a weakness? What weakness can you delegate, delete, trade or outsource so you can focus on your gifts?
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Comments
06.11.08
Very strong advice here. I tell my mentees to always play to their strengths when looking for jobs or selecting projects at work. It's the best way to ensure success.
As an entrepreneur, however, strengthening weak areas can be expensive. If someone is proficient in weak areas, it can save money (and equity) in the long run. In the case of starting business, do you agree that it's imperative to try to balance one's repertoire in order to keep the business afloat in the early days?
Again, great post!
06.11.08
Thanks for the feedback! I'm in the early, planning stages of launching another venture, and I'm still trying to work out the best balance as far as how much to outsource or tackle myself. I'm learning there are a lot of professionals who are open to trades and creative partnerships, though, so I'll probably try to think up ways to cross-promote, co-brand, and share strengths without having to spend any cash...
06.11.08
With all due respect, I have to disagree. While I agree that you will excel where you can employ your strengths, however I believe you HAVE to spend critical time on your weaknesses. If you get all A's in school except for one C, where should you spend your time? ON THE C!!!! You have to be the whole package.
If you have naturally well-built biceps, should you spend your time making those biceps bigger and leave your giant gut hanging over your pants? Nope...whole package, my friend!
I think the weaknesses bring down the strengths.
I would just adjust the amount of time you spend on weak areas. Maybe not 50% of the time, but certainly more than 5.
06.11.08
Thanks for the input, Breanne. Those are good points and they give me something to chew on. Certainly weak spots must be addressed -- the most efficient way to tackle them in the workplace, though, is to engage someone who possesses the necessary skills set.
The illustration that comes to mind is when accountants insist on designing their own web sites and promotional materials, for example (something I’ve seen quite often). They usually end up with crummy results. Instead, I’d argue they’d be far more effective (plus save money, plus build more business in the long run) if they would just engage an expert.
06.11.08
Andrea, you are correct. There's a book on this called Appreciative Inquiry that you might like.
We're so used to being critiqued and trying to improve our weaknesses, we think focusing on the negative is what we're SUPPOSED to do.
I'm in marketing. I suck at operations. Everyone has to do a certain amount of filing or filling out PO forms. I even suck at that. My VP told me I was the worst in the association. And I don't care. I'm awesome at marketing and I get paid to do that.
Why should I try to bring my weaknesses up when there are people out there who are great at operations? Why not get even better at marketing and get paid even more money? I don't get paid anything for my operations skills.
06.11.08
Thanks, GenerationXpert! I share your disdain for POs as well (and time sheets) :-)
06.11.08
Andrea- good point. When you know your weakness, you should work SMART, not hard. If it's possible to use the talents of others great...but don't give up all together!
06.11.08
This article reflects my one of my personal mantras: if you've got it, flaunt it. However, I think it's dangerous to just give up on working on weakness. For one thing, I think that at the very least acknowledging weakness helps to grow as a person. If nothing else, sometimes weaknesses can be undiscovered strengths. I think the way to work on your strengths is to take measured risks. For instance, if your weakness is public speaking, don't agree to give the presentation for your company's most important client. Start in a situation that will have little or no negative consequences if things don't go too well.
I think you should check out The Freak Factor which is all about flaunting weaknesses. Rosetta Thurman from Perspectives from the Pipeline also has a post about stretch assignments that is pretty interesting.
06.11.08
Thanks, Vanessa, I'll check that out.
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