To Hyper-Strength and Beyond!

Stop for a minute to name off some weaknesses that you think you have. Now do the same for some of your strengths and skills that you possess. It probably took you a lot longer to name your strengths and skills than it did to name your weaknesses. We all have our weaknesses; we are only human, but we are also capable of great strengths.

My business professor once gave me an assignment to list 100 skills and talents that I possess. The more I pursued this task, the more difficulty I had convincing myself that I could actually complete it. I’ll admit I was stuck after the 10^th listed skill, a clear indicator that my focus needed to shift dramatically.  In regards to my capabilities, my assessment was making me quite aware that I had more of a negative perception of myself than a positive one.

We are of course meant to have weaknesses along with strengths, though we are not meant to concern ourselves with the impossible task of completely ridding ourselves of weaknesses, but rather to minimize weaknesses and develop our strengths. In fact, focusing more of our attention on our strengths just widens our window of opportunity.

Perhaps the most important secret to becoming a successful leader starts with a clear understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses and from there building and capitalizing on your strengths while not letting your weaknesses hold you back. It’s those who continue to focus and develop their strengths and move past their weaknesses who become true leaders.

“You are what you allow yourself to become”- Robert Waggoner

Here’s to looking beyond our weaknesses,

Melanie

The Starting Line

A leader exists within all of us. Why does it matter?

Because there is a direct correlation between leadership skills and the amount of success that we will attain.

It’s those of us who develop and exercise our leadership skills that will live up to our full potential.

There are many conceptions of what a leader is along with many misconceptions. These misconceptions can then give way to us having to conform to a concrete definition of a leader. The truth is, there isn’t just one way or style of being a leader.

Everyone has his or her own style of leadership. In order to identify our leadership styles, we first have to know who we are and how our mind works. An example of a simple question to ask ourselves is: am I an introvert or an extrovert?

I’m very much an introvert, so I’m not one to speak up without first considering how to answer a question or address a problem. I like to have a goal in mind that I want to meet in a given time frame. And of course, I need a well thought out and organized plan on how I want to achieve that goal.

You likely won’t lie at one extreme of the introvert/extrovert spectrum, but it’s useful to know where you fit to help you better understand this aspect of developing your leadership style.

If you wish to discover your leadership style and develop your leadership skills the link listed below will redirect you to the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality assessment:

https://www.mbticomplete.com/en/index.aspx

Or check out:

http://similarminds.com/jung.html

It’s like Socrates famously said, “Know thyself”.

Here’s to wisdom & learning,

Melanie