It’s the hole in the donut that makes it what it is. And we’re no different.
Each of us has unique strengths and gifts that we bring to our organization, family and community. These unique gifts are what make us special, define us as who we are. But each of us is as much about what we do not have as what we do have. What do I mean by this? Each of us has gifts. Each of us has liabilities. And our liabilities define us just as much as our gifts do.
While I don’t believe that we should spend huge amounts of time examining our weaknesses, I do believe there is value in such analysis for people who are – or want to be – leaders. I call this ‘stepping into your gooo.’
When we focus on our gifts and strengths, it is those gifts that often lead us to make judgments of others and to limit our ability to see the value in differences. But when we spend time truly understanding what we do not have and how that lack impacts our everyday life – particularly our work life, we are able to look at others who are very different from us and see the significant potential of their contributions and value.
Working to our strengths is important, but it is also easy; stepping into our gooo is the hard stuff. This is how healthy organizations and the people within them evolve.
