Tuesday at 2:00pm with Russ

It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)

Greetings to you!

Each week I send out a short leadership blog that's called "Tuesday at 2:00pm". The purpose of this is simply to provide a brief thought on leadership that you can read and think about in just a few minutes. I send it out every week at 2:00pm (PST) and encourage you to make an appointment with yourself to pause and think about the thing I'm writing about.

Russ...

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"What leaders have in common is that each really knows their strengths, has developed their strengths, and can call on the right strength at the right time." Donald O. Clifton

What does this stir up? Either write me HERE or comment at the end of the blog post HERE.

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

We continue the conversation on STRENGTHS for a few more weeks.

Donald O. Clifton really began the study of STRENGTHS which came from this thought:

"What will happen when we think about what is right with people rather than fixating on what is wrong with them?"

Clifton went on to create the CliftonStrengths (Strengthsfinder 2.0 with Tom Rath) which has been used around the world to help people identify their core strengths using a 34-theme template.

The idea is pretty simple: If I come home with a report card in Junior High School, and I have an A in English, a B in History and a D in Math, my parents will naturally tell me I have to focus on getting the math grade up, and at the expense of the classes I excel in, I need to put all my energy into my math grade, which in turn might bring my math grade up to a C, but it might also bring my English & History grades down.

Clifton calls it "weakness-fixing" and he points out that this leads to mediocrity and that it doesn't reflect my true capacity.

Of course there's balance in everything. If you're getting a D in a class you need to work on that to some extent, however in Cliftons writings, he shares that in areas of weakness, learn to be content with a C grade in math and then spend your energy and time on areas of interest and natural talent.

I wish I had understood this concept earlier in my life, in my development.

When I was a kid, my first instrument was an accordion. I have no idea why my parents would do that to me, but I hauled the accordion for a while back and forth to lessons. I don't remember ever really enjoying it. My next instrument was the piano, and while I enjoyed this, I just didn't want to be a piano player, of course this was before Elton John & Billy Joel made it cool.

I wanted to be a drummer! I had dreams and goals of being a rock and roll drummer, and fortunately my parents believed in that dream. I took lessons, I rented a snare drum to practice at home, eventually I got my first drum set (which was banished to a room far away from everyone else), and I played the drums all the way through late elementary school, junior high and high school. After college I played at my church and continued to play percussion for many many years.

Drumming was in my bones. Gina experiences it often as I work out a rhythm on the steering wheel of our car, over and over again!

I don't know if drumming is a strength, a talent or a passion, but I'm thankful that my parents saw that in me and not only encouraged me, but made it possible for me to develop this in my life.

That's what I want to do more of: identify areas of strength in people and help them experience the joy that comes from using that God-given gift to impact the world!

What's a STRENGTH you have that you'd like to explore and invest in?

DEEPER STILL:

People always argue that we need to work on areas of weakness, and that's true. There are things in my life that I'm not good at that I want to improve on, and it's OK to do that, just not at the expense of my greatest areas of strength.

Clifton shares these 3 reasons why focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses leaders to greater growth:

#1) Strengths offer a much higher ceiling for excellence. Again, focusing on our weaknesses can lead to mediocrity in everything. Putting the same time and energy into strengths will give you exponential results.

#2) Strengths generate energy and engagement, which accelerates learning. "Intrinsic satisfaction": a sense of flow, fulfillment and eagerness to do more. We keep learning, keep pursuing growth when we engage in areas of strength.

#3) Strengths produce confidence, which fuels further development. When you have success in an area of natural talent, it builds confidence which becomes a platform for greater things.

Weaknesses should be managed so they don't derail you, but strengths should be developed because that's where transformational growth actually happens.

How do you feel when you work in areas of strength vs. areas of weakness?

 

Things I'm Reading, Listening To and Watching This Week:

Source: www.leadermundial.org