Mark Zuckerberg capitalized on his strengths.
To start off, I believe 110% in working in your strengths and it’s how I’ve achieved success as well as how I run the business that I’m a part of.
In fact, I think it’s really the only way to run a distributed web-based team, especially with very creative, talented, and motivated individuals.
For those that may not necessarily be completely aware of this particular paradigm of thought it’s most simply understood as this: Spend more time cultivating and leveraging your core strengths and less time focusing on the things that you’re simply not good at.
A great example is the fact that I am terrible at administration. I do not have an administrative bone in my body (you can ask my wife!). It is to my loss (and the people that I work with as well) if I were to decide to somehow “get better” at it by spending a lot of time trying to do something that I’m simply not created to do well.
Instead, I concentrate on the things that I know that I’m good at and hone those skills as a craftsman would and by doing so will maximize them to the utmost.
But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that I can do to help better my core strengths by activating corollary skills in an effort to refine my core ones!
Here are 3 that I’ve identified:
1. Public Speaking
Some of you have had the unfortunate experience of hearing me speak publicly. I am not a gifted communicator by any stretch of the imagination. What I have gotten away with is choosing my topics carefully and speaking only about that which I am exceptionally knowledgeable about.
As such, I am “seen” as a better communicator than I actually am and I know that it’s holding me back from being more successful in both my business as well as some of my writing.
With a few opportunities this year I feel that I’ll be able to stretch my wings a bit more here and become a better communicator. My goal is not to be a conference circuit speaker (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but to simply be a better vehicle for communicating ideas well and with authority.
I know that it will impact my writing directly!
2. Rest
I wrote recently that good writers and bloggers need to rest well in order to write well and that’s still very true! But, what I mean specifically is being better at blocking out specific points of the day, week, month, and year to “actively” rest in order to give space for innovation and creative thinking.
I am constantly in “go” mode and am thankful for the level of productivity that I can push out but it is simply not sustainable long term! Writing 3,248 blog posts in one year was neat (as a number) but not good for my health.
I want to purposely block out time to simply “rest” (not sleeping) and clear my mind for creative and more innovative thinking. It will make me more healthy and make my writing better.
Finally, if you think that “rest” isn’t a skill I would beg to differ! You know people who are amazing at finding effective ways to rest themselves and they are some of the most productive people in the world!
3. Emotional Intelligence
There are many different and varying thoughts about ‘emotional intelligence’ and I take a more general approach to the term:
Emotional Intelligence is the ability, capacity, and skill of being able to identify, assess, and manage well and effectively the emotions of oneself and others.
I am a very emotional person and I love it (as much as I can love myself I suppose). I get emotional charged about what I do and the people I know and love. I can also get very emotionally engaged with some of my projects and even the web apps that myself and my team build.
But, I can manage my emotions poorly at times and this directly impacts my ability to lead others and my team. It also impacts my ability to communicate which then impacts my writing.
I think everyone can use a bit of coaching in light of their emotional intelligence and thankfully I have a coach that helps me in this area, which is always in need of constant improvement!
So what about you? Those are my 3 (and now that I look at it it seems like a lot…) so what are yours?
3 Things I am currently working on to improve.
How I approach others. I want to be known as an encourager and someone who others want to be around. When I approach someone I want to send them the signal I value them and what they have to say.
Public Speaking. As with you I also want to improve my public speaking skills. I hope to fine tune this in the hopes that speaking in front of others is no problem. Experience will ultimately help here.
Wisdom and knowledge. Two of my favorite things. This really is an area I want to always improve upon. Reading is key here. Reading the Bible more will help! And wisdom and knowledge for my blog is where tentblogger, you, come in.
It takes a little work to improve these areas but we’ll get there. Great post!
wisdom and knowledge… most definitely.
My public speaking skills are definitely an area I want to improve, not only for my vlogging, but also to be able to speak at local conferences and such, drawing new readers to my blog.
I also want to continue to improve my writing skills. As I learn to write better (mainly write tighter), my posts will have a more polished and professional look/tone, and I will be taken more seriously as a writer – not just another blogger.
how will you work on the public speaking skills?
You know John, I am always amazed at how “real” and transparent you are. I’ve heard you speak and, to me, you do it in a way that is a direct expression of who you are. It comes across on a very personal level. I appreciate that about your sessions.
I’m really working on several things. This post has made me narrow those down.
1. Regular sleep habits. I’m not comfortable with defining my sleep in 6-8 hours. I want to have a set time I call it quits and a set time I take up the yoke again.
2. Concentrate on my kids more without feeling guilty that I’m not pursuing the opportunities I might have in the future. (this by far is the toughest for me)
3. Focus on an target oriented bloggin routine. When life hits me between the eyes with emergencies and unexpected time consuming events I want to be able to just pull the trigger. By that I mean I want to be so organized and planned ahead that I don’t have to load and set and aim every time I sit down to focus on my blogging. I want it to become a more common part of my life.
ah, yes… i suppose you have! haha. that was a good time. you coming to wordcamp atlanta again?
My three are…
1. Writing (in general):
Being the creative-type, I tend to run from writing. It’s easier to broadcast my thoughts in conversations, status updates, and tweets instead of writing larger portions of information. However, I know it’s something I have to discipline myself to do. So, I plan on doing more writing after I launch my new website. I’ll also be writing for a new startup I’m working with and writing what will hopefully be my first ebook.
2. Creating a writing habit:
I usually get in a writing groove when I plan to write. I notice I prefer writing in environments like Starbucks or outside. So, I’ll be taking advantage of those environments when I start setting aside time to write. my goal is to get just as comfortable writing as I am working on projects as a designer.
3. Speaking:
One of my plans for this year is to develop content for speaking and consulting. This will help me focus my energy as a writer while developing relevant content around topics I’m passionate about.
love #2. start with a schedule… that really helps!