I find a lot of books, podcasts, CDs and programs geared towards improving your weakness. I never really understood why. I believe you have strengths for a reason. It is your God given talent and all of your strengths should be used to their full extent. Why fight your gift?
For the entrepreneur, strengths are what make you great. Find other people that have strengths that are your weaknesses and bring them on your team as a partner, employee or mentor. It is the complement of strengths that build great organizations and great companies. You can bet Steve Jobs who was a great visionary never spent all of his time learning to be better at accounting, why should you? No one has every aspect of a business to their strengths. Only the successful few understand how to use their strengths and partner with those people who make them better.
If you are not really sure exactly what your top 5 strengths are I recommend reading Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Be sure to purchase a new one, because there is an interactive code in the book that allows you will take an online test before you even start reading the book to lay out your strengths in an easy understood way. The book then helps you fully understand how to use your strengths to succeed. Once these strengths are understood and acknowledged, then you can stop wasting your time with tasks that are your weakness and find those individuals to help on your team to become better. No one can do it all.
The book lays out the top 5 of 34 different strengths that people possess. Then each individual strength once indentified is spelled out in greater detail. So, the book is an easy read and if you are not certain of your strengths it is highly recommended. Once you know your strengths then play to your strengths. Use them in your profession, organizations and teams you belong to in order to become a stronger person and member. Stop wasting your time at tasks that are not your strength. Accept the weakness and find those who could help you in your weak areas. Focus all of your energy at what you do great and become even better. In my young career I was mentored by a great man in the beer distribution business and he taught me a quote that I use to this day. “If you strive for perfection you will ultimately achieve excellence”. I use that quote to my strengths everyday in my business. No one is perfect and certainly no business is perfect but you will find striving for perfection, does create excellence.
My challenge to you is this. Find what makes you strong and use those strengths to make your business and life the best that it can possibly be and search for those who can make you better. Life is a journey not a destination.
Image by Stuart Miles at www.freedigitalphotos.net
Tim Wilhoit is owner/principal of Your Friend 4 Life Insurance Agency in Nashville, TN. He is a family man, father of 3, entrepreneur, insurance agent, life insurance broker, salesman, sales trainer, recruiter, public speaker, blogger and team leader with over 27 years of experience in sales and marketing in the insurance and beverage industries.
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