Soar With Your Strengths
By Nancy Zwiers
I visited my daughter Nikki who is in graduate school in Europe this past month, and over dinner, I shared with a group of her fellow student friends that I was an executive coach. One of her friends asked me what advice I give to all my clients.
First, I complimented him on a “powerful question.” Then, I confirmed that coaching is not about giving advice per se. It is about helping clients reflect through asking “powerful questions” and guiding them to new levels of understanding and commitment based on their own insights. That said, in my 40+ years of working, I have learned some valuable lessons that I often share with my clients.
So after reflecting on Tim’s powerful question, I realized one of the most important pieces of advice to share would be “Soar with your Strengths.”
Extensive experience in both business and human development has demonstrated unequivocally that the key to success is investing in strength versus focusing on shoring up weakness. In other words, we get a bigger return on our investment when it’s directed to areas where we are strong.
Often, in our quest for perfection, we focus on fixing our weaknesses so we can be “perfect.” This is a fool’s errand. We expend great energy on efforts that don’t yield much benefit.
Let me use myself as an example. I am not great at planning and organizing; all my efforts at fixing this shortcoming fall flat—after 40 years of effort, I’m still not great at planning and organizing. In other words, I have gotten a low return on my investment of attention and energy.
I am, however, adept at intuitively connecting disparate pieces of information and generating breakthrough insights that lead to out-of-the-box thinking. The resulting innovations lead to breakthrough results. Every time I focus on leveraging my strength in this way, I get a huge return on my investment of attention and energy.
Let’s apply this same principle to strategic business-building. This means do more of what works and less of what doesn’t:
P&G, the world’s foremost expert in brand-building, embodied the mantra of “spend behind the business.” This is another way of ensuring that you are leaning into success versus failure. The brand generating 60% of the business should receive 60% of the support. The “new kid on the block” generating 10% of your business deserves 10% of your effort—or if you truly believe it is a growth engine of the future, maybe 15% or even 20% of effort…but be wary of over-supporting the unproven at the expense of the proven.
So, as you think about your career and the business you are driving—how do you assess your commitment to leaning into strength? How can you soar with your strengths?
Rachele Harmuth: Overcoming Obstacles with MESH Helps
Andy Keimach: Toy Safety Every Day of the Year
NOMINATIONS FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR THE 2024 TOY & GAME INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS ARE OPEN!
Eco-Lasting Play: How Toy Companies are Putting Sustainability into Practice
Book Review: It's Not All Fun & Games by Mark Flitman
Game Review: Apples to Apples
Kim Vandenbroucke Talks Her Inventing Career on Hidden Role Podcast
Game Review: Sorry!
Sky Castle Toys Announces the Launch of Sticki Rolls- The Ultimate Wearable, Sharable Sticker Experience!
Seven Town's Eleanor Black: Why You Should Always Try the Tea Cozy On
Randy Klimpert Shares his Ukulele Collection
Steve Casino Peanut Art
Everyone's Talking about POP!
Princess Etch - a Multi-Talented Etch A Sketch Artist
Joseph Herscher of Joseph' s Machines.
Bob Fuhrer... Is THE Crocodile Dentist!
Tom Dusenberry... Bought Atari, Wizards of the Coast, and Avalon Hill!
Matt Leacock created Pandemic... the game!
Scott Brown and Tim Swindle... are Launching a New Sport!
Daryl Andrews says... "GO TO CONVENTIONS!"
POPDuo: Richard Dickson, Mattel’s President & COO, and Kedar Narayan, Young Inventor Challenge AMB
POPDuo: Will Shortz and Josh Wardle
POP Duo: Elan Lee, Co-Founder, Exploding Kittens.and Jeff Probst, Host and Exec Producer, Survivor
POP Duo: David Fuhrer, MNG Director, Blue Sq Innovations & Shawn Green, past Dodgers & Mets MLB Star
POP Duo: Bob Fuhrer, Founder, Nextoy and Tom Fazio, Golf Course Designer