Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

I had a bit of time this weekend to relax, so I sat out on the sun-warmed porch and read.  One story I thought I would share was from Strengths Finder 2.0.

“Hector had always been known as a great shoemaker.  In fact, customers from such far-off places as France claimed that Hector made the best shoes in the world.  Yet for years, he had been frustrated with his small shoemaking business.  Although Hector knew he was capable of making hundreds of shoes per week, he was averaging just 30 pairs.  When a friend asked him why, Hector explained that while he was great at producing shoes, he was a poor salesman – and terrible when it came to collecting payments.  Yet he spent most of his time working in these areas of weakness.

So, Hector’s friend introduced him to Sergio, a natural salesman and marketer.  Just as Hector was known for his craftsmanship, Sergio could close deals and sell.  Given the way their strengths complemented one another, Hector and Sergio decided to work together.  A year later, this strengths-based duo was producing, selling, and collecting payment for more than 100 pairs of shoes per week – a more than threefold increase.

While this story may seem simplistic, in many cases, aligning yourself with the right task can be this easy.  When we’re able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists  So, a revision to the “You-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be” maxim might be more accurate:

You cannot be anything you want to be – but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”  Tom Roth, Strengths Finder 2.0