What I Want To Be When I Grow Up

Written By: Mary Gywn | I spent time recently with a really cool industry person. This was one of those you go, “oh yeah, I’ve read his stuff, or I’ve heard him speak, or wow yeah I know who that is! He is so cool!” And he is. And I thought, wow, I wish I did this like he does, or gosh I wish I had that strength that he has.

Then I thought, well my strengths are just different from his. And it made me reflect a little bit on what poor use of our energy it is trying to be someone else or be like someone else. It’s not only hard, but really, we were created to have our own gifts and strengths, and if we cultivate those to their fullest everyone benefits. And maybe WE will be that one that somebody’s thinking, “Wow, yeah, I know her. I’ve read her stuff or spent an hour with her, or heard her speak!”

I really see it in the team I get to work with every day. I’m truly surrounded by greatness with the people I work with. There’s one that I think, “wow, I wish I had her people skills.” She always leaves people in a positive way even when she has to give those messages that are designed to help the person grow, i.e., they’re doing something wrong and need to do it differently. But she has such a skill and a strength that feels natural and unrehearsed. And then someone else on my team is truly great at analysis. We think of her as an excel savant. But really, she’s good at analyzing as well as figuring out a way to articulate it in a spreadsheet. And another person on our team is gifted at having tough HR discussions and listening effectively seemingly without emotion or interjection, and bringing us to good conclusions. I wish I had their strengths, but hopefully I bring something else that helps the team just as much. And if we all only had the strengths that the other team members had, how would the team survive, how would we get all the different work done?

So take the time to learn what your strengths are, nurture and develop them, and position yourself to strengthen them so you can be your best you!

If you aren’t sure what you bring to the table, talk to some trusted people. Ask them what they view as your gifts. You can’t just ask anybody, but there are people, say, a mentor, or even sometimes your direct report, who can see strengths that you have, and can help you look in the right directions to build on those.

So someday, when I grow up, it’s likely I still won’t have the strength that my team members have, but hopefully I’ll have done my best to nurture the ones that God gave me.