We all have blind spots.  You can’t see them!  We can’t avoid them and probably will never get rid of them!  Seems obvious, but YOU aren’t in the best position to see your blind spots or to know how they are affecting the people you lead and the relationships you’re in.

Here’s what I’m learning as I lead:

Your greatest strengths can also do damage to your team dynamics. You tend to think that everyone values the same things you value and that everyone is good at the same thing that we are good at.

NOT TRUE!

Over the next few weeks I invite you to join me as I read Strength Finder 2.0.  Strengths Finder 2.0 is the follow up to Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton’s Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book includes a revamped version of the StrengthsFinder test that shows you not just what your top five strengths are, but also how you rank in the rest of the 34 strengths from Buckingham & Clifton’s model.

I recommend that you get the Strength Finder’s book. It’s a great tool to have on your shelf.  After reading the book and completing the Strength Finder survey, I will post my results and encourage you to do the same.  I hope this discussion will encourage you to become more aware of your own blind spots.  Please join me on this amazing journey.

Are you up for the challenge?

In his book The Winner Within, former NBA coach Pat Riley offers some insights on the danger of compromising excellence.

He writes:

Being a game player is a fiction some people use to excuse themselves from working as hard as they should.  People who think they are game players are what coaches call “floaters.”  They float along on a cushion of talent or sheer physical size and strength.  They don’t see what all the fuss over concentration and work ethic is about until players of lesser talent start scoring in their face, quarter ofter quarter, simply because they are more in tune with their game…Eventually every team has to learn that excellence isn’t a destination.  It’s a process that must be continually improved (pp. 150-151).

Of course, NBA players and coaches are committed to excellence because they want to win a championship.  These can be good motives, but as followers of Christ, the motive that drives us to excellence should be a desire to please God.  The one who will give us our final reward.  Everything we do should be done with a conscious awareness of His presence, a realization that he is watching.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, Colossians 3:23

The Apostle Paul reflected that such awareness should prompt us, regardless of our field of endeavor, to “work at it with all [our] heart.” Men and women who follow Christ aren’t “floaters.”  They give their best effort all of the time, knowing that there is never a circumstance during which the one they follow is not with them, urging them on to their finest.

Are there situations in which you “float?”  If so, Why?

There are 604,800 seconds in a week, and every one of them matters (how you use them is up to you)!

As I age gracefully, I’m learning to appreciate and use the limited time I have.  Twenty years ago, I began to set aside an hour each weekend and ponder this question: What is the purpose of my life?  Here’s a book I recommend to get you started.  Afterwards, I would take notes & craft sentences that describe my life’s purpose.  I encourage you to try this – it really works!

Next, ask yourself how each part of your life (work, friends, family, hobbies) align with or relates to that purpose.  Again, write it down.  Are you spending your time on things that will help you achieve your purpose?  If not, you know you have to make changes.  When your actions are at odds with your goals, you need to make the slight, necessary adjustments.

This may seem like a simple exercise, but very few people do it.  The truth is you probably already know your purpose and goals.  But you may have pushed them off to the side.  Or you may not have aligned your daily actions with your long-term goals.  Doing this exercise will help you to do so.

A few minutes of quite reflection can give your life the clarity and sense of purpose you may lack. To keep your day-to-day choices in sync with your life’s purpose, take a moment to consider your purpose before you make any major decisions or take on any new responsibilities. It will help you remember the precious importance of every second.

Are you up for the challenge?  Do you know your purpose?  I’d love to hear about it!