Lead Strong

Monday's lecture was all about strengths-based leadership.  This is the first new concept that this class has brought to my life and I'm intrigued.  The premise is that to lead to the best of our abilities, we must focus on our best abilities and mostly ignore our weaknesses.  At first I thought that sounded ridiculous.  My weaknesses aren't going to just go away if I ignore them.  But the more we talked about it, the more it made sense.  I will work better when I'm thinking along the lines of "I rock at this so watch me be awesome" than when I'm thinking "Wow, I'm terrible.  Why am I even trying?" Focusing on the positive aspects of my character gives me a confidence boost.  Acting with confidence helps overcome weakness and inhibition.


And really, we aren't ignoring our weaknesses; we're recognizing that as we improve our strengths we bring everything else to a higher level as well.  If all the attributes that comprise who we are make up a metaphorical web, then each point or attribute helps determine which plane our web is in.  If we raise all the high points even higher, the rest of the points have to follow suit and thus our entire self is elevated to a new plane of being.  I like that.  And I can do that.

As part of our homework for Wednesday's lab we had to complete a personality test.  I forget the name of the test (Meyers Briggs, maybe?) but mine was fairly accurate.  My personality profile is that of an idealist and a teacher.  Perfect for what I'm going to be when I grow up. =)  I'm good at connecting with people and making them feel comfortable.  More often than not, it's easy for me to see the best in people.  I'm inclined to build people up and help them realize their potential. I have a knack for  linguistic expression.  I'm adept at making decisions.  I draw energy from interacting with people, the more the better. So I rock at some things.  And others not so much.  I try to do more than I can and give more than I have and that results in my feeling like a martyr when it doesn't have to be that way.  I sometimes take things too personally and I care more about what other people think than I should.  There, I acknowledged the weaknesses and now I'm going to focus on the strengths.  I already feel better.

It sounds cliche, but I really am a people person.  I think one of the most significant of my God-given strengths is being able to connect with people.  And my leadership role requires that I help look after and connect with the one.  I know most of the girls in my RS and I'd recognize all of them by now, but I don't have a connection with all of them yet.  My goal for this week is to make time to talk with at least 4 of my girls who I don't know well yet and start a friendship with each of them.