You are here: Home / Archives for Your Talents

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up

June 28, 2010 by 14 Comments

When we were little kids we had all kind of ideas of what we wanted to be but very few of us ended up being that person.  Some wanted to be a fireman, doctor, nurse, teacher why, because those were the people we came in contact with.   The truth is we should have looked at what we enjoyed doing to as children and pursued that.

Is it too late to do now?  Of course not but you need to be focused in the process.  It will take a little reflection and memory searching to find out what you enjoyed.  An easy way to speed up the process is to ask people who are old enough to remember what you enjoyed.  That person might have been an uncle, parent, or grandparent, make sure it is someone who spent a lot of time with you growing up.

Tap into that knowledge and use it to your best advantage.  After you discover what you enjoyed apply it to your current life and think of how that would apply.  One of the things that helped me in this process was the book Strength Finders 2.0.  Reading this book and taking the test in the back will reveal your top 5 strengths.  You want to make sure that you purchase the book new, because the test in the back of the book is only good to use once. With this information you can take an objective look at your life and discover how you can apply your strengths.

Working from a position of strength makes you more productive and confidant.  You feel empowered when you are using your strengths.  Do not spend time on your weaknesses.  You may have to develop a process to manage them but do not spend time trying to improve them.  You will get more leverage by spending time focused of developing your strengths.

I would be happy to help you in your strength finding journey.  I recommend that you purchase the book and give me a call after you have taken the test.  Send me an e mail or a message on my contact form to tell me what your top 5 strengths are.  I would be happy to work with you.

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , , ,

Are You Stuck At The Crossroads

June 20, 2010 by 4 Comments

At some point in time in our lives we all find ourselves at a point of indecision. This may be because there are so many choices that we feel paralyzed. When we are caught in this type of situation we are standing at a place I call the crossroads.  In travel the crossroads are a point where several roads converge at the same location.  When you approach the crossroads you are placed in the position to choose.  Even if you know where you are going you have to choose which road to take.  One road might be better paved than another.  One road may be up hill and the other down.  Not all roads will take you to the desired location.

If you have traveled the road before and know where you are going the choice will be easy to make. More than likely you will make a quick decision and move forward.  What happens if you know where you want to go, but have never been there before?  You may be stuck at the crossroads.  This is the time you need more information to make a choice.  What steps should you take to feel more confident about making a decision?

You may want to consider asking for help or directions.   After all if you had more information you might be able to make a better decision than just guessing which road to take.  Remember not making a decision is a choice but you will not progress and be stuck standing at the crossroads forever. You want to make sure that you do not ask just anyone for help and direction.  You ideally want to ask someone who has experience or who has traveled on the same journey that you are currently on.

Being willing to ask for help, direction or instructions are vital to improving the opportunity for you to arrive at your desired destination when you are at the crossroads.  This means that you will not only listen, but take notes and ask questions especially when there are directions or instructions which are not clear to you.  You might consider repeating the instructions aloud to the person advising you to ensure that you both agree that you understand.

Then there is the most perplexing question of all, what happens when you are not sure of your destination and you approach the crossroads?  This is reason to give you pause.  A wise person once said, “If you are not sure where you are going then any direction will do.”  That sounds funny but it is true.  Before you take your next step you need to take a good look at where you have been.  This will provide you with the information where are you prepared to go.  If you want to speed up the process speak to someone who can help you process the information about your past and help reveal what your future desired location should be.

In essence the crossroads are a metaphor for decisions in our lives that have us stuck, frozen in time and we are reluctant to ask for help.  When you find yourself standing at the crossroads I recommend that you get a coach.  Almost anyone who is or has been successful has a coach.  Why, because we do not become successful alone.  There are a number of people throughout our lives guiding us down the road to our desired destination.  When you receive instructions from someone with experience or who has traveled down this road before your learning curve is reduced.  You are more productive and will arrive at your desired destination in a shorter period of time.

Why not consider hiring a coach or speaking to someone who is an expert in the area that you desire to pursue.  You will feel more fulfilled; less stressed and no longer stuck standing at the crossroads.

Filed Under: Business, Relationship, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , ,

The 2010 NBA Finals Winner Is

June 18, 2010 by 2 Comments

Predicting the winner of the 2010 NBA Finals was an easy task.  If you watched the game you know that the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers played in a classic rivalry that is an integral part of NBA basket ball history.  It was a surprise to no one that both teams were going to play their very best.  But no one would have predicted that this series would go to a seventh game.

Well I made a video prediction of the winner of tonight’s 2010 NBA Final’s seventh game.  Check it out.

Now for my prediction, who will win this deciding seventh game? To your surprise I predict two winners.  Yes two.  The first winner will be the team with the best team work.  Yes both teams have great players and individual stars but if they do not play together as a team they will not win.  The second winner is the viewing public.  They will experience some of the best basketball playing on the planet.

I would like you to take the knowledge of this concept and apply it to your work environment.  Regardless of your position, CEO, Vice President, Director, Manager or Supervisor you want to develop a winning team.  You know that developing a winning team has a positive impact on your company’s bottom line.

But just as important, developing an effective team will have a positive impact on your customers.  The one thing that no one can afford to do is to lose a customer.   Great team work can result in enhancing customer loyalty, as a result of team members going the extra mile because they feel empowered to do so.  My talent is working with your team member to help them develop into a more effective strength focused working unit.  Please feel free to share your thoughts about team development or improvement you would like to see in your team members in the comments below.

Filed Under: Relationship, Team Work, Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Art of Selling Yourself

June 16, 2010 by 8 Comments

Your ability to sell yourself is vital to your ability to develop a relationship.  It does not matter if the relationship is business or personal, the most important thing is to make a good first impression.   How do you make a good first impression?

Smile – You must smile when you first meet someone.  It might seem kind of funny that I even mention it, but you would be surprised at how many people do not smile when they are approaching to meet someone.  Your smile is your greeting card.  It says, hello I am a friendly person and I would be a nice person to meet.  Now let’s think about this for a minute, who would you like to meet a friendly person or an indifferent of uninterested person?  Of course you want to meet the friendly person.

Smiling is just the first step in the process and I hope that when you meet someone today that the first thing you do is smile.  I am willing to bet that the majority of the time you will receive a smile in return.

Filed Under: Branding, Interview, Leadership, Relationship, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , , ,

Daily Goals – Do You Have Them?

June 14, 2010 by 6 Comments

So many of us talk about the goals that we have and that is it.  It does not go any further, it is just talk.  I suffer from the same problem so I know what I am talking about 😉 .   If you suffer from the same problem no need to worry.  I would like to share a strategy that you can use to address this problem.

Writing down your goals makes them real and not just a dream that you have.  Putting a date to the goal makes it a focused goal that you can work toward.  We have all heard that goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely but writing it down brings it to life.

So let’s talk about the things you accomplished today.  Those are goals that you reached.  Why don’t you write those accomplishments down on paper so you can see them?  It is good to look at them and realize the number of accomplishments you completed today.  In our fast paced world we don’t spend the time acknowledging our accomplishments.  Please take the time before you eat dinner to write down your accomplishments for the day, when you do please include those things that you did not have a chance to complete today.  These unmet goals are opportunities for tomorrow’s success.  Make sure you write a to do list or a goal sheet and pursue them for tomorrow.  Do not feel bad about not reaching those goals.  Develop a plan and go out tomorrow and make it happen.

Filed Under: Leadership, Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , ,

Leadership in Toastmasters

June 13, 2010 by 2 Comments

Looking for an opportunity to become a leader?  Consider joining a Toastmasters Club.  Toastmasters is an International Organization that helps members become better communicators and leaders.   To be honest, I believe Toastmasters is the best kept secret for anyone who is  determined to improve themselves, willing to work and not afraid to leave their comfort zone.

I joined Toastmasters because I was deathly afraid of speaking in public and it was something I had to do more of as a Director of an Admissions Office in a level one trauma center.  I will discuss my accomplishments in Toastmasters in a future posts.  But I do want to talk to you about leadership.  In a Toastmasters club there are 7 leadership positions (Club Officers) and it is their job to help the club member reach their goals.

The individual member goals help the club become a distinguished club. There are several levels of being distinguished, from distinguished to select distinguished and president distinguished.  I am currently an Area Governor in my Toastmaster District and responsible for 5 clubs.  I work with the club officers to help them become distinguished.  If a club meets all 10 goals they will be president distinguished.

Last year I presented a workshop which focused on Toastmaster Club development at the Spring Conference in both New York and New Jersey.   Below is an excerpt from that presentation which focuses on the Distinguished Club Program (DCP).  There are a number of acronyms in Toastmasters.

So many times the idea of club development is a boring topic to present in a workshop so I decided to spice it up by being a Michael Jackson Impersonator (This was before Michael’s untimely death).   I preformed a different Michael Jackson song parity for each segment of my club development workshop.  Humor is one of my talents and I love to make people smile.  I hope you liked the video and if you are not a member of Toastmasters consider joining a club near you.

Filed Under: Leadership, Speaking, Toastmasters, Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , ,

The Winds of Change

June 9, 2010 by 2 Comments

As we grow and learn each of us have to deal with the winds of change.  These winds of change can come in the form of job loss, relocation, or career change to name a few.  What the actual change in is not as important as how we react to the change.  At times we may feel overwhelmed, confused and unsure what to do next.

I suggest that when we feel that way we take inventory of ourselves.  In our hectic lives we need to take an assessment of where we are and what we have done.  What are your accomplishments?  What do you want to accomplish next?  Sometimes the winds of change blow to send us in a different direction other than the one we were planning to take.  I recommend that you take a long hard look at this change of direction and try to project the new destination.

Why not look at the winds of change as an opportunity to actually make a choice to change.  Change your point of view, your attitude, your out look on life.   I believe, if you make a choice to go with the winds of change you will be happier and you just might enjoy your new point of view.

Filed Under: Leadership, Your Talents Tagged With: , , ,

Fishing For Your Talents

June 6, 2010 by 10 Comments

Finding your talents can be a kin to going fishing.  Not familiar with fishing, let me share what is involved.  You must be willing to take the following 5 steps:

  1. Make the choice to go fishing
  2. Check the weather report and be prepared
  3. Make sure you choose the right bait
  4. Get ready to spend the time needed
  5. Be prepared to catch the fish

Let’s review this list as it relates to finding your talents.

  1. You must be willing to take the journey to find your talents. This means you are willing to take the next 4 steps in the process.  If you are not, you will not be successful in the process.
  2. What is your mindset?  Are you open to the possibility that you have hidden talents? Are you willing to take assessments, and be coached to help you find your talents?
  3. It’s homework time.  Are you willing to do the research with the people who know you best, family, coworkers, your spouse or significant other to find synergy?
  4. Take the time to reflect?  Look at all of the data that you have compiled from assessments, coaching, homework and reflection and get the help you need to interpret it.   Having someone to help you in this part of the process is a key aspect to being successful.
  5. Flexibility and open mindedness are keys to embracing your newly defined talents.  How open are you to change?  Your talents may reveal that you would be better served taking a different approach to your work and the things that you do.  This will allow you to be more productive.


To emphasize this process I made a video.  I would like to encourage you to take the fishing trip to find your talents and I guarantee you will not return home empty handed.

Filed Under: Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Talent Based Work Environment

June 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Imagine a job where everyone was doing the job that they were best suited to do. A workplace where there was intentional collaborative team development was the norm not the exception. Each team member enjoys their job, has fun doing it and genuinely embraces their talents in their work.

Do you think this sound like the future? Well it could be happening in your organization, business, office or department today. There are a few requirements to achieving this success. The first requirement is to have an open mind. If you are open to the belief that this is truly possible then you have take the first step. Step two, do you have buy in from management. If management is not on board this will not work, they need to be willing to change their mindset about who can perform what tasks. Next step is for everyone to identify and embrace their talents. This can be done through a series of workshops and trainings that will allow attendees to interact and develop a true team environment centered on their individual and collective talents.

If this sounds exciting and you would like to learn more feel free to complete my contact form and let’s have a conversation.

Filed Under: Relationship, Your Talents Tagged With: , ,

A Talent Revolution

June 4, 2010 by 6 Comments

I found a great video that supports the views that I believe and speak of in my presentations. We have poor use of our talents. Many of us do not believe that we have talents at all. This is a great misnomer.
Tell me what type of work you would prefer to do, work that is a chore or work that you enjoy. Do you believe you can actually enjoy the work you do daily? I know, for a number of people this is unbelievable, only because they have never tired it.

If you were doing a job which spoke to you, the real you inside, you would enjoy it and not even consider the fact that it was work. Consider something that you enjoy so much that you lost track of time and you wish you had more hours in the day to do what you are doing. This is when you are working from a position of using your talents.

Sir Ken Robinson talks about having a revolution in education to provide an opportunity to develop creative thinkers and value the talents that people have. To stay competitive in the global market we need to develop more talent focused organization, businesses and institutions of education. What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Filed Under: Video, Your Talents Tagged With: , , , ,
Next Page »