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Yes, I am borrowing that phrase. Yes, you might have seen it elsewhere. Last year Saucony, the running shoe company, sponsored the "Find Your Strong Project." Customers were invited to submit quotes, videos, and other media that reinforced that message. Submissions are displayed on the Saucony website (check them out).
Credits duly given, I love the phrase. It bucks the tide of predominant habits. News media fixate on human frailty. My inner voice reminds me how far I still fall short. The to-do list emphasizes the not-yet-done. I love being reminded to look, instead, for the strong. To celebrate how far I have come. To indulge the satisfaction of items crossed off the list.
Management guru Peter Drucker teaches leaders to get better results by focusing on employees' strengths, not weaknesses. Psychologist Martin Seligman finds that those who achieve the most in life know-and exploit-what they do the best. Author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes supreme happiness, or "flow," as engaging a challenging task that is perfectly suited to our skills. I was, on the other hand, raised in an era and by a culture in which humility was exalted and pride derided as a deadly sin. It is hard for me to search deep and hard for the things I do best.
I am taking a class. Participants were recently assigned to ask several friends/family/colleagues to list our greatest strengths. (Was that ever hard to do!) I was astounded at the impact of their response. When I assembled the 20 qualities that these five people chose to notice, I felt a surge of inner power. I wanted to live up to their vision of me at my best. I wanted to use those strengths to make the world a better place.
A week later, after the initial shock of high-dose affirmation, it occurred to me: I could do the same for them! So I sat down one morning and listed the strengths I saw in each person. I sent them off. And their response showed how much it meant to them as well.
Drucker is right. Seligman is right. Csikszentmihalyi is right. If we acknowledge and fully embrace our strengths, we can be so effective. If, in contrast, we obsess over our weaknesses, we grind to a halt.
So! Here is an assignment. Think of five people you know well. List their strengths. Send them the list. Help them find their strong. Maybe they will do the same for you.
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