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Article:
Discovering Your Strengths by: Kathy Paauw 'Most Americans do not know what their strengths are. When you ask them, they look at you with a blank stare, or they respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer.' --Peter Drucker Many people never fully utilize their natural gifts because they don't find the proper way to express them in the world, or perhaps they don't even recognize the talents they have. Realized or not, we all have natural talents that we feel passionate about. These talents may feel so natural that you don't even realize how they make you unique and special. Your combined unique talents and capabilities create an experience for others that they will not be able to find anywhere else. I just finished reading an excellent book called 'Now, Discover Your Strengths,' by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton. The authors define talents in a different way than I had thought of them before. Talent is defined as any recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied. Here are some examples of talent as they define it: inquisitive, charming, persistent, responsible, dyslexic. All of these qualities can be productively applied. Dyslexic? I had never thought of dyslexia as being a talent, until I read this book. The authors shared an example of how David Boies -- a celebrated trial attorney and one of the best litigators in the United States -- uses dyslexia to his advantage. He was recruited as counsel for the US Government's antitrust suit against Microsoft, in part because of his gift of dyslexia. Why? Because his dyslexia causes him to avoid using long and complicated words. He knows what these words mean, but doesn't use them in his arguments because he's afraid that he will mispronounce them. This need to rely on simple words makes his arguments easy to follow. He also comes across as a common-sense 'man of the people,' which naturally helps him win over a judge and jury. The authors of this book point out that 'for David Boies, dyslexia is a talent because he has figured out a way to apply this recurring pattern productively, and by combining it with knowledge and skills, to turn it into a strength.' Do you focus on your strengths or Weaknesses? Authors of 'Now, Discover Your Strengths' did extensive research which found that only 41% of Americans believe that the key to success is to focus on strengths rather than weaknesses. In Japan and China, only 24% of those surveyed said they'd focus on strengths. The rest of the population believed that the key to success is found by focusing on weaknesses and trying to improve them. The problem is that we tend to get what we focus on. If we focus on our weaknesses, what does that mean? Here were a couple of startling findings in the studies they conducted: Parents were asked which grade they would spend the most time discussing with their child if they came home with the following report card: A in English, A in Social Studies, C in Biology, F in Algebra. The results: 77% of the parents said they would spend the most time discussing the failed Algebra grade. The authors did a search to determine how many studies have been done on depression. They found more than '40
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