In Trombone Player Wanted, Marcus Buckingham says that only 17% of people questioned in a Gallup poll said they play to their strengths most of the time at work.
I’m one of the people in that 17% so most days are great for me, but today was an especially wonderful day.
I feel strong when I’m connecting a person with a strength with a group that can tap into that strength and make the person and the group their most successful. (In Gallup’s strengths language I’m a Maximizer.)
Today I participated in two opportunities fairs where more than 1,000 people got an opportunity to discover a way to play to their strengths more often at work. It was fabulous! And, I made a few smaller connections between individuals, connections that are going to produce amazing results; I’m sure of it.
I feel strong when I’m preparing training on a difficult topic for a skeptical audience and I get the training product to the polishing stage. I’m training a skeptical group in the morning and I polished the training up today. By the end of the tomorrow I’ll know if I was successful with my training and its polish. For now I get to enjoy the feeling of playing to my strength most of the day. In Seth Godin language, I feel strong when I get the product ready to ship. Since the training is ready to ship, I couldn’t be happier.
Enough about my day.
When in your work week do you feel strong?
When in your work week are you playing to your strengths?
When you play to your strengths do you stop and celebrate the moment? If not, why not?
Playing to your strengths isn’t easy and not every day is a wonderfully awesome day, but on those wonderfully awesome days, stop to celebrate them. If you don’t, who will?
