Putting Your Quirks to Work

We have been programmed to weigh ourselves in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Strengths give momentum. We can be proud of strengths. We're more hesitant to look at or talk about our weaknesses. We are programmed to think of them as problems and so we: ignore them, deny them, blame them on others, justify or cover them up altogether. Since we all have weaknesses and since they are obviously here to stay, isn't it time we re-think their role in our lives? Can we think of them in constructive ways? How can understanding my weaknesses help me?

Enter David Randall, who sent me a link to his paper which I'm sharing below. David says weaknesses point out your strengths and that there is nothing wrong with you (yes!). He says you need to match your unique characteristics with situations that reward those qualities (yes!). He points out these things and more in a light and funny way that is important to anyone leading nonprofits and working with volunteers and donors.

More importantly, we are living in a time when it is important to challenge assumptions. How we think of ourselves can be transferred to how we work with co-workers, board members, and donors. As we build our resource networks, we're drawing all sorts of new and different people into our arena, and we need to tap all of these resources optimally. Let's challenge how we think about weaknesses. As David says it, let's "put our quirks to work." To read the article, click: here!