Reaching Your Potential
Finding Your Special Qualities
Timothy Stagich, Ph.D.
How often do we reflect and listen to our inner voices regarding what is best for ourselves and others? Steve Jobs stated to graduates at a Stanford University Commencement Speech that they should not live someone else’s life, but find what is special about themselves and pursue it. This is not just good advice for young college graduates. It is an essential strategy for all of us in order to reach our fullest potential personally as well as professionally. The greatest failures in life are not those who failed to achieve their goals and challenges. The real failures are those who never tried and those who never had the courage to follow their “inner voice” that challenged them to be true to themselves and those around them.
I often wonder how much better the world would be if everyone listened to their inner voices and used their special abilities to help others. If our greatest achievements individually and socially are to help make the lives of others better, then we must listen to those inner voices that keep telling us how to use our talents in ways that will make a real difference and maximize our fullest potential. However, our educational system does little to help students find those special qualities that will focus their ambitions in ways that not only supply a paycheck, but make the world better in some way. Standardized testing and pay-by-performance have lumped both students and teachers into a system that forces teachers to teach to the test and to categorize students instead of helping them to find and to realize their special abilities. Students are dynamic social and collaborative beings each with a unique purpose and potential. They are not categories and most of us resist being placed into groups and categories that limit our potential. Teachers who are able to see the special qualities and abilities of students and help them to develop these qualities are the best teachers. And, managers who are able to see the special abilities and contributions of their employees are usually the best managers.
So, improving our organizations and our teachers is all about finding ways to help employees and students to see and realize their special abilities. Teaching content is just the beginning of collaboratively engaging learners in ways that will help them bring out their special qualities and abilities. Often this occurs in ways that makes everyone around them better. And, these are the same qualities that build collaborative leaders. Recognizing these special qualities and abilities is a talent in itself and those who learn to help people to find their roles in organizations and groups are usually the best leaders, managers and teachers. Collaborative interaction and facilitating input and contributions in ways that bring out the best in every group member can enable and transform individuals and groups. Often the groups and committees that accomplish the most for organizations are those that have maximized the potential of all of their members in ways that allowed everyone to learn and to grow. And, in the process these groups produce other learners who know how to help others and lift the organization to greater levels of performance and productivity.
If we could just remember the words of Steve Jobs and pursue our inner voices in ways that bring out our best qualities that also help others succeed, the world would be a much better place and our greatest potential would be realized. Otherwise, we are just following the path of least resistance or giving people what we think they want to hear that will give us the best advantage. It may not be easy, but we can do so much more if we learn to engage others in ways that bring out what is best in every one of us.
ARCHIVES:
Developing Whole Learners and Leaders
Teamwork and Collaborative Values in a Democratic Society
