The earliest mass murderer in recorded history.
You probably know him already.
The strongest man in the Bible. He resisted the
heathens who oppressed his tribe.
According to Judges 13-16, he once killed 1,000
of them with a donkey's jawbone.
Those Philistines hated and
feared him, so they
bribed his wife to learn the
secret of his strength.
Turns out, his secret was to never cut his hair.
So while he slept, she betrayed him and
shaved his head.
He immediately lost his special strength and
became powerless to resist his enemies.
So they captured and imprisoned him.
You know the rest of this story, I'm sure.
But to me this first part is more important.
Really? More important?
Yes!
It's about the special strengths WE rely on.
Ask yourself "What are MY special strengths?"
and prepare yourself for a valuable lesson.
The key to Samson's strength was an exception.
The secret to OUR strengths is no exception:
hard work, study, and long practice.
Whether or not we can see our own strengths
clearly, our friends and colleagues surely do.
And so do our clients, too.
Whatever we're doing -- managing a business, or
developing a relationship, or playing a strategic
game, or something else -- all the experts
advise
us to "lead with our strength".
So we always face these two challenges:
First, identify
where our strengths lie. You can
find dozens of
tactics for finding your strengths.
One of my favorites is the Tip I promised:
Occasionally act outside your "comfort zone".
Then see what you can do well the first time.
And second, once we can name a strength,
our next challenge is to develop it. Make it
even more amazing.
If you're good at teaching yourself, look for
good examples of what strengths you want,
and follow these examples.
You'll probably need to learn a few things you
can't
teach yourself, so it's smart to get some
coaching
from a proven expert.
Why am I telling you this?
For me, one of my strengths is knowing how
music helps people celebrate. This is what
I've been learning and practicing nearly every
day since 1975.
Either by helping people plan the music for
their parties, or by leading my band to entertain
all their wedding or party guests.
