Posts Tagged ‘Strength’

Demonstrating Strength

Monday, October 11th, 2010

It’s a jungle out there and there is the strong and the weak. And the law of the jungle is “eat or be eaten”.  In the highly competitive real estate marketplace it may feel like this sometimes or even a lot.  Yet, is it true?

Our Western society tends to attribute “strength” with outward appearances and mannerisms.  The power suit, flashy car, massive home and perhaps a bit of arrogance for good measure.  Winning through intimidation 101.

Consider the possibility that those who are truly strong, demonstrate it in an entirely different way, where they (in the words of Seth Godin): “Apologize, Defer to others, Avoid shortcuts, Tell the truth, Offer kindness, Seek alliances, Volunteer to take the short straw, Choose the long-term sacrificing the short, Demonstrate respect to all not just the obviously strong.”

People may be fooled for awhile by the “packaging” of strength, but eventually the truth will come out…

Risking the appearance of weakness takes strength. And the market knows it.

Seth Godin

Real strength is having respect for yourself and for those you serve.  That is a winning formula for the long-term in business, relationships or politics (oh, don’t get me started!… :o )

Turn Weaknesses Into Strengths

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Turn your weaknesses into strengthsThink about this for a moment: What’s your biggest weakness that affects your business?  Is it not being detail oriented, inability to delegate or is it that technology makes your skin crawl?

Whatever you just identified is potentially the source for the most positive change in your career.  My dad often told me to turn my weaknesses into my strengths.  It was a great saying that I really never thought much about until recently.

It’s easy and frankly a lot more fun to keep focusing on those talents we are very good at.  However by just concentrating on what we do best we risk the potential for becoming out of balance and not very effective.  It’s like exercising just your right arm because you happen to be right-handed.  Imagine how weird that would look.  Just as an aside, I once worked for someone who broke his left arm which caused it to atrophy and become very weak.  He took the idea of turning weakness into strength quite literally until he could do seven one-handed chin ups with that “weak” arm!

Working to strengthen our weaknesses by definition takes us out of our comfort zone, but the payoffs when we do are enormous…

…transforming a weakness into a strength can make all your other strengths more effective. When the weakness is no longer holding you back, every part of your life will see the benefits

Ralph Marston

If you had ever met me in high school I would have been the last person in the world you would have expected to become a successful international speaker and author.  I had the social skills of a rusty lamp post.  So take another moment to think about how your career and life would be different if you turned just one weakness into your strength…


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