“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein
Do you want to be a genius? There was a research study that was done to determine what made top-performers better than the rest. The Genius Project (What’s Your Genius?, Jay Niblick) studied over 197,000 individuals across 23 countries. They wondered if they would find a common talent or set of talents that were similar across the top-performers. So what do you think those talents were?
What comes to your mind when you think of people who are the best at what they do? You may say that they are strong in communication, strategic thinking, empathy, organization, belief and the list can go on. However, what this study found was that none of the top performers had exactly the same talent sets. They were all unique.
For me, this is a relief. We can all have the opportunity to be a top performer. You don’t have to come from just the right gene pool to make the list. But then, how do they do it? What is common among top-performers that cause them to rise above the rest?
The Genius Project may not have identified a common talent set, but they did identify a common skill set among top-performers. Here are the two skills that top-performers have and that you can easily have too.
Awareness of Strengths
Top-performers know what they are good at and what they are not good at. A talent is a naturally born gift. There is only one YOU. A talent is something you naturally do well without even having to think about it. It comes naturally. You may be able to learn in this area quickly, and you will often have a passion for it and a deep satisfaction from it. Talents lead to strengths.
What are your talents? What do you often do more quickly and tend to be right on more than anyone else?
Authenticity to Strengths
Top-performers are authentic to their talents. This means they are position their lives so that most of their time is using their talents. This is where talents are developed into strengths. Strengths are talents where knowledge and skills have been applied to make the talent become a place of near perfect performance.
One of my strengths is being able to develop trusting one-to-one or small group relationships with people. So, I thought that networking with other people would come easily to me. When I would go to a networking event, I would try to meet as many people as possible. However, I would leave the event exhausted and feeling like I did not connect with anyone very well. It seemed like a waste of my time.
But, then I realized that I was not living within my strengths. How could I go to a networking event and still be authentic to who I am? So, I decided that I would go and only meet a few people and instead develop a deeper connection with them.
Part of me struggled with this plan because I had been taught that the goal of networking was to meet as many people as possible. But, I took a step of faith and lived by my strengths. The amazing thing is that it worked. By being authentic to my strengths and who I am, I did connect well and built relationships for my success.
Do you know what your strengths are? Are you living authentic to who you are? If you would like to learn what your strengths are, contact me to learn how.