Play to Your Strengths

It's three days before April 15th and my taxes are due. I wait in a small reception area for a meeting with my accountant. Nervously I clutch the manila folders in my lap. I have stuffed an array of letters, reports and financial documents in these folders in hopes of looking prepared for this annual meeting. Despite my efforts, I feel hopeless disorganized. Numbers are hard for me to grasp. I just hope Charlie can figure it out. As I sit there nervously drinking coffee, the door opens and Charlie stand there smiling.

"Welcome!" He greets me as if I didn't have a care in the world. "Come in and sit down." I follow him into his office. "What do you have for me?" he asks expectantly. I am embarrassed as I dump the contents of my folders onto his desk. With almost a sense of glee he picks up the stacks of number-laden sheets and starts ruffling through them. "Oh Good!" He exclaims. "This is exactly what I'm looking for." Minutes later Charlie is deep into the piles of paper happily sorting and clicking numbers into his computer. In less than twenty minutes he looks up and says, "I think I've got it. Here's the numbers you need."
I'm dumb founded. "Charlie, how did you make any sense out of this? I wouldn't know where to start? "It's easy," he says. "The numbers are all right there. I just pull it together. This is what I love to do."

I shake my head. To me he's just performed an absolute miracle, and even transformed my mood into pleasant optimism. He continues, "What's hard for me is figuring out how to deal with my staff. Now that's a real challenge! I'm at my wits end." Immediately I take notice. Now he talking about a topic I understand - workplace issues and tensions. "Tell me what's happening," I say, genuinely interested. For the next few minutes Charlie shares his frustrations and the actions he's taken to address the situation. After listening, for a time, I suggest, "How about trying this...'
Charlie likes the idea. "That's brilliant I would never have thought of it." Then it's my turn to smile. "I can't see numbers Charlie, but people issues are right up my
alley." For a moment we recognize how helpful we've been to each other. "Thanks, Charlie," I say as I walk out the door. "No. Thank you!" he says.

What made this experience so satisfying is that Charlie and I exchanged the gifts of our talents. We benefited from each other's interests, knowledge and abilities. And when we were offering our talents, it looked easy and effortless.
In my meeting with Charlie, sharing our talents actually strengthened each other's
contribution. But too often at work, we don't have this experience. It's time we change this dynamic - and play a bigger game.

Topics

• Managing Talents and Career