I am excited to be part of the launch team for “Take Charge Of Your Talent – Three Keys to Thriving in Your Career, Organization, and Life” by Don Maruska and Jay Perry.
A great effort by Maruska and Perry. They have really provided a usable framework to discover, develop and fulfill your potential. It has only been the last few years that I have really started to understand my own potential and I owe most of that credit to the coaching process.
Most understand the idea of potential – it’s always there, it simply needs to be understood and acted upon. I think this is where most fail to “reach their” potential. They simply don’t know what they don’t know and it often takes an outside perspective with open ended questions to dig that potential out.
I will break their three “Keys” down using the chapters as a guideline. There is not near enough room in this post to cover the abundance of insight provided here to take charge of your talent and start thriving in your career, organization and life.
KEY #1 POWER UP YOUR TALENT STORY
Be Your Own Hero
The authors build around the idea that we can all be an everyday hero. All it takes is the belief that we can, and the confidence to do something about it. Fears and limiting beliefs are what hold many of us back. Embrace your talent and build on it.
Explore a Talent Catalyst Conversation
The authors suggest that it takes a Catalyst Conversation to incite change in the discovery of your potential. I mentioned the coaching process earlier. Having those conversations in which new questions can be presented. Questions that help you change the way you think are what can take you to a level you didn’t even know existed.
Connect with a Catalyst
I agree with the authors that discovery is not enough. There has to be accountability if you want to achieve success. Your Catalyst Connection may be a coach, mentor or simply an accountability partner – but if you want to succeed, you better have someone!
KEY #2 ACCELERATE THROUGH OBSTACLES
Keep Your Hopes Humming
Fill in the blank; “I hope that ______.” How many times have you said that? I really appreciated this chapter. Maruska and Perry make some great observations that when we are creatively thinking and maintaining a positive attitude, it keeps our hopes alive. Every small win helps build our confidence which builds positive momentum. There is a great figure in the book which portrays the cycle of Hopes==>Opportunities==>Actions==>Hopes and so on.
Grab Opportunities to Grow
Clearly our success begins with opportunity – some provided and some created. Either way, you need to be operating at a level of awareness that will allow you to identify those opportunities and seize them. If you are going to grow, you need to get better every day. Opportunities allow for this growth but only when we see them.
Challenge Yourself to Stretch
How many opportunites do you have inside your comfort zone? Whatever your answer is, do you really expect it to change if you stay right where you are? Simple to understand but difficult to achieve, stretching beyond where you are will result in opportunities that you don’t even know exist. In order to be more, you need to be willing to do more.
KEY #3 MULTIPLY THE PAYOFFS FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS
Create Enduring Career Assets
How do you create more wealth? You make yourself more valuable. Survival in life really depends on what you can provide to others. So here is the big question; what skills or talents to you have and what is their value to others? Consider how you can take what you know and use it to allow others to succeed.
Share the Wealth and Everyone Wins
This chapter, at least in my opinion, is really about legacy and more importantly, the legacy we leave behind. When you truly embrace and maximize your talents, you can create a legacy that will continue to add value after you are gone. Winning doesn’t have to end when you do!
Champion a Take-Charge Talent Culture
The final chapter is really a call to action. I would suggest the question “What do you want?” When you realize what you want and do something about it, you can achieve it. But there is a catch – Hope without a plan is nothing more than a dream. Taking the steps to maximize the gifts and talents that you have will allow you to become more than you thought possible.
This was a great book and well worth investing the time to read it! A lot of fresh ideas and examples that make you think. There is so much to be gained, and given, when we apply what we know and use what we have to become all we can. Maruska and Perry have provided the framework now it’s up to you.
Today’s question and challenge: “Have you taken charge of the talent you have and what are you dong to be your own catalyst to thriving in your career, organization and life?”
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Barry Smith 10/2/13 photo courtesy of the Launch Team © Building What Matters 2013
