When People Want You on Their Team
She said, “If there’s a crisis, you want me around.” She told me about a car load of high school students on their way to a high school play. There was an accident.
She said the forehead of the boy I was with was peeled back. Then she began to recount all the things she had people do during the crisis.
As a high school student, she took charge.
The boy became her husband. He says to his wife, “You saved my life back then and you’ve been saving me everyday since.”
She’s a leader in a larger governmental organization in the U.S. But it wasn’t always this way.
She started off as a teacher*. It was there that she was invited to be an assistant principal. She didn’t really understand why.
Her principal said, “You’re a leader.”
When do people want you on their team?
- Ask the people who know you, “When you see me at my best, what do you see me doing?”
- Identify your strengths. (Read Strengthfinder 2.0 and take the assessment.)
- Reflect on times when you most enjoy work.
- Identify the times when you bring the most value.
- What are you doing when you slip into the zone and act without thinking.
The line:
Someone believed in her more than she believed in herself.
I don’t mean to say that she had low self-esteem. I mean to say that we need others to help us see our best selves.
Talent and strength are often underutilized until someone else sees it and believes.
If you’re in leadership, I bet you have a line of believers standing behind you. People saw something in you and gave you opportunities.
Someone (Or a group of someones) helped you learn how to bring your best self to challenges and opportunities. How can you return the favor?
Get in line behind someone. Tell them what you see in them. Help them see their strengths and talents. There’s a world of ‘beat down’ out there. If you want to lead, see strength in the people around you.
How might you help others bring their best selves to challenges and opportunities?
Who stands in line behind you? Who might you stand behind?
*Teachers are leaders. The point of this post is how this teacher found new types of leadership because someone believed in her.
**I suspend my 300 word limit on weekends.
Bravo!
Dear Dan.
Liked your including Teachers in the category of Good Leaders!
I endorse your views and believe that caring teachers do build the future of many students with right teachings, guidance and encouragement to excel and shine!
It’s good to ask others what they see in you. I tend to focus more on what I’m getting wrong than what I’m getting right. I also appreciate the encouragement to have the “what I see in you” conversation with others. It’s tough because I think more often than not, “feedback” is associated with what one is doing wrong. We have to find the balance to build on the strengths and shore up the liabilities.
Dan, The Fascination Advantage assessment might be a valuable tool for someone interested in how the world sees them. It helps to clarify how and when you operate at your best. See https://portal.howtofascinate.com/you for more details on how to determine your own personality archetype. There’s often an offer for a free abbreviated assessment.