Lead from Strength™

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Discover the Natural Leader Already Within You!

by Wayne Ottum

 “Each of us has been put on earth with the ability to do something well.
We cheat ourselves and the world if we don’t use that ability as best we can.”
George Allen – Professional Football Coach

No matter your chosen profession, and regardless of your upbringing, you have a natural way of being.  We all do.  And we intuitively know that our “way of being” is different from those around us, in terms of personality, talents, capabilities, how we best communicate, and how we are motivated.  And we’ve figured out from experience when we are in alignment with our natural way of being, we perform better, feel better, are more fulfilled, have more success, and we get outstanding results.  We may not know WHY we are in alignment, but we know WHEN we are and when we are not.

As a leader in your organization, wouldn’t it be great to be in alignment more often?  Wouldn’t it be great if your staff were also in alignment more often?  Imagine how much more productive, prosperous, happy, fulfilled and successful you and your staff could be if everyone were performing “in alignment” with their natural way of being!  What would it mean to you, as a leader, to have this kind of knowledge, success, fulfillment and peace of mind?

What if we told you that such success and confidence is within your reach and that you need only discover your natural way of being and intentionally use it, and those of your team?  Your natural way of being are your “unique gifts.”  We see it over and over with our clients; when they align their business, their leadership, and their staff to best utilize everyone’s unique gifts, suddenly, almost by magic (though it is far from that), things just seem to get easy.  Yes, there is an “easy button!”

So what are “unique gifts” and how do we discover and use them with purpose and intent to create personal and business success and fulfillment?

Your Unique Gifts

There are three aspects of who you are (outlined below) that intertwine to form your unique gifts to create the basis on which each of us brings our individual value to the world.  By exploring and understanding these three aspects of who you are naturally and intrinsically, you can then purposefully and intentionally use them to drive your success as a leader, and in the case of your staff, the success of your business.  The three intrinsic characteristics that form your unique gifts are:

  • Your strengths. These are your natural way of thinking, feeling, and acting that can be honed with practice and skill to true mastery to become your unique strengths.
  • Your learning style. This is the dominant way you process and communicate information.
  • Your motivation style. This is the natural or intrinsic way in which you are motivated or compelled to action.

Together, these personal and natural aspects provide you with a unique set of tools that can be used with purpose, intent and focus to provide value to the world and achieve uncommon success and personal fulfillment.  Yes, you can learn to do most anything, but personal fulfillment and mastery come only when you are aligned with your true self; your inherent talents, your unique learning style, and your intrinsic motivations.  Can you be happy without that?  Of course!  Happiness is a choice, after all.  But we are talking about true personal fulfillment and the ability to consistently perform at an extraordinarily high professional level.  That comes only when you are truly doing what you were meant to do.  And what you were meant to do is most likely found when you are in alignment with your true self; your unique strengths, learning style, and motivations.

 

Using Your Unique Gifts

As we mentioned above, the key to creating the success and fulfillment that comes with alignment to one’s unique gifts is using them with purpose and intent.  To use your gifts with purpose means to use them to provide real value, for a unique purpose!  As a leader, this means using your gifts as the foundation for your leadership in alignment with your business’ unique value proposition.  It also means allowing others to discover their gifts and aligning them to roles in your organization that require those strengths.  To use your gifts intentionally means to use them to live the life you want, and to create the business you desire.  It means having a clear, compelling and written vision of success for yourself and your organization so you can apply those gifts to the actions needed each day to achieve it.  It means focusing your gifts on what is really important to you.

Whatever you want more of in your business and as a leader, you can achieve it faster, more efficiently and with greater fulfillment when you purposefully and intentionally use your unique gifts.  Think about it!  What is the alternative?  Continuing to struggle, constantly fighting against your true self, working to overcome perceived “weaknesses,” continually rolling the rock uphill each day, only to see it roll down again each night.  Or perhaps you have already experienced great success, but reaching the next level has been frustrating and elusive.  Now imagine a business that easily and naturally moves in the direction you desire; you are confident and know what you need to do and why each day, and you experience daily personal success and fulfillment.  Imagine your leadership, and those you lead, focused on strengths, and how those gifts move the organization toward success, as you have defined it.  This is the power that is yours when you Lead from Strength™.

 

Discovering Your Unique Gifts

How do you discover your unique gifts?  Fortunately, the Lead from Strength™ methodology makes this a fairly simple task.  To get started, we have developed a set of exercises that will not only help you discover your strengths, learning style and motivation style, but guides you to go deeper to understand HOW to use your gifts to be a more effective leader, create real value, and achieve outstanding success and personal fulfillment.  We have also developed interactive seminars and workshops to guide your staff through this process as well.

If you would like more information on our Lead from Strength™ programs and how we can help you take your business to the next level, just email us at info@ottumenterprises.com, or visit us at www.leadfromstrength.com.

 

About the Author

Wayne Ottum is an expert in helping business owners achieve clarity of direction, focus and authenticity that naturally drives their business to ever greater levels of success.  He is the President and Founder of Ottum Enterprises, LLC (ottum2.wpengine.com) and creator of the Lead from Strength™ methodology of business planning, leadership and management.  Built on over 30 years of experience in the fields of business, education and consulting, Wayne guides you to Lead from Strength™.  Follow him on Twitter at @WayneOttum or @OttumEnterprise, and find him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/pub/wayne-ottum/0/31/958/.