What if Your Flaws Were Actually Your Power?

My guess is that other people around you think you’re amazing. Over the years, you’ve learned to accept it, but deep down, YOU know your flaws. I mean, you live with them every day!

But what if within some of those flaws, there was a powerful talent you were taking for granted?

For example, I used to think I was way too picky or never satisfied - with work, with life, in relationships, everywhere. No one ever said this to me directly, but it was an internal dialogue in my head that became a barrier for me for a long time.

When I learned that people exceptionally talented in the Maximizer theme “focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence, [seeking] to transform something strong into something superb,” everything changed for me. Maximizer is my #1 talent.

Here are my insights:

• I am committed to excellence
• I focus on what is strong and manage around what is weak
• I bring a quality orientation to everything I do
• I need quality to be valued as much as quantity
• I love a maximum ROI
• I hate an obsession with weakness fixing

I use these insights every day to direct my decision-making, to bring to the table. It’s the place I come from when I work with clients. It’s why I prefer working with high-performance individuals.

“Most people think they know what they’re good at. They are usually wrong. …And yet, a person can perform only from strength.”

- Peter Drucker, management consultant

Let's try something right now.

Think about that nagging flaw that always bugs you (or others!).

Do you talk too much? Are you bossy? Is it hard to say no or let go? Are you stubborn and set in your ways? Do you avoid conflict?

What if talking too much is an indicator that you have what it takes to become a great storyteller? You might have a natural inclination to putting words to pictures. What would happen if you shifted your focus away from the fact that talking too much tires people out, and instead learned the power of telling a great story?

Avoiding conflict can become problematic at work and in relationships. But what if the power in this flaw was that you're exceptionally talented at bring others to consensus? What would happen if you spent your energy learning how to best seek areas of agreement? Some of the most successful divorce lawyers have found power in this flaw and honed it into a strength.

What flaws came up for you? Do you see any silver linings deep inside?

I want to help you find the power in your flaws. Once we look a little deeper, they might not be flaws after all (with a little bit of awareness and attention). I want you to perform from YOUR strengths.

It's taken a lot of time and attention for me to turn my natural talents (starting with learning about them) into strengths. I'm still on that journey.

Learn, Grow, and Live Your Strengths is a group experience for modern professionals. My commitment to you is that for the next three months, I am going to seek to move you from good to better to best, wherever you’re at in your journey.

You may know your Top Five talents from taking the CliftonStrengths or High 5 Test in the past. This experience will take you farther and deeper than you have gone before.

It's not about just you anymore. It's about US.

Here's the thing; I’m not offering this deep dive to my 1:1 clients anymore because of the times we’re in. People are more lonely and isolated, still, and this work isn't something you should do alone. We need each other more than ever before. You will enter the group as strangers and leave as friends.

So, JOIN US! Sign up. We will have so much fun together!

Learn, Grow, and Live Your Strengths kicks off Thursday, February 25, and runs every other week through the end of April.

Let’s maximize and leverage your strengths now, and together.

?About Alisa

Alisa Manjarrez is Vision Producer and Founder of The Happy Cactus, where powerful women gain clarity to cast a vision, create a strategy, and make it happen. Alisa produces and hosts Color Forward, a podcast dedicated to advancing multicultural women in the workplace, and she also hosts Seriously Though, a podcast for modern professionals looking to create the life of their dreams and the wealth to go with it.