What’s The Tool In Your Toolbox That No One Else Has?

TV host, author, and podcaster Mike Rowe would have been a construction worker if not for the advice from his grandfather – to find a different toolbox. In my conversation with Mike on the Disrupt Yourself podcast, the counsel from his grandfather sounded very similar to the second accelerant of growth: Play to Your Distinctive Strengths.

A distinctive strength is something you do well that others within your sphere don’t. The tool that only you have in your toolbox. To understand the power of distinctive strengths, look to nature. A reliance on unique strengths and attributes is what allows organisms to survive and thrive. The diversity that exists within the animal kingdom is stunning – each organism has evolved to exploit a specific niche. Take koalas, an animal that sleeps 20 hours a day, for example. What strength does it rely on? Its ability to use eucalyptus, a plant with minimal caloric or nutritional value, as a food source – when most other animals cannot.

The same is true for individuals in our work. We all have skill sets that can set us apart, though they aren’t always immediately apparent. This is especially true when identifying distinctive strengths in yourself. We are better at seeing which tools aren’t in our toolbox than figuring out which ones we have that other people are missing. We focus so much on trying to lessen our weaknesses that we fail to identify the strengths that set us apart. It is this misaligned focus that causes us to get stuck in a job at which we are mediocre rather than searching for something at which we could be truly extraordinary.

Mike shared the story of when he was helping his grandfather and father redo the patio at his childhood home. He messed up the concrete mixture after making several other mistakes over the course of the day. At that moment, his grandfather said to him, “You’re my grandson; I love you. You can do this the rest of your life if you want, but you're beating your head against the wall.”

We think if we work just a little harder for a little longer, we will succeed. This is not to say hard work isn’t critically important, but as Mike’s grandfather said, there are situations where we are just beating our heads against the wall. Mike shared with me, “What I learned was that some people are just naturally gifted when it comes to the mechanics of the trades. I'm not completely incompetent in that world, but none of it came easy.”

Instead of fighting to make a skill that doesn’t come naturally a strength, Mike set out to understand how to work the way he wanted using a strength that was unique to him. Instead of trying to fill his construction toolbox with all the tools he was missing, he aligned the toolbox he wanted with the work it was meant to do. Ultimately, Mike found himself doing a mix of writing, narrating, and impersonating. He was able to use his knowledge of the trades to set himself apart without having to perform the work physically. He has made a career of looking at the entertainment industry the way a tradesman would.

I love how Mike’s story illuminates the idea that our distinctive strengths are not just our skills but also our passions. When he was recounting his conversation with his grandfather, the discussion was as much about his interests as his aptitudes. His grandfather said to him, “What you're really enamored of is not the business of building patios or porches or renovation. You're obsessed with the trades. But I don't think you're really obsessed with the construction trades. I think you're in love with the idea of being a jobber of projects that have beginnings and middles and ends and projects that allow you to work very hard for a concentrated period of time and then play very hard or do nothing at all."

To begin to uncover your distinctive strengths, consider the following questions:

● ? ? What has helped you survive?

● ? ? Are there techniques you fall back on to help in difficult and stressful situations?

● ? ? What exasperates you about others?

● ? ? What do you naturally gravitate to when you have time on your hands?

● ? ? What compliments do you dismiss?

● ? ? When do people ask you for help?

● ? ? What are your areas of expertise?