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Harnessing Your Strengths For Sucess

“Presence comes before presentation and when all the presentation is gone what remains is your presence” – Lovemore Nyatsine Founder of Seedbed Consulting

OVER the last few months I have been involved with personal brand coaching with clients in different parts of the world. One thing that is so clear is that without self awareness and insight of individual strengths, it is not possible to position your personal brand effectively. I counsel most of my clients to spend some considerable time on identifying their strengths. The reason for doing so is because 60% of personal branding is making sure you are certain in knowing what makes you unique in strengths.  If you jump into merely positioning your personal brand, you risk much in there being a disconnect between who you say you are and who you really are. And, as we know, reputations take life times to build and moments to destroy. I take personal branding seriously because it is about an individual’s purpose and unique value proposition.

Personal branding is not about ‘packaging’ you, but is about accentuating you as the package.

There are categories of strengths which you must build your personal brand around:

Your Personal Best or Natural Strengths

Your personal best is what comes naturally to you. Some people have natural strengths, one such person is Bishop TD Jakes who is naturally charismatic, poetic and a powerful minister of the word. You cannot ‘package’ Bishop TD Jakes, he is the package already. When it comes to matters of the pulpit, he is a natural. He has the presence. So do you. You only need to identify the area in which you have natural strengths. Presence comes before presentation and when all the presentation is gone what remains is your presence. Your personal best is the right to be yourself through your unique talent and personality. To have a presence in life you need to identify your personal best. Life is like a stage, and you are an actor each with a unique part to play. Life is like an orchestra or symphony, and there is a part which only you can sing.

Competitive Strengths

“If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete” – Jack Welch

These are the skills that are stronger than your competitors or peers. This kind of strength is due to your striving instincts or conative strengths. You have energy tanks which fuel your passions and gives you energy to compete – stand out of the crowd. If I am placed in a situation where I have to compete, I default to my competitive strengths (striving instinct) of innovation. I break all the rules and start to create my own. This is how I compete. I also have a friend who when placed in a similar situation gathers all the facts first, follows the rules and is methodical. At the end of the day we both achieve results but we use methods which play to our different strengths.

Years ago when Muhammad Ali faced George Foreman in the “Rumble in The Jungle” his competitive strength was around his mantra ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’.  He would dance around his boxing opponent using his speed and agility. On the other hand Foreman used his massive built and weight to absorb punches. In short Ali’s competitive strength was agility while Foreman’s was absorption. What is your own competitive strength in life? Taking a defensive position in life or taking an offensive position?

Distinctive Strengths

These are the strengths which do not only make you compete but also stand out from the rest. It’s the kind of strengths which give you naming rights for your industry, profession or sport for example Oracle of Omaha (Warren Buffet), King of Pop (Michael Jackson), Father Zimbabwe ( Joshua Nkomo ) and  Father of African telecoms (Miko Rwayitare). You need to do something different with a difference in order to make a difference. This can apply to the student at Goto High school in Zimbabwe, the driver of a matatu (commuter taxi) in the slums of Kibera (Kenya), the trader on the streets of Sururele (Lagos, Nigeria), the bankers on Wall Street (USA) or the miners at Debswana in Botswana. The greatest call you have upon your life is to make a positive difference. You are distinctively different in order to execute a special assignment which only you can do.

Real success does not just come from playing to your strengths. It comes from self awareness and adaptability. If you overplay strength, it can soon become a weakness. In our personal brand coaching programmes we emphasise self awareness and self insight in order to set you up to play the game of life with skill and panache.

Reflections from the Halfway House

Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action -James Levin

A few years back when we were living in Zimbabwe, we used to visit our folks in the Eastern Highlands. The journey had a number of milestones including a place called Halfway House. This was halfway through the journey and is a place where we would normally stop for a number of reasons. I used to enjoy the fairly priced macadamia nuts, cashew nuts, biltong and some dried fruit from the farm store at this place. We would stop to rest a bit, take a comfort break, stretch our legs or body break, grab a bite, check tyre pressure, top up goodies for our folks among other things. At the Halfway House those travelling by bus would also stop for the same reasons, while some motorists would stop to change tyres, refuel or ask the petrol attendants for directions. This was the experience at the Halfway House and there are some lessons I would like to unpack.

This week marks the last week of June, and end of the 2009 first half. How times flies! At the beginning of the year, you set goals you wanted to achieve by the end of the year. You are at the ‘Halfway House’ of your journey, and let’s have a conversation around this place.

Time for A Break

Just as a drive on a long journey takes toll on your body, the pursuit of your goals also puts pressure on you physically. You might be getting grumpy, tensions headaches, muscle aches and general body stress. It’s a sign that you need to park yourself at the ‘halfway house’ and get a body break. A body break allows your body to regain energy while clearing your mind of clutter and giving you an opportunity to focus. Take the day, afternoon or week off. Go on a weekend breakaway to just get your body and mind back into gear. It doesn’t have to cost you money…go to the local city park, go to the village or spend the day at home just resting for a change.  From time to time the body needs a comfort break to release mounting tension and negative energy build up. As the negative energy is displaced it is replaced by positive energy which starts to fill up your tank…

Top Up Your Tank

The motorists and buses would normally refuel at the Halfway House. This refill would make them last the whole journey. They would also top up tyre pressure, oil and radiator water to cool down the engines. As the year progresses, your energy and passion tank might be half full by now. This is a time for refilling to make you last the whole journey. The wheels of your goals might be low on pressure and turning slowly, putting pressure on your energy tank.  It’s time to add some more pressure to help with a better bounce. Purpose is the fuel that fires the vehicle of your dreams. Goals are the pressure that helps you stay focused on your purpose. Passion is the oil that helps the wheels of purpose to turn. Discipline is the water that helps prevent you from burn out. Once you have enough fuel, oil and pressure in you, you will be ready to finish, and finish strong!

Are You Going in The Right Direction

Along the journey, there was no better place to ask directions than at the Highway House. I remember I would see a lot of motorists asking the petrol attendants for directions or remaining distance. It’s so easy to continue one’s journey without asking directions, but the chances and cost of ending up in the wrong place are very high. Just a quick check of your bearings or directions is a small price to pay than to go through the whole year chasing the wrong goals. Are your goals still in line with your purpose? How much more effort do you need to put in order to achieve your goals. You need to have the reassurance that you are on the right track and that your goal is within reach.

Change Your Goals

If you are on a journey, you cannot change your vehicle, but you certainly can change your tyres. Your vehicle is like your purpose. Your purpose is what and how you are wired. The tyres are the goals on the vehicle of purpose. If the goals are worn out, it means the vehicle of purpose won’t move. Tyres without treads will soon cause a car to crash or slide on slippery roads. If your goals are lacking traction because they are not SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) then your purpose is headed for the skids. The only thing to do is to change the goals and put goals which fit in with the purpose.

I would like to encourage you to strengthen the feeble knees, prop up the drooping hands and square up the sagging shoulders. Take some time to reflect while you are at the ‘halfway house’ of your goals. Confirm your directions, fill up your tank, top up and make the rest of the journey fired up and ready to last the distance.

Extending Your Boundaries

Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes – Yeshaiyahu bar Amotz (AMPLIFIED)

Last week we began to share about Breaking Traditions and Limitations.  As a continuation I would like us to look at going beyond the limitations and setting new frontiers in our lives.  This week I would like to encourage somebody who has not been making progress. You have been going round in circles. Lots of motion no progress? Lots of investment no return? You have been in that job for far too long? They probably have already given you an asset number. Your business can’t go beyond a certain revenue threshold? Your finances never seem to break even?  Let this be your season to break out and breakthrough.

Your comfort zone, has now become a zone of lack of progress? I want to encourage someone who is doing well, but is operating below full capacity. You can do better and you know it. As you break with traditions and limitations this is a time to go beyond the boundaries of fear, inadequacy, education, geography and any other challenges. Yes you can!

I would like to share some laws that are important to help you extend your boundaries.

Law of Dreams

Dreams are the seedlings of reality. In a moment of inspiration I took some pictures of acorns (seeds) from a giant oak at Johannesburg Country Club last week. In that seed lays the possibility of the biggest oak tree in the world. So it is with dreams…something so big might be hidden in your dreams.  A dream is a glimpse into the future. When you dream you take a peek into the future. To dream is a foretaste of what can be. If you are going to be dreaming you might as well dream big.

Law of Seed

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them – Albert Einstein

You cannot plant lemons and expect to reap oranges. The Law of Seed means that what you sow is what you reap. In order to extend your boundaries you need to start sowing a different kind of seed than what you you have been doing.  You need to sow of your time, money, prayer, energy etc in order to go to the next level. Your seed will take you to the next level.

But how can I be a billionaire if I don’t have billions to sow? Good question. This law works in conjunction with the Law of Multiplication. A forest started as a seed which multiplied over time. You can start today to sow seeds to get you to the next level.

Law of Thoughts

Empires of the future are empires of the mind – Winston Churchill

As a man thinketh, so is he. You cannot extend your boundaries, beyond your belief system. You are a product of everything your mind has imbibed. Your life moves in the direction of your most dominant thoughts. Thoughts, habits and circumstances exist in a continuum where the one leads to the other. Thoughts turn into habits, which will in turn solidify into circumstances. To change or manage your circumstances of your life you need to change your thoughts. Think possibilities, health, success and soon you will become a product of your thoughts.

Law of Images

What you continually see you eventually become. This is the secret behind television advertising. They repeatedly show adverts on TV in order to create an affinity in your mind. You need to surround yourself with images of possibility. If you want a particular car, make it a screen saver on your computer or cell phone. If you want a nice house, put up pictures of nice houses around you. Set the context of your life. Images of what you wish for will inspire you.

This is a season to go to a new level. Change your operating system of thought and beliefs as you seek to upgrade your life and those around you.

You are a generation who, like the eagle, will soar on the thermals of My Spirit and mount up to new heights. I am the Wind beneath your wings, and I say to you arise…time to arise

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Breaking Traditions and Limitations

To succeed once, challenge the traditions of others; to succeed twice, challenge your own traditions – Lovemore Nyatsine, Founder of Seedbed

This weekend I have been reflecting on the things that limit us in life. I flashed back to my early years. I imagined myself in my mother’s womb for 9 months. I fast forward a little bit when I was now in my crib. I can imagine my mother’s protective eye and hands making sure I do not venture into danger. A few years later, there I was at the local crèche, in a classroom full of crying toddlers on the first day….I am crying the loudest.  It’s getting a bit uncomfortable, but soon the discomfort disappears and let the games begin. This place is fun, oh I love this place! I wonder why mum and dad did not take me to this place earlier. Two years later, my game is up and am now in junior school. My elder siblings go out of their way to ‘protect me’ to make sure I am behaving and not putting the good family name to disrepute.

At this school they soon begin to put us in groups, and they say we can’t do this or that sport. Everything in the school is directed by a bell which signals when a lesson is over and when we must go for breaks. And there are these people called prefects who interfere with my ‘liberty’. I don’t like this place. Fast forward. I am now in secondary school…having been forced to do some stuff called Biology and Math’s. But I really don’t like this stuff. I complete secondary school, and there is discussion in the family that I must go to an agriculture college so I can help in the family farm. A farmer?  Ummm wrong move.  That day I became a rebel.

My father had bought the family farm in Juliasdale in 1981 when I was in crèche and the routine had always been when the schools holidays come we would all go to the farm. Being the youngest I was the shepherd boy looking after the sheep in the paddocks. I believed there was more to my world than this routine. I took my brother, Livingstone’s old maroon blazer, and old school case (trunk) and went to high school with no school fees. I had decided to make a different investment in my life and break with traditions and limitations.  That day marked a new journey of self discovery.

Get Out of the Box

It is clear life is lived in a series of boxes. The womb, the crib, the home, school, town, faculty, syllabi, curricula, department, industry or job description. That is all good. However the danger is these boxes can rob your life of meaning and purpose. If you don’t challenge these boxes you can have a life without a soul, education without learning, a job without a career, happiness with no joy, motion with no progress. You become a slave to limiting paradigms, concepts, values, perceptions and practices. I could have been a farmer, but farming is no fun for me. I am not wired for farming. You need to get out of the box. It could be your hometown, industry, job description, qualifications. Life is too short to be lived in a box…burn the box and start to live as your Creator intended for you.

Challenge Traditions

The deeply encoded lessons of the past that are passed from one generation to another while good can be limiting. You cannot intercept the future by repeating the past. Neither can you drive a car by looking in the rear view mirror. To escape the gravitational pull of the past, be convinced that the future is a better proposition.

Let me quickly share with you something about kids. Kids are naïve. They don’t know what is possible and impossible. Why can’t you touch the stars, they ask. Adults are smart. They know the possible from the impossible. So they don’t ask silly questions and don’t hope for the impossible. And when confronted with a child’s mind, they quickly dismiss it and say, “Because that’s the way it is!” But it needn’t be that way. Why not ask “Why couldn’t it be different?” Having watched her father take a picture, Dr. Edward Land’s 3 year old daughter asked if she could see the results NOW. That innocent question set Dr. Land off to create instant photography now known as Polaroid. Years later Land was quoted, “We really don’t invent new products…, the best one’s are already there, only invisible, just waiting to be discovered.” We need to begin challenging everything by asking, “Why Can’t”, Why Couldn’t”, “Why Not”, “Why”?

We need to not only challenge the norm, but expand our peripheral vision and extend our boundaries.

In the next article I will share about Extending Your Boundaries covering the principles you must apply to break traditions and limitations.

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Unlimited Possibilities

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I conducted a workshop at a client last week. At this client site you can only gain access into and around the building using finger print ID technology. If your finger prints are not recognised by the system, then you can’t move around on your own. On this particular day I was at my adventurous best and decided to take an unguided tour. I went through the first door by tagging along with someone whose fingerprint was in the system. That is as far as I went because he was going to another part in the building. I tried to place my fingerprint on the access panel and a red light flashed. Access denied. It then dawned on me that I was stuck. I tried all my fingers, and even spoke the heavenly language. Still access denied. I stayed there for a good ten minutes before an escort came to ‘set me free’.  I was then given a guided tour and even ended up speaking to one good Doctor in Aeronautics who will organise for me to take some flying lessons.

As I drove home, I began to reflect on this experience. I imagined how in life we try to open the right doors with the wrong keys and vice versa. I thought about how we make things difficult for ourselves instead of getting the right people to open doors for us. I will share the lessons from this self reflection.

You Are The Key

In a world with billions of people, no one catch match your fingerprints. That is how unique and special you are. It means there you are the unique key to certain opportunities in this world. The world is full of doors of possibilities but unless you unlock them with your uniqueness, they will remain closed. You need to discover who you are and begin to create solutions to humanity’s needs around your uniqueness.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. The Creator took His time and great care to wire you up to deliver something special to this world. You are a special package containing goodies of greatness for delivery to humanity. Keys are made to size and shape. Don’t try to do everything, if the Creator wanted us to be a master key, He would have made us all the same. Your strengths, personality, size, shape, height, skills and passions make you just the right person to do something in this world which only you can do it.

Get To The Right Door

As I set about to check out this client premises I had no idea where I was going to. It was just the sense of adventure that got me going. The lesson from this is that sometimes in life people set out to do things without any aim. The result is they find themselves stuck. You end going to the wrong doors, expend your energy and your time. This can be easily addressed by sitting down and coming up with a purpose and vision of what you want to do in life. There are stories of people who are in the wrong profession, wrong business and wrong relationship. Why? They probably knocked on the wrong door. To unlock possibilities you need to go to the right door. If you are going to wrong door you are like a knife trying to be a saw – you limit your possibilities.

Find An Escort

If there are doors of opportunity which only you can open, it means there are some which only other people can open. I took an unguided tour without an escort and spend a frustrating ten minutes stuck. This is what happens when you don’t get someone else with the key to unlock possibilities for you. It can be a whole lifetime of frustration. That job from hell. That business which is giving you sleepless nights. Use your networks, colleagues, friends, professionals, a coach or a mentor to help unlock doors for you.

Every opportunity is just one person away; you just need to know who that person is. My escort at this company took me to this good Doctor who will now help me realise my lifelong dream of flying a plane. What could have been an aimless walkabout or tour became an opportunity. Unlocking possibilities! Yes you can…

Authentic Personal Branding

‘We attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life when we use our native capacities to their greatest extent’ – Dr Blanton

I have a Gucci suit which I bought for a tidy US dollar sum. One day I saw a colleague wearing the same ‘Gucci’ suit. I made a comment about how the suit was a nice Gucci, and that I owned exactly the same suit. He just laughed and opened the inside of the suit to reveal the suit label. Alas it was a ‘fong kong’ or a ‘zhing zhong’. It had all the appearance of a Gucci suit but was not the real thing. On a closer look, the inside lining was already torn, and the outside material had bubbles betraying every pretence of being a Gucci.

Ok, ok let me play the bad guy, lest you lose the lesson because you think I am being self conceited. My brother in law recently got a birthday present of an Arsenal football club jersey bought straight from the Emirates Stadium in the UK. It has the look and feel of an authentic Arsenal jersey…sweat absorption, aerodynamic texture…all the bells and whistles. I also have a Chelsea club jersey bought from ‘downtown’. Each time I have worn this jersey, my 3 year old daughter Zoe, always says, ‘Dad everyone will laugh at you’. I don’t know what she saw in that jersey, but I have now restricted wearing that jersey to the indoors following her ‘daughterly’ advice.

What are the lessons? Your personal brand is pretty much like a product. If you are not authentic, when people take a closer look, they will see the torn lining, bubbles, warts and all. Let’s dig deeper into this.

Personal Branding

Personal Branding is a way of clarifying or communicating what makes you different and special. It is an understanding of your unique attributes namely your passions, strengths, values and skills. It is about what makes you ‘younique’. It is more than a logo, a tagline, airbrushing or a spin job but a unique promise of the value you were born to add to this world. Those attributes which make you fit to execute your special assignment in this world. Your personal brand cannot be separated from what makes you unique – your strengths, skills, passions and values. You cannot fake these attributes otherwise you will soon be exposed as not being authentic. Understanding your personal brand helps you define the direction which your life must take professionally or in business.

You Are The Real Thing

Purpose authenticates your brand. Your purpose is linked to your wiring (passions, values, skills and strengths). Passion for your purpose comes when you are exceedingly motivated by your work because you have faith in its inherent worth, and you can apply your capabilities to utmost effect. Personal branding is permission to be your authentic self. A secure identity is the foundation for developing a strong and authentic personal brand. The best brands simply express who they are. Coca Cola is ‘brrrrrrrrr’ wherever you are…it will always be Coca Cola. Like Coke, be driven by your unique attributes. Do not try to be another Mother Theresa, Jack Welch, Branson, Motsepe, Dr King Jr, Masiyiwa, Mandela or Oprah. The world needs fresh inspiration from you. You are robbing the world of the next biggest thing after Obama by sitting on your immense gifting.

Generational Personal Branding

There is nothing inspirational about being the ‘ex-powerhouse, former top leader, once a democrat et.c. I know of leaders in different spheres from my hometown who are now a former shadow of themselves. What went wrong? They failed the generational branding test. If your personal brand will die within one generation, then it is not an authentic brand. Generation is made up of two words gene and ration which literally means spreading or rationing your genes over time. An authentic brand is able to be reproduced and spread over many generations. You were born when Coca Cola was around, and I have no doubt that your grandchildren will still drink Coke. Now that is an authentic brand.

Success is not about ‘having’ but about ‘being’. Greatness is not measured by what you have, but by what you give. You give by investing in your personality, so that you become so great that many aspire to your inspiration. ‘Being’ means becoming what you must be and maximizing your full potential. Invest in your strengths, skills, passions and values so that you can positively influence those in your sphere of influence. One day future generations must be able to celebrate your personal brand, stand on your shoulders see greater possibilities ahead and be inspired to open new frontiers for the next generation.

Unbreakable Spirit

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change — Charles Darwin

I recently travelled to Zimbabwe. I marveled at the level of resilience of the folks I met. In particular a relative narrated how he was beaten in the post 29 March hostilities. He shared how he struggled with the serious hunger that ravaged Zimbabwe last year. He was earning less than 30 US cents per day as a porter and has a wife and four children.  As if that was not enough, he almost died from cholera at the height of the epidemic late last year. This is a lot to happen to anybody in any part of the world.

There is something which I found striking about him – he laughed about the experiences and demonstrated a readiness to reclaim his life. One word explains his spirit – RESILIENCE! None of these experiences broke his spirit. He has bounced back from a time of severe challenges. After my chat with him, I was refreshed than depressed. He is the symbol of the resilience of many in Zimbabwe who have experienced more than 10 years of extremely difficult conditions but have not given up on their dreams. You need to develop this unbreakable spirit in order to overcome any challenges on your voyage to greatness.

Resilience

The word resilience comes from the Latin word resile which means to leap back. Resilience is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. It is also the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape – to bounce back – after being subjected to adversity or stress. If you subject a spring or a stress ball to pressure it will come back to its original size and form. If you have resilience it means when you are subjected to pressure or adversity you do not lose your orientation or focus.

Resilience is a combination of faith, love and hope. The faith to see your dreams in the land of hope far ahead. The love to pursue your dreams with the passion of a zealot, and a readiness to sacrifice without complaining.

Dimensions of Resilience

1. Self-Assurance

You need to view the world as complex and challenging but filled with opportunity. Hold a positive self-perception and self regard. Be confident in your ability to meet any challenge with hope and realistic optimism.

2. Personal Vision/Purpose

You must have certainty of what you believe in. It must be something to live for and if necessary to die for. Have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish/achieve. Approach adversity and stress with a sense of hope. Belief and purpose carries you forward in life. With no vision you are like a cork floating in water…you will go anywhere, or a ship on dry ground, you will go nowhere.

3. Flexible/Adaptable

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape” – Dr Michael McGriffy

Flexibility is about being aware of and sensitive to changes in the environment. In business we talk of operational agility. It is the ability to shift gears in response to what is happening. Remain true to your purpose/vision while making room for other ideas and opportunities. The giant oak which does not bend when the wind comes is uprooted. It must learn from the grass which survives the wind because it knows how to bend.

4. Organized

You need to create structures and methods to bring order and stability on your own terms. Set realistic goals for yourself. Manage the stormy moments with calm and clarity of purpose. The best way to deal with times of uncertainty and great difficulty is to be organized. Organising brings certainty to uncertainty.

5. Problem Solver

Think critically and reflectively. View impossible problems as challenges and opportunities for learning and growth. Anticipate setbacks and missteps. Solve problems for the long long-term. View failures as opportunities for inspiration to do better.

Never allow anything to break your spirit. Even 27 years in jail would not break Nelson Mandela’s spirit. This is the power of resilience. I could share about Viktor Frankl in Nazi camps or how President Jacob Zuma bounced back from the political wilderness to win convincingly. The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune. No one sees your courage in the sunshine. It takes difficulty and darkness to prove bravery

Resilience is the shield which protects your dreams from the fiery darts of adversity!