We all have a super power
You recognize that person who always seems to create an inspiring vision for projects? Or that someone who times his remarks in the best way? Or that one who is telling stories with everyone glued to his lips? You could get jealous, couldn’t you? You could try to copy this behavior. I challenge you to find your own secret sauce, your super power. I encourage you to find your own talent.
Talent is a word used by many people, in many different contexts. Someone could be a talented piano player, talented cook or talented tennis player. It means that this person is better than average in a certain skill. In organizations we also use the word ‘talent’ for someone who has high potential, who has a bright future ahead of him/her.
I would like to invite you into my meaning of the word ‘Talent’. This new meaning started for me about 10 years ago, when Marianne Broos, the head-trainer of the best 1-week training I ever had, introduced this word in a new way. And I have good news and kind of ‘challenging’ news about this alternative meaning of talent.
First the good news…
The good news is we all are superheroes --- that we all have one unique super power --- our talent. This is something we are amazingly good at! In one way or another it’s been given to us at birth and we are here to add this secret sauce in everything we do. It’s more than a skill. It’s subtle but super strong. Two people can be good piano players, but their unique talent is different. One can touch you to tears with his play, while the other one seems to always surprise you with his technical prowess.
Learning this new meaning of talent changed my life. There was no need anymore to copy anyone, because everyone has a unique talent. I didn’t need to fit myself into a jacket that wasn’t mine. No, the only goal I had to go for was becoming more ‘me’. How sweet is that? Since I realized this and fully accepted my talent, it literally felt as if I were elevated to the next level. I felt alive in each vein in my body. As if I could fly!
How fantastic is the fact that we all have different talents? That each of us brings a different gift to share with one another? Each eye catches something else. One person’s eye catches chaos and creates order in a natural way. Another person has an antenna for a dead atmosphere and creates energy as if his life depends on it.
The wonderful thing is that we don’t have to read books to get better at this specific talent. No, everything we need is already inside us.
Now the more challenging news…
When we were young, we didn’t have to worry about what made us tick, we just did it. Our talent was out in the open, ready to share. Unfortunately life isn’t always sweet and people surrounding us weren’t always ready for our expression of purity and talent. So we started to defend our vulnerability. We’ve learned to defend ourselves from the not-always-so-perfect world around us. And we all learned to use different defending mechanisms. Some people learned to avoid conflicts by keeping quiet and adjusting, other people by raising their voice and becoming dominant. Some people solved difficult situations by rationalizing, others by daydreaming. We all found mechanisms to cope with the world around us to become less vulnerable. While building that defence wall around us, we’ve locked up our treasure box. So the challenging part is unlocking that treasure box. It takes some guts, but to find back with what truly makes us tick is an exciting proces.
It takes a switch in thinking to allow this intangible talent to blossom
When I started as a trainer in a leadership institute, I was thrown into the deep. One of my first personal development trainings I worked together with a very experienced trainer, Jeno. I admired him. I also wanted to confront the participants on the spot. I also wanted to tell them what their weak spots were in the first few minutes. I also wanted that everyone was glued to my lips. I told him and all he said was: ‘You know what? I can do this, because you are standing next to me. I feel that you ‘carry’ this group, there is trust built by you’. Ok, that’s nice, I thought, you shine while I am on the background. Half a year later it became clear to me. I couldn’t copy him in this confronting style. And yes, I became good in confronting tricks and questions I had copied, because copying was one of my best 'defending' mechanisms. But the real confronting was his cup of tea and definitely not mine. And I didn’t want to be ‘just good’; I wanted to be an excellent trainer.
I shine when I let my talent out in the open. From that moment on, it took nothing else but courage to release the power of my talent. It meant ‘listening instead of confronting’, it meant ‘giving space to underlying feelings instead of steering towards a direction’, it meant ‘patience, instead of speed’. Belief me, some participants begged me the first training day to ‘analyze them’ in search of a trainer who told them ‘a recipe what to do’. When I wasn’t being seduced to do so, most of them found out that being in a trusted environment while learning to reflect and finding answers within themselves, was more sustainable. Believe me, it took some guts to step out of the proven trainer tricks (my ‘copying-defending-mechanisms’) and allow this intangible talent to blossom. But somehow I knew this intangible talent was my cup of tea. It felt authentic and somehow that feels good.
Hidden talents
I believe that everyone has a unique talent. Not only the 'successful' people, like CEO’s, famous actors and professors, but everyone of us. What would be the hidden talents of convicts, homeless people or teenage moms? How wonderful would it be if everyone knew their talent and learned how to use it to provide value to the world around them?
In the past 10 years I learned how to discover this unique talent within others. Each time I am amazed by the effect---as if people finally rediscover their long lost treasure. And of course some people ask me: ‘How come are you sure that everyone has a unique talent since birth?’ Good question. I am not sure. But I do not need any scientific research about the effect it gave me and hundreds of others who I’ve seen blossom after rediscovering their talents. It just works.
So much more to discover...
I will keep writing blogs about talent, because there's so much more to share on this rich subject. You are welcome to send me questions, so I can adress them in my blogs.
Maybe you would like to discover your own unique talent? Please contact me and find out how I can help you to discover your super power.
Picture: Thanks freepik.com for your amazing talented graphic artists!