You know what annoys me.

When I’m told “you need to improve on this or that” or you “need to work on this or that”  ’cause you’re not too good at it, “could do better”. If this has no direct impact on my life or business then  WHY? Like at school I aced at some subjects and was terrible at others. So teachers said  I needed to work on the others? I think not. Why work at the subjects I’m bad at and become mediocre. Isn’t it better to  work to my strengths and become an ace at what I’m good at.

EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE THING THEY ARE GOOD AT.

Work to your strengths. Forget about what you struggle with.

It’s the same in business. Managers need to wake up and place people where they excel. Amazingly this doesn’t always happen: Let me tell you one of my own experiences:

I worked in a bookshop in another life. Now one of my talents is that I can sell. I can get talking to people learn what they want and very quickly sell almost anything. On the shop Floor I sold the record amount of books in a single day. Then a little while later I  broke my own record.

I wasn’t very good at unpacking the books. In the manager’s eyes it was an area I needed to improve on. Funnily enough there was another person who was good at unpacking but “needed to improve on customer service”.

So I was placed in unpacking books and he was out selling. I became mediocre at unpacking books and he became mediocre at selling.

The company folded soon after I left.

BECAUSE the manager could not see that people are different and need to work to their strengths.

Moreover people enjoy doing what they are good at.  I enjoy meeting people, connecting with them and building websites that visibly enhance their online profile. And I like to think I’m pretty  good at it.  I work to my strengths. I no longer unpack many things, I’m not very good at it.

So the next time someone suggest you improve on something ask the question: WHY?  Let me excel at what I’m good at. That’s when you become great. Find out what you good at (here’s a clue, you enjoy doing it) and work at your passion. Find a job that involves what you’re good at. It could be number crunching, planning, selling, anything. I met a girl whose special skill was putting both legs behind her head. She made a living as a contortionist.

You may not be able to change straight away but at least start planning. It’s your life, you only get once chance. Do what you do best.

Do you think Usain Bolt tried for years to improve his marathon running. Or did he concentrate on what he does best?

And Mangers, for fucks sake, Place people where they can excel. Your employees are (by far) your most important asset. Let them  improve your business by letting them do what they do best, whatever that is.

What are you specials kills and how have you put them to good use?