Do you know the feeling of satisfaction when you leave a situation knowing that your very best abilities have been in play for the greater good? Not that the outcomes were what you wanted, but that your core abilities, the essence of your leadership strengths, were needed, contributed, and respected. For me it's a deep feeling at my inner core, my spiritual center, that the unchanging essence of who I am as leader has again served the world well. It's just so great and inspiring. Do you know it? And do you want more of it?

The secret to having more satisfying moments is deeply understanding your core strengths and staying confident in them. That gets you naturally deploying them wherever you go. A deeper sense of balance is the outcome. But the trouble is that the working world surrounds us with messages suggesting that we are lacking, need to be like others, or we must use the latest recommended techniques. Do you ever think: Here we go again with the latest leadership fad! This stuff never satisfies because it pastes flashy labels onto the truly God-gifted person we are at our core.

At your core is the unchanging nature of your leadership character. It is the truth of the amazing gifts you have been given in life. Are you creative and imaginative, or productive and driven, or different and unique, or bold and strong? These are the kinds of words we use to describe the unchanging essence of our core. Try writing yours down. They are often the way people we trust describe us. They are qualities that are just bursting to come out (and they often do burst out when suppressed for too long) into your job this week.

Center yourself each day on your core strengths. Be grateful for them. Don't let the world fool you into thinking they are not to be taken into every situation where you work. Trust your faith in them.

If you get stuck, ask someone you trust: What am I really like, and where do I really have a big impact?

Stephen

P.S. Describe your core strengths at our LinkedIn group: A New Equilibrium