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2 Questions to Unlock Your Potential

Oprah is famous for asking, “what’s the 1 thing you know for sure?” I can definitely say the one thing that I know for sure is that I have an insatiable curiosity, and if not cultivated and continuously challenged, I get bored. Boredom is no Bueno friends. Boredom leads to apathy, frustration, and less than a stellar performance because you’ve lost that ‘loving feeling.’

During the span of my career, my roles seem to be transformational. Meaning I come into a company at a time of significant change, and we all know lots of change equals chaos. I thrive on chaos because my innate superpower is problem-solving and creating order out of chaos. The pace is fast, furious, and chock full of opportunities to add value. The good news is that getting bored is not even a passing thought because it’s a buffet of opportunities to connect people, processes, and technology for winning solutions. But when it’s all over, the boredom sets in, and “what’s next” becomes the question of the day.

The pattern of chaos, problem solve, boredom, led me to be a bit self-conscience because, in traditional views, after 2-3 years, I was ready to jump ship and move to a new opportunity. I’m still of the generation that values commitment to career, company, and tenure that is award-worthy, but that’s not my jam if it means settling for status quo and complacency.

Knowing this unlocked limiting beliefs for me. Instead of wondering ‘why can’t I just be happy and be a lifer,’ I changed my thought to ‘I come into organizations at a time of disorder and chaos, and make a massive change to improve overall business performance and outcomes.’ At the end of my tenure, I can safely look around and say, “my work here is done.”

It’s gratifying to be able to come in, quickly assess a situation, and launch into action mode. It’s like being the only one with access to the picture on the puzzle box; I see the vision and how the pieces should move to bring the masterpiece together.

 

One of the best ways to get your talents noticed is to get engaged.

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If you’re the one in the office that is the intersection connector and you have ideals galore, but you’re bored, ask yourself these questions:

  1. Are there existing projects and teams that I can join to show my problem-solving prowess?
  2. Am I demonstrating value in my current role and to those that I consistently interact with regularly?

One of the best ways to get your talents noticed is to get engaged. It’s easy to sit back and talk about how to do things differently; it’s something else entirely when you’re in a room with other problem solvers that play devil’s advocate like an Olympic sport.

Being engaged in that environment will sharpen your skills and teach you what it takes to move from back seat driver to leader of the pack.

Another action you can take is to adopt a heart of service. Be aware of your environment. It’s easy to put blinders on and only focus on your responsibilities, but what if you looked around and sought opportunities to help others that may be struggling. When you take the time to be of service and positive outcomes occur, you’ll get noticed.

For instance, I had the great opportunity to work with a teammate that was a wiz at Excel. The problem was that I was only one of a few people that knew that about her talents. She was incredibly focused and kept her head down on her tasks but would get restless when she didn’t have a problem or challenge to overcome. After some coaching, we discussed several areas of the organization that were struggling and set up meetings with those team leaders to understand their challenges and determine if she could design a solution. She quickly became known as a problem solver and an expert across the organization, which led to more high-profile assignments.

Look for ways that you can make improvements. It doesn’t always have to be a significant award-worthy contribution because small improvements can lead to massive results over time.

Instead of worrying about being judged by your track record, use it as a differentiator. Identify the specific ways that you’ve been a significant contributor and use those as your key selling points.

You are in charge of your career, don’t hold yourself back by outdated beliefs, leverage them to launch your career to the next level.