The Great Balancing Act

Many of my recent posts have involved self-awareness and the value of knowing yourself when working with others.  I too am challenged by who I am and how I am wired.  What I know about myself is not new, but how I adapt to best serve myself, my family and my community at large is an ongoing process.  Let me explain more and then help you understand why the same might be an issue for you.

I am highly motivated to engage and talk with others.  I also have a tendency to serve others, regardless of the cost, in order to make sure that they are cared for.  I don’t offer this to say I am better or worse than anyone else, this is just a fact based on assessment and real-life experience.  Knowing my preference for service provides me with a delicate balance between spending my time on work that serves others where I get paid versus time serving others where there is no return from a business sense, at least in dollars and cents.  As a result of my wiring I am always in a dynamic tension where I have to decide who I will help any given day and just how much of my time will be “work related” versus service for the common good.

Everyone is different and others may be much more focused on task accomplishment than I can be.  When the need arises I am as task focused as I need to be, but that is not my preferred method of operation.  Knowing myself comes in quite handy when I meet with others who differ from me.  My methods of communication, both verbally and in written format, need to adjust based on who my audience may be at any given time.

Why should you care about how I am wired, or even more, about how you are wired?  Let me tell you why.

Knowing yourself and others helps you become much more effective in meeting not only your own needs, but also in meeting their needs.  I have many experiences where I have addressed others in ways that were less than effective and the results were not optimal.  Knowing what the person you are talking with is looking for and how they process information will help you get your message across in the most appropriate method.

Success is measured in many ways.  Some look purely at cash or asset accumulation.  All of us need a certain amount of financial resources to survive.  Others look at how their investment of time and resources will advance the interests and success of others with less thought, or little thought, about the ROI from a dollars and cents perspective.

I am not here to say which methods are best.  What I want you to consider and act upon is knowing how you are wired and then also investing the time to understand how those you serve or work with are also put together.  Only through knowing this can you achieve the highest level success in any method of measurement.

A growing part of the work we do dwells on helping others know themselves and those they work with.

Let us know if we can help you increase your self awareness as well as your ability to see how others are put together also.

We would enjoy the opportunity.