This week I wanted to share with you a post I wrote from last year around this time. For anyone who didn’t get a chance to read it I think it’s worth repeating. For anyone who read it when it was posted last year I think it’s still a great reminder of the importance of encouraging students in their strengths.
I recently read a post from Tim Elmore called Leading from Your Strengths. The main thing that he touches on is that many organizations and managers encourage people to work on their weaknesses.
The same can be said of students in college. While students have a declared major they are still required to take a certain amount of general education classes so they can be well-rounded people. It seems to make sense, but the problem with this is evident when you see what it’s producing. Tim lists several statistics about Americans and the workplace that are eye opening.
Last year only 45% of Americans said they were satisfied in their jobs – a number that has been decreasing every year. Gallup decided to do a study to find out why so few people enjoy their jobs. They asked Americans if they feel they get to play to their strengths in their daily work at least 75% of the time. By choosing 75% they acknowledged that every job will have some tasks that aren’t enjoyable. The result was that only 17% of Americans said they get to play to their strengths at work.
Before my wife and I moved to Lima, NY and the Elim area I had always had the importance of working on your weaknesses drummed into my head. When we moved I began hearing some Christian leaders say things like “focus on your strengths” and “develop the gifts God has given you.” I began seeing things in a new light as I realized that it didn’t make sense to put a lot of time and energy into working on areas that God hadn’t gifted me in. God knows my purpose better than anyone else and He gave me the giftings I have for me to live out that purpose.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t strive to get better in some areas that are not our strengths. For example, if you are bad at communicating and it’s consistently causing problems then you would do everyone around you a favor by trying to better your communication skills. But Tim Elmore does a great job of breaking this concept down when he says usually we believe the myth, “Great teams are full of well-rounded people. Team members put aside their own strengths and desires.” When really the truth is, “Great teams are well-rounded by allowing team members to play to their strengths and become interdependent on each other.”
I say all of this to hopefully give you some fresh perspective as you begin to work with a new group of student leaders in your ministry. Your leadership team will accomplish the most if you allow everyone to play to their strengths. However, this works best if you put together a team of people whose strengths and weaknesses complement each other well. Begin paying attention to your leaders’ strengths and weaknesses and ask them what they enjoy doing. As you begin to encourage students in their strengths and find the best ways for your team to work together your group will reap the benefits.