[I Am Talent]: The World of Me

These sound like simple questions but do we ever stop and really work through these questions about ourselves.... and have the discipline to address and resolve some of the answers that we are not satisfied with? We engage actively in all sorts of questions about colleagues, bosses, direct reports, family and friends - but how often do we really apply this same critique to ourselves?!

The Four Intelligences

Do you know how to maximise your personal effectiveness through understanding and practising a 'whole person' and balanced approach to life, i.e. working with all those aspects which make you unique: your mind and emotions, your physical and spiritual aspects. For years many psychologists, researchers and commentators have written about the components or quadrants relating to personality, thinking and learning but it was only recently that Steven Covey referred to the 4 intelligences in his classical work, The 8th Habit." In essence this is how they were described:

Knowing and working with these unique traits will help you balance your personal growth and build your personal power to achieve the results in life that you really strive for - and get from who and where you are, to who and where you want to be! It is no surprise that Covey rates spiritual intelligence as the most important as "it becomes the source of guidance of the other three!"

The power of purpose

In the last few years, there has been a huge amount of interest in the field of Spiritual Intelligence - a radical new exploration of the human need for meaning and values. At the beginning of the 20th century, as psychologists discovered ways and means to measure intelligence, Aristotle's definition of man as "a rational animal" developed into an obsession with IQ.

In the mid 1990's, Daniel Goleman popularized research into emotional intelligence, EQ. Now, in the twenty-first century, there is growing movement in SQ or Spiritual Intelligence, led by the husband and wife team of Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall, whose backgrounds are in quantum physics and quantum thinking. SQ is our most fundamental intelligence. It is what we use to develop our capacity for meaning, vision and value. It typifies fundamental questioning and critical thinking and allows us to dream and to strive. It underlies the things we believe in and the role our beliefs and values play in the actions that we take. Spiritual Intelligence explores how to live up to our potential for better, more satisfying lives.

We have always expressed the view that to be successful in life, you need to have a sense of purpose with your life. Ask yourself a series of questions to establish more about your purpose:

Take ownership of your future and be pro-active in investing in and exploring the wide array of self- rating tools and books that can provide valuable insights on your personality preferences, thinking and learning styles, emotional intelligence, team role preferences, assertiveness and tolerance for stress.

Perform a regular SWOT analysis on yourself, validate the factors with significant others and develop a plan of action to systematically address any shortcomings or weaknesses. In short, you need a plan for yourself! The crazy thing is that we're involved in planning sessions all the time - strategic plans, curriculum design, financial budgets, project plans and even family holidays. Yet we seldom take time out to create personal action plans for ourselves - we just do what we've always done and wonder why that's not good enough. A plan is also only a plan until you commit to making it happen....!

To be a really effective leader (of yourself, your family, or in the workplace), you need to be effective as an individual. You need to master the art of self-leadership or personal mastery, and to be able to choose the most appropriate response and behaviour in any situation - to get what you want. People are often faced with defining moments or turning points in their lives, where they step up and face their fears, make big decisions or hesitate and miss important opportunities. It is these moments that can shape the future, and it is at these times that people need awareness and mental and emotional intelligence to make wise choices.

Victim or victor - It's all about attitude

The difference between effective and ineffective people is their awareness of their choices in any given situation, and then being able to choose the BEST option. You are either in VICTIM mode, where you defend, blame and complain, or in VICTOR mode, where you realise that you have options and choices on how to respond and tackle a problem positively.

"You cannot always choose what happens to you in life, but you can choose how to respond to what happens to you. "

A significant influence in your armoury of self-management skills is attitude:
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative. - W. Clement Stone

We certainly prefer to work with people or teams who have a positive outlook on life, are enthusiastic in the tasks that they perform and have a can-do mind-set to any challenge or difficulty.