Do What you aren't

by Shawn Bakker

When I was growing up I played a lot of basketball. Much of my free time was spent shooting hoops. Being right handed, I was most comfortable dribbling and shooting the ball with that hand and used it exclusively. When I got to high school my basketball coach told me that I needed to use my left hand if I wanted to be a good basketball player. In essence I had to do what did not come naturally. At first I could not control the ball, but after a while it started to feel better. At the end of the year I could dribble the ball as easily with my left hand as my right. My coach was right; being able to use my left hand made me a better basketball player.

Our assessment tools are often used to help people examine what comes naturally to them. They highlight how you typically interact with others, set goals, approach your work, manage conflict and deal with change. Many people use this information to identify and utilize their strengths in their personal and professional lives. Yet they can also point you in the direction of things that do not come naturally, but might be useful, like playing basketball with your left hand.

I encourage you to dig out some of your own assessment results and look at them with a different eye. Rather than looking at what you are comfortable doing, look for what does not come naturally to you and ask yourself if acquiring skills in that area would be beneficial. I’m not saying go against every natural inclination you have - far from it. Yet if you consider all your natural tendencies, can you identify some areas where stretching yourself would benefit you either personally or professionally? Take a few moments to think about those things that you work hard at avoiding. Some of these things might include taking on a leadership role, speaking in front of a group, selling your ideas, setting goals, or dealing with conflict. Then think about your work and personal life. Would things improve for you if you picked up some skills that do not come naturally?

In high school, my stretching experience related to basketball. In my professional career, I have had to stretch in other ways. I am an introverted person and I share most of the population’s fear of public speaking. Yet this is something that I have identified as a useful skill to acquire. As a result, I have been stretching myself in a number of ways – reading about presentations, doing presentations, and trying to do them in different ways. I still wouldn’t call myself a great public speaker, but I am getting better. Your natural preferences do not need to keep you from doing different things. You can learn new skills and become adept at using them. You simply need to take a risk and do what you aren’t.