A strength that is developed to the point that it starts to make up for weaknesses
An example from me is note taking. I used to be quite decent at note-taking. It was effortless, and gave me energy, and I thought it was nothing special. I mean, it’s just note-taking, everyone can do that, right?
Until I got some feedback from someone pointing it out as something not-normal. Which I found weird… And then another person mentioned it. And after many small remarks from different people (many of those I used to ignore), I realised that maybe there is some value here.
I would take notes during a meeting, on some paper. And a next meeting I could refer back to them, and bring up some points from them. And people would appreciate it, thank me for it, and my courage would grow…
I would take notes during a meeting, and share parts of them afterwards. Sending an email with meeting notes, summarizing some things in chat, … And people would appreciate it, thank me for it, and my courage would grow…
And then I started having a bit more courage, and when people were talking in a meeting, I would pick up a whiteboard marker and note down the points being discussed. And people would appreciate it, thank me for it, and my courage would grow…
I started using the whiteboard to influence the discussion. And people would appreciate it, thank me for it, and my courage would grow…
I’d suddenly start screen sharing while taking notes in a google doc. And people would appreciate it, thank me for it, and my courage would grow…
And slowly I would start facilitating meetings, influencing the flow of conversation: what is discussed, and what is not
Leading a meeting was a weakness for me. I would get stressed and flustered from just the idea of having to do that. It was a weakness of mine, and it still is in a way… I’m still quite bad at leading a meeting, facilitation, … But I developed note-taking into a superpower, and now I’m so good at note-taking, that when I use my super-power during a meeting, I end up facilitating and leading, and doing a pretty good job at it.
Often people are not aware that something that’s easy for them, is remarkable and can be developed into a superpower.
Related to why ‘Find People’s Native Genius’ is valuable the ‘Label it’ is about helping people discover what could be developed into a superpower