So Courageous Co. isn’t branching out into corporate parties (at least not yet!)… but as we close 2022 I had a reflection from DJing at parties in the past few months that I wanted to share.
Conventional thinking on self-development suggests focusing on maximising your strengths rather than worrying too much about your weaknesses. At P&G, employee development plans always had three strengths vs. one “development area” on the basis that it is easier to leverage things you are already good at than try to fix something that you can’t do well…
Maximising individual strengths is definitely a good place to start. Yet if we want to embrace growth mindset thinking and push ourselves to be better, sometimes we have to work on our weaknesses, or even fail whilst doing so.
I’ve spent a chunk of 2022 working with clients on individual and team profiling and how to use this awareness to drive personal & team development. I know that I’m naturally wired to want to get things done, with a healthy dose of upfront planning and ideally some inspirational thinking added to the mix. I’m not so happy living with ambiguity or having to change things on the fly…
Interesting to reflect on how this impacts my approach to DJing… I’ll have talked to the client (normally a friend) to understand what they want to hear. I’ll know who else is going and have a feel for what they might like. I’ll prepare my music in advance, looking for natural transitions and what might mix well or enhance the set on the night…
Yet preparation, finding inspiring mixes and wanting to make the client happy only work up until I play the first song! From that point onwards, I’m forced to live with ambiguity and adapt what I’m playing on the fly based on how people respond rather than executing a “set-list”.
What have I learnt from this?
– I definitely find it more stressful – and occasionally will drop a song that doesn’t work! BUT:
– I come up with song choices and mixes that I wouldn’t have anticipated in advance
– people are happier – which makes me happy at the end of the evening!
– I find it easier to live with more ambiguity elsewhere in my life – handy when facilitating Labs / dealing with ever-changing client needs and so on.
We don’t need to turn our weaknesses into strengths. But if we can be just 5% or 10% better at thinking preferences we find difficult, it can make a massive difference in how we can engage with others and get the best out of ourselves.
Thanks to everyone we’ve worked with in 2022 and wishing all of you a happy, healthy and successful 2023!
#growthmindset #selfleadership #personaldevelopment #lessonsfromthedecks #becourageousSo Courageous Co. isn’t branching out into corporate parties (at least not yet!)… but as we close 2022 I had a reflection from DJing at parties in the past few months that I wanted to share.
Conventional thinking on self-development suggests focusing on maximising your strengths rather than worrying too much about your weaknesses. At P&G, employee development plans always had three strengths vs. one “development area” on the basis that it is easier to leverage things you are already good at than try to fix something that you can’t do well…
Maximising individual strengths is definitely a good place to start. Yet if we want to embrace growth mindset thinking and push ourselves to be better, sometimes we have to work on our weaknesses, or even fail whilst doing so.
I’ve spent a chunk of 2022 working with clients on individual and team profiling and how to use this awareness to drive personal & team development. I know that I’m naturally wired to want to get things done, with a healthy dose of upfront planning and ideally some inspirational thinking added to the mix. I’m not so happy living with ambiguity or having to change things on the fly…
Interesting to reflect on how this impacts my approach to DJing… I’ll have talked to the client (normally a friend) to understand what they want to hear. I’ll know who else is going and have a feel for what they might like. I’ll prepare my music in advance, looking for natural transitions and what might mix well or enhance the set on the night…
Yet preparation, finding inspiring mixes and wanting to make the client happy only work up until I play the first song! From that point onwards, I’m forced to live with ambiguity and adapt what I’m playing on the fly based on how people respond rather than executing a “set-list”.
What have I learnt from this?
– I definitely find it more stressful – and occasionally will drop a song that doesn’t work! BUT:
– I come up with song choices and mixes that I wouldn’t have anticipated in advance
– people are happier – which makes me happy at the end of the evening!
– I find it easier to live with more ambiguity elsewhere in my life – handy when facilitating Labs / dealing with ever-changing client needs and so on.
We don’t need to turn our weaknesses into strengths. But if we can be just 5% or 10% better at thinking preferences we find difficult, it can make a massive difference in how we can engage with others and get the best out of ourselves.
Thanks to everyone we’ve worked with in 2022 and wishing all of you a happy, healthy and successful 2023!
#growthmindset #selfleadership #personaldevelopment #lessonsfromthedecks #becourageous
