If you ask people, who are the leaders that you remember, 10-15 years later, they often tell you, he/she was someone that saw me in a way in which I couldn’t yet see myself. And in that moment, I trusted that I could become that person.
Gianpiero Petriglieri
In recent years, we have met organizations that have asked themselves and asked us how to make their people’s talent shine. We responded by inviting them to embrace a transformation that allows everyone to be the best and most authentic version of themselves.
Each of us carries a unique mix of traits: dreams, skills, passions. For this reason, looking at another person’s life path cannot be considered a measure of our own success. There is no ideal direction or outcome to pursue in life, because each person has their own unique, personal journey. The key to becoming the best version of ourselves lies in self-knowledge, in recognizing and enhancing our own talents.
A Definition of Talent
In ancient times, a talent was a unit of measurement for the weight of metals, which later came to be used as a measure of money, with a variable amount (one talent equaled about 26 to 34 kilograms of silver, depending on the civilization in question). From this comes the meaning of talent as “value.”
As a unit of currency, a talent could express its value only when it was exchanged for a good or invested. The same applies to the concept of talent we use today: it refers to natural inclinations and abilities that have the capacity to generate wealth. Everyone has talent, but it has value only if we put it into practice.
The Dark Side of Talent
At Wyde, we work to help people recognize their talents and uniqueness, making them aware of their “dark side” and the warning behaviors that signal when they are moving into that shadow zone. Stress, frustration, and fatigue can lower our guard and lead us to act without care or thought, resulting in poor decisions that can harm relationships and our reputation. When overused in these altered states, a talent can become a potential trap that may hold back you or your team.
For example, if you are a methodical, organized, and meticulous person in completing your work, perceived by others as reliable, during moments of difficulty or stress there is a risk that your orderliness and rigor could become extreme, making you seem inflexible. You might show anxiety toward a changing routine, become overly perfectionistic, overanalyze, and as a result struggle to make decisions.
E una via di crescita
Con Wyde lavoriamo per permettere alle persone di riconoscere i propri talenti e le proprie unicità per renderle consapevoli anche della loro “parte oscura” e dei comportamenti sentinelle che ci fanno capire quando stiamo andando verso la nostra zona d’ombra. Stress, frustrazione, stanchezza possono indurci ad abbassare la guardia e ad agire senza cura o senza troppo pensare portandoci a decisioni sbagliate, danneggiando le relazioni e la nostra reputazione. Un talento sovrautilizzato, in queste situazioni alterate, diventa una potenziale trappola che potrebbe frenare te e/o il team.
Per esempio, se sei una persona metodica, organizzata e scrupolosa nel portare a termine il tuo lavoro, percepita dagli altri come affidabile, in momenti di difficoltà o stress c’è il rischio che il tuo ordine e il tuo rigore si accentuino e che tu possa risultare inflessibile. Potresti dimostrare ansia nei confronti di una routine che cambia, eccedere con la pignoleria, analizzare troppo e di conseguenza non essere capace di prendere decisioni.
