Habitudes - The Oversized Gift
The Fulling Management & Accounting team has started watching a new video series! Every week in our staff meetings, we watch a culture & leadership video to aid in our professional and personal development. The series we’re watching now is by Dr. Tim Elmore and is based on his book Habitudes - The Art of Self-Leadership. Follow along as we learn about self-leadership.
Many talented people have been given large “gifts”, talents and abilities. Some are great speakers, some are excellent planners, others are great negotiators, etc. Dr. Elmore warns us that, “When people lean on their gifts and fail to mature intellectually, socially, or spiritually, they may ruin their chance to use that gift. If their character has not kept up with their talent, they learn to ‘wing it’ through life.”
Elmore shares the example of Michael Jackson. Everyone knows he was an outstanding and successful performer from a very young age. He was always recording and performing as a child and but didn’t get to have a normal life. When Jackson was an adult it became clear that he was emotionally, socially and mentally stunted when many accounts of abuse rose to the surface. “His gift was bigger than he was. His talent matured but it was at the expense of his integrity,” says Elmore. We often see examples of this in the media when we hear of exceptionally gifted performers or athletes making poor decisions in their personal life. Their gifts blinded them from seeing reality.
Stop and reflect on the following points:
Food for thought…
When have you seen a gift blind someone from reality?
What disciplines can you build around your gifts so you don’t sabotage your own life or career by “winging it”? Here are some ideas our team came up with:
Have good friends that will hold you accountable .
Everything in moderation.
Be confident yet humble.
Use your gifts to help others.
Don’t let your child’s gifts control your parenting.
Value integrity over the love of progress.