19 God gave everyone unique talents

 

We were all given special skills and unique abilities when we were born. Some would call this talent. Talent is not a learned behaviour; talent is within all of us, sometimes it needs to be found or drawn out. You either have a talent or you don’t. You can improve on your knowledge and skill in a specific talent but not gain a talent if you don’t have it. But you do have one or more.

 

Knowledge or skill on the other hand can be learned. Knowledge and skill are developed, honed, and practiced to be fully realized. I have heard it said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in a specific area. But no matter how hard you try you will never be able to reach the level of a truly talented person.

 

Ephesians 2:10 gives us

 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

As an author, mentor, and financial guru Dave Ramsey writes,” Whatever your talent or skill is, guess what? God’s behind it! But He doesn’t bless us with talents or skills so we can get noticed or earn lots of cash.

 

Yes, that can be a result of it. But it’s so much bigger than that. God wants us to honor Him with those gifts! He wants us to be “good and faithful servants” with our talents.

 

Just as with spiritual gifts, God wants us to use our talents and skills for the benefit of others.”

We find in 1 Peter 4:10

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

Here is where the key difference is between people with talent and those with knowledge/skill:

Both are indispensable!

 

How do we use this in business?

 

God filled certain people with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and skills so hire or contract people carefully with the skills you need. We cannot do it alone, no matter how hard we try and how hard we work.

 

Many of us try to do it all alone, or we will not give up control of anything. Does this sound familiar? Both are recipes for disaster. Admitting that you can’t do something, don’t have certain skills, or worse yet, have a weakness is the hardest thing to do. But you must. If you are a one-person army, you still need to surround yourself with people who broaden your outlook, perspective, and have talents that you don’t.

 

David Nilssen, entrepreneur, investor, author, and philanthropist wrote it best when he penned, “Build Your Business on Your Strengths, Hire Your Team to Cover Your Weaknesses. Weakness doesn’t have to be an obstacle to success. Every entrepreneur has many. There are all kinds of people in this world, each with a different set of strengths.”

Why do you want to know who you are?

 

I can’t improve on what Psychologist Meg Selig wrote in her article; “Know Yourself? 6 Specific Ways to Know Who You Are. 6 "VITAL Signs" are key to self-understanding, career success, and happiness.

 

The Benefits of Self-Knowledge

 

Maybe it’s obvious, but here in a nutshell are a few reasons why you might want to know your own nature:

 

Happiness. You will be happier when you can express who you are. Expressing your desires will make it more likely that you get what you want.

Less inner conflict. When your outside actions are in accordance with your inside feelings and values, you will experience less inner conflict.

Better decision-making. When you know yourself, you are able to make better choices about everything, from small decisions like which sweater you’ll buy to big decisions like which partner you’ll spend your life with. You'll have guidelines you can apply to solve life’s varied problems.

Self-control. When you know yourself, you understand what motivates you to resist bad habits and develop good ones. You'll have the insight to know which values and goals activate your willpower.

Resistance to social pressure. When you are grounded in your values and preferences, you are less likely to say “yes” when you want to say “no.”

Tolerance and understanding of others. Your awareness of your own foibles and struggles can help you empathize with others.

Vitality and pleasure. Being who you truly are helps you feel more alive and makes your experience of life richer, larger, and more exciting.”

 

How do we determine our weaknesses?

 

1. Be honest with yourself, make a list of your limitations. (Weaknesses)
   1. Inexperience with specific software or a non-essential skill
   2. The tendency to take on too much responsibility
   3. Nervousness about public speaking
   4. Hesitancy about delegating tasks
   5. Discomfort taking risks
   6. Impatience with bureaucracies
2. Make another list of what your goals are what you will need to succeed to accomplish these goals. (Strengths)
3. Now talk to those around you, your family, teachers, mentors, successful people who know you, and have them assess the accuracy of your lists and give any other input they may have.
4. Take a personality test and find out what the science says. It may not be cheap, but it sure is a lot cheaper than failure or mistakes you can make while being blindsided.
   1. Myers-Briggs
   2. +BANK
   3. DISC
   4. StrengthFinder
   5. EQ-I 2.0
   6. Core Value Index
   7. RBS

 

How can we make our company strong?

 

1. Too often we hire, partner, or seek out people who are like-minded and come from similar backgrounds to ours. What does that do? Just makes a bunch of clones or ompa-lumpas. We need to look for people with different skills, backgrounds, and experiences than us. We may not even get along with the person too well, but that is not the point. The point is to make your company stronger.
2. Surround yourself with the best people possible! My accountants and lawyers have saved me lot’s of money and stress,  time and time again.
3. Spend the time to hire the right people.
4. Create the best possible culture for your partners and employees. This includes if the company consists of only one person – you. If you are happy, your business will be happy. You need to remember that you make the rules, you make your surroundings, you create an atmosphere that is pervasive where you work. As Jim Benson writes, “Better moods = better performance. Hostile or even boring working environments are not sustainable. Poor work product and attrition result.”

 

Exodus 2 - 5 

 

“See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 

and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 

to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, 

to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. 

 

Use your talent and hire knowledge! 

Bibliography

Bible Verses About Talent. (2015, February 4). Retrieved from Bible Study Tools: https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-talent/

Brehse, T. (2017, January 11). Build a Stronger Company By Hiring Your Weaknesses. Retrieved from Ignitespot: http://blog.ignitespot.com/build-a-stronger-company-by-hiring-your-weaknesses

Chowdhury, S. (2002, November 29). Finding and Keeping the Best Talent for Your Organization. Retrieved from informit: https://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=30101&seqNum=2

Half, R. (2020, July 3). How to Talk About Your Weaknesses in a Job Interview. Retrieved from Robert Half: https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/job-interview-tips/how-to-talk-about-your-weaknesses-in-a-job-interview

Michael, J. (2020, August 30). How to Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses. Retrieved from bplans: https://articles.bplans.com/how-to-identify-your-strengths-and-weaknesses/

Nilssen, D. (2014, August 8). Build Your Business on Your Strengths, Hire Your Team to Cover Your Weaknesses. Retrieved from Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236303

Patel, N. (2020, August 30). The 4 Elements That Make Great Company Culture. Retrieved from Neil Patel: https://neilpatel.com/blog/great-company-culture/

Ramsey, D. (2020, August 30). Using Your God-Given Talents. Retrieved from Dave Ramsey: https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/using-your-god-given-talents

Selig, M. (2016, March 9). Know Yourself? 6 Specific Ways to Know Who You Are. Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/changepower/201603/know-yourself-6-specific-ways-know-who-you-are

Sinofsky, S. (2014, April 2). Admitting Your Weaknesses And Hiring To Support Them. Retrieved from Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/3028473/admitting-your-weaknesses-and-hiring-to-support-them