I just completed a project that almost killed me.

Ok, maybe it wouldn’t have killed me, but it took me to the edge of insanity.  What was the project?  I had to plan a special event.

So, truth be known, I’m a pretty darn good special event planner.  I meticulously cover all of the event details:  budgeting, picking dates, managing vendors, communicating to the attendees and coordinating every detail.

From my perspective, it feels more like this:  If they come to this event and they don’t have fun, it is my fault.  I wake up at 3am every morning the month prior the event, worrying about the possibility of technical problems and other uncontrollable possibilities.  Even though others would consider my skills worthy, special event planning is one of my weaknesses.

Why?  Simply because it weakens me.  It drains my time, energy, and performance.  In our strengths-based culture, we define a weakness as something that gets in your way of your productivity and your success.

Full disclosure and Transparency is a Core Value…so, let me give it to you straight.  There will always be points in our careers when we can’t say,  “I don’t enjoy doing that….so I’m not going to do it.”  Even in a strengths-based culture, you are sometimes asked to step outside your comfortable “strengths zone” to fill a gap for the sake of the business.   This is when you have to find a way to manage around your weakness.

According to Marcus Buckingham, one way to manage around a weakness is to “find a partner who loves what you loathe”.   And lucky for me, I found a partner in Brenda Monasterio (Racker since 2009).  I was swimming (almost drowning) in all of the minute details, and she instantaneously brought organization and structure to the chaos.

Brenda is a natural event planner.   When something unexpected happens (and it always does during a special event), she takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  She actually gets a buzz off of producing any type of event, big or small.  Event Planning is her Strength!

With her help, I was able to complete my project with success.  I learned the value of admitting my weakness, asking for help and having an awesome partner step in and naturally bring order to the chaos.  Thanks, Brenda!

So, the next time you find yourself in a situation where you are dedicating time and efforts to a weak area, consider finding someone that balances you out.

Photo Credit, SuperFantastic

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