No two people are alike, and we all have strengths and weaknesses. The reason this is important is because it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round. What you are good at doing is very different from what I am good at doing, and this is how innovation occurs. Our diversity is how we solve problems. Here are three hilarious examples of our differences:
1. Last week I interviewed a candidate for a Senior Financial Analyst position for one of my clients, and I happened to ask her how comfortable she was using Excel. She responded with a short laugh, and then she said, “Well if this tells you anything, I have an Excel spreadsheet on how to care for my plants.”
2. Conversation with a client:
Client: “How is your day going today?”
Me: “It’s great! I am interviewing 17 people today! I am SO in my happy place!”
Client: “That is because you are SICK!”
3. Conversation with Katy, my daughter:
Me: “How is school going?”
Katy: “Great! We are studying the plague, and it is riveting!”
In all three of these examples, someone has a strength that makes the other person want to throw up. And isn’t that just lovely??
Power thought: When hiring, make sure that you hire people with strengths that are different than yours. That is how to become more efficient and productive. After all, it takes all kinds of people to make the world go round, and, perhaps more importantly, move your company to the places you want it to go.