“Do not envy those who seem to be naturally gifted.”

I am a slow learner and am socially very awkward.

Back in college, I was the concert master of the school orchestra. I was very uncomfortable under the spot light. During our first performance, I decided to tilt my head sideways the entire time I was on stage, and the conductor was so perplexed he had to pause the performance to check in with me.

I have to work at the most basic stuff. I had to figure out how to conduct 1 on 1 meetings. I had to practice not making jokes that only I could understand during presentations.

Because I was not at all gifted, I became effective at figuring some of the most basic things out:
• Steps to build rapport, negotiate, and compromise with others
• Ways to navigate self doubts and spiteful inner voices
• How humans … think and behave
• How to wrestle with failures and distractions
• Practices to hone my ability to relate and lead/#bossbetter

Because I was not gifted, I had to figure everything out, and that’s why I am a pretty effective leadership coach.

“Do not envy those who seem to be naturally gifted; it is often a curse, as such types rarely learn the value of diligence and focus, and they pay for this later in life.”

Robert Greene