By Barbara Poole
Contributing Writer

Webster’s dictionary defines brilliance as, “the quality or state of being striking or distinctive.” As I look around the airport, I wonder about the brilliant sides of the people passing by.

There is an intense looking man who is simultaneously talking on his cell phone and tapping out something on his Blackberry. His eyes are bright as if engaged in a discussion of possibilities, and I suspect he excels at the art of the deal.

As I walk by the Starbuck’s stand, I notice a young woman in the midst of what appears to be a group of friends having coffee. She is laughing and smiling and looking very much at ease with herself and the situation. My hunch is that she’s brilliant at relationships and makes others feel comfortable.

Expanding on Webster’s definition, I would describe brilliance as being those natural gifts or abilities that we are born with; the things that we do effortlessly and well; the things that enable us to shine.

Most of us take our brilliance for granted because it is simply a part of who we are.

For example, if you were to follow my client Carol around for a day, you might think she was a professional organizer. Everything in Carol’s world is in order, and she has incredible systems in place for getting things done.

And yet, if you were to ask her what she is brilliant at, she would be unlikely to even mention her organizational skills. She doesn’t think about being well organized. It is simply who she is.

Shine at work

Brilliance shows up in many ways in the workplace.

Some people are brilliant communicators. They have a knack for knowing what to say and how to say it.

Some folks are brilliant problem solvers. Give them a challenge or a sticky situation with no easy answers and they will come up with an innovative way to get from point A to point B.

Still others are good with detail. They’re able to examine, edit, crosscheck and verify information to reveal even the tiniest flaws and things that might otherwise fall through the cracks.

So here we are walking around in a sea of brilliant people in the workplace, and yet sometimes we don’t feel it.

Why?

Because it is not what gets emphasized in many business environments.

This is what happens instead: Once or twice a year, we go through the dreaded performance appraisal process; the one that has people rolling their eyeballs and saying, “Oh, it’s time for that again.”

In the typical performance appraisal meeting, the boss spends 10 minutes talking about your strengths, or what you are brilliant at, in a way that often feels patronizing and obligatory.

When he really gets charged up is when it is time to move the conversation on to your proverbial “areas for improvement,” which is where the bulk of the conversation is spent.

The message you get is to spend your time and energy focusing on your areas for improvement, (aka your weaknesses, vulnerabilities and the things you will probably never be great at).

So guess what happens?

As you focus on your areas for improvement, they get a little stronger but not much because they don’t reflect your natural gifts.

And your brilliance?

Just like a piece of silver that doesn’t get shined, it loses its luster. Pretty soon you find yourself walking around looking mediocre at most of the things you do.

Practice your brilliance

Rather than forcing people to swim upstream, we should be helping them to zero in on their natural gifts and find ways to flaunt them.

So how do you go about figuring out what it is that you are brilliant at?

Here are some questions to help shed light on where you shine:

• What do you do that is natural, easy and effortless?

• What activities put you into “the flow,” that place where you get energized and lose track of time and space?

• What do you really enjoy doing and feel passionately about?

• What do other people tell you that you are great at?

• How would you complete this sentence: “I love it when I know my day will include______________.”

Spend time polishing and leveraging your brilliance. It will enable you, your team and your organization to shine.

Barbara Poole is a leadership and career development coach with Success Builders Inc. E-mail her at CoachBarbara@SuccessBuildersInc.com.

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