Eat Your Spinach!

It's Time to Build New Skills.

Something I see all the time, and know for myself to be true, is that each of us has a strength that has become too strong. A strength that has gone rogue. A strength that is so strong and dependable it overpowers most of our other skills. This strength has become so strong, in fact, that it takes over in most situations, coming to the rescue at each and every turn. But here’s the thing: with this overactive muscle jumping in all the time, it may be preventing the growth of other equally important strengths that you need in your repertoire. This is what makes this overactive strength so challenging: it actually prevents the growth of new skills and strengths.

I call this overpowering strength a “Popeye Arm.” The Popeye Arm is a strength that overpowers all other skills and pushes them out of the way. It is a big, active, and strong skill that can be depended upon to solve all of life’s problems. The issue with such a strong muscle is that this strength is not always an appropriate response to the various situations that you face on the job. In fact, its prevalent use will actually limit your ability to solve each specific problem in the best possible way.

Some strengths that are commonly too strong include:

• Empathy: when a leader is too empathetic it puts the manager in a role of putting his team’s needs first which is a barrier to upholding the rules, holding people accountable, and prioritizing one’s own work and tasks.

  • Result: getting caught up in the employee’s answers/reasons/drama without resolving the issue or holding the team accountable. Skills prevented: integrity & authority.

• Capability: when one is good at a skill they have developed over time, they want to use it. When working with new people, managers frequently lean into their skills to get things done rather than involve and train their team to learn new skills and take on new tasks.

  • Result: the team stays weak and helpless, which requires the manager to use his skill every day. Skills prevented: delegation & strategic thinking.

• Kindness: a great skill that sometimes overpowers other traits. Managers who are known for being kind consider upholding the rules as almost unkind so shy away from correcting their team.

  • Result: a lack of standards and thus lack of consistency. Skills prevented: accountability & delegation.

• Big picture thinking: when someone can see the big picture they have a hard time starting a project because it seems very overwhelming; there is so much to do to fulfill the big picture.

  • Result: a loss of momentum, an inability to see things through, and frustration that nothing gets done. Skills prevented: strategic thinking & accountability.

• Creativity: when a manager is very creative they may find upholding the standard and the day-to-day very boring and they may seek to recreate established standards and procedures.

  • Result: a waste of time recreating the wheel and little forward progress. Skills prevented: big-picture thinking & accountability.

• Perfectionism: many managers are hired because of their attention to detail and desire for things to go right. However, this attention to detail prevents this manager from doing more projects at their level and excludes their team from handling the details themselves.

  • Result: Perfectionism is a big barrier to progress as it can slow things down and the big picture is minimized in comparison to the small, minute details. Skills prevented: big-picture thinking & delegation.

If you recognize that one of your skills has taken over the key is to be self-aware. Usually, the Popeye Arm comes to the rescue when there is a new situation to address. This is perfectly natural, it has worked very well for a long time and you have worked hard to develop it; however, it has become your default setting. So, the key is to notice when the desire to fall into your comfort zone comes up and then consider some options for leaning into some under-utilized strengths or skills that you don’t usually deploy.

Here’s the thing: the only way to learn new skills and build new strengths is by trying them out. Every day you have a chance to try something new or improve what you’ve got! I always advise my clients to try stuff out, experiment with flexing new muscles, and then track the results. Little by little you will develop new skills and build additional strengths that you can add to your management repertoire. This will help you build confidence in your role, create balance in your work life, and fully inhabit your role as a leader in your operation.

Paid subscribers: See below for a helpful worksheet on how you can ID your own Popeye Arm and make strides toward using your under-utilized skills!

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When you’re ready here’s how you can work with me:

• 1:1 individual coaching can help you identify your deeply ingrained, outdated habits and help you build yourself into the leader you know you can be. A leader who is authentic, confident, and energizing to be around.

• Team Training is built to unify leadership teams in various leadership skills. From delegation to feedback to communication, I have a class that fits your needs. (Paid subscribers get a $50/pp discount on my group class Bedrock Trio* - upgrade your subscription below!)

I look forward to working with you!

* discount applies to the purchase of the Bedrock Trio (a 3-class series for one 16-person group) on various leadership & service topics…an $800 value!