Unearthing Potential in Human Being.

When we are working in an Institution we come across several sections of persons who are differing in their views and opinion while working at some project. There are several people who may come to a consensus whereas other may vehemently oppose the same view. Have we ever observed why such opinions are formed and who possesses the potential to complete the project efficiently and within optimum time? Some may say they have the potential, but in reality do they have it?

The answer to this question lies in unearthing the potential in human beings. This can be done two ways by unearthing the Potential / Talent in self / human being  and by unearthing the potential of others.

A)    The following tips will help unearth potential in a human being:-

1. One should think what one loves to do. Realizing the God-given talent is paying attention to what is already inside oneself.  One must pay attention to everything done and notice what activities naturally lock in their focus. These things are where the hidden talents lie.

2.      Do it yourself. Experiment, explore, investigate. Try doing different things and entertain different activities. Even try on different personalities. We all have different gifts – some are good at music, others at science, others at writing, and others at machinery. No talent is better than any other, and all are blessings from God.

3. Try different things
1. Try something new. Get out of your routine and think out of the office matters. If you can’t think of anything to do, surf internet until you find an activity that you would like to try. The exposure to different things will help you discover what things stir your interest.
2. Take some personality tests. Few of the sites for personality test are http://www.personalityquiz.net/; http://www.mygeniustest.com/; http://psychcentral.com/personquiz.htm;  http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/345iWY2/What-is-Your-Secret-Talent etc.
3. Learning Styles such as visual, auditory, reading/writing, and tactile / kinesthetic also help in unearthing the talents.

4.      One must Listen to what others say

     Take note of the Observations of other people what they notice, think about oneself i.e. complements or criticisms about him.You don’t need to let other people direct your life, but if you hear someone say, “You’d make a good politician” or “You ought to be a teacher,” pay attention. Other people can often see things in us that we don’t recognize, so seriously consider what others happen to say.

5.      Matters of interests such as the TV shows, articles, news items etc in which a person is interested reflect on the talents that have been put by us in the background more than in the spotlight. One should Think about what they really enjoy doing such as singing, teaching, building things, organizing, listening to and helping other people, cleaning etc. Some of these may not sound like talents, but they are.

6.    Explore frustrations  Areas of weakness to be identified and improved upon. One must notice what makes him/her angry and frustrated and then that area needs to be fixed. They may feel excited and enjoyment in solving their own problem, plus they can help others overcome that same frustration. One must be prepared to be able to fix what was wrong in them. Life is too short to spend it doing work which they don’t enjoy. People are meant to be happy, but many never develop into all that they can be.

7.      Motivate oneself to find ones own hidden talents:

     One should stop excusing their unhappiness and start finding  reasons to change and improve. Jotting down of matters, ideas, capturing of thoughts etc in a notebook helps in finding the hidden talents. All such items which we have thought of but could not achieve should be listed. Write down how much better life would be if you were engaged in things you find fulfilling. Look at your lists until you get motivated to find the real you.

8.      Develop yourself

     After understanding the matters which one likes most and more often practice it more to develop the skill in that area. This will help understanding the depth of the talent.As you get closer to unearthing your hidden talents, develop yourself by learning the most about what you have found. One must keep track of all developments and learn from their successes and pitfalls. As the knowledge develops one will be able to focus his/her attention better to fine tune the nascent talent.

9.   Share your skills with peers, colleagues and if required develop proficiency under experienced people, teachers mentors etc.

B)    In order to bring out the talent in others the following steps would be beneficial:

1. Explore : Every individual has something unique and special to offer. Explore what they have to offer by talking to them- seeing their perspective and ideas. Understand the inner strengths of the incumbent and the type of work he/she can do.
2. Listen: Too often, we spend more time imparting wisdom, talking about ourselves, or telling stories of success without giving chance to other to put their point of view. It's important to listen carefully to the people who are looking up to you. If you don't hear what they need or want, the wisdom you choose to impart, and the stories you decide to tell will be unfocused and off target.
3. Goals: Assign a set Goal for effective performance. A goal is a helpful guideline that gives concise clear instructions on how to carry out or get to a completion point of a task.
4. Delegate: Delegate by giving the staff the autonomy to build a small team to work upon the assigned goals. Assign full accountability for the results of the challenge. Responsibility for team success brings out the best in a person.
5. Believe & Trust: Belief and compassion are strong emotions and key to underpin any logical activity. Have trust. One needs to be free and independent of judgement and biases to grow and nurture their talent. If we provide others with enough trust, they in turn will trust themselves and work on their talent. Trust is a key factor but in order to have that trust in someone else, our Ego must be set aside. Trust is key to the growing relationships of both  internal and external day to day functions. Growing trust with customers is just as important as growing trust from your peers, management, and subordinates alike.
6. Mentoring: Whenever required necessary guidance to be provided to pave the way. By assigning a specified task you help guide, lead, and direct them in the directions they need to go in order to fulfill the obligations of the assigned duties.
7. Encourage: Obviously encouragement and praise contributes to future effort and performance.
8. Opportunity: Extend the opportunity to the incumbent to exhibit their talent / potential by giving Opportunity or assigning the task directly. It definitely expose the ability of person .
9. Updation: Staying current, knowledgeable, effective, and productive is the need of hour. We need to be continuously educating / updating ourselves and our team members. This will help improvement of their skills.