with his business in its early days . She was capable and hard-working , but as the business grew and became more complex , it became increasingly obvious that many of the things she was handling were not a good fit for her personality and gifts . Unfortunately , she didn ’ t discern this mismatch and spent years trying to adapt to the demands of her role . Over time , this just made her more anxious , frustrated , exhausted , and unable to perform at the necessary level , which in turn created significant stress in both her marriage and the company . In the end , she and her husband hired a consultant who had the tools to help her see that she wasn ’ t the problem ; she simply didn ’ t fit the role she was trying to perform . She agreed to step down and find another job that suited her , and her husband was able to fill her place with someone who had the gifts and personality to thrive there . It ’ s not too much to say that these changes saved their marriage and their company .
Personality and gift-typing tools like the DISC profile , Strengthsfinder , Meyers-Briggs , and the Enneagram can be extremely helpful in discerning our sweet spot . They not only help to show us the kind of roles that
will suit us , but they also show us how to function in those roles in a healthy way .
Execution
When we approach our work with a craftsman mindset and focus on putting in our ten thousand hours of deliberate practice with the goal of achieving mastery in our work , it ’ s appropriate to go through a process of moving from “ this is how this work has always been done ” to “ this is how I am uniquely created to do this work .” We begin by conforming to a certain skill , art , or discipline . None of us can achieve mastery without learning the fundamentals and becoming familiar with what other humans have done to advance the particular skill , art , or discipline to its current state . In the process of learning to conform ourselves to the training protocols and best practices of our work , however , we will begin to learn things about ourselves and the work itself that will move us into experimentation , leading to innovation in how we work . This development in execution enables us to achieve personal excellence and make our own unique contribution to the world through our work .
Many people struggle to achieve true excellence in their work because they falter on their journey from conformity to innovation . Some resist mastering the fundamentals of their craft , art , or discipline . Some achieve a level that is “ good enough ” and then stop developing for various reasons . Still others fail to innovate because they don ’ t do the work required to integrate and refine what they ’ ve learned in the previous stages . However , if you truly want to find your sweet spot , you must commit fully to excellence in execution .
Culture
Culture also plays a significant role in finding our sweet spot . Every organizational culture falls somewhere on two continuums : strong vs . weak , and healthy vs . unhealthy .
As believers , we are all called to bring a healthy culture with us to work , even if our organization
55