What do We Miss That’s Right in Front of Us?
Do you have a minute for a little story that combines two of my interests: food and coaching? 👇
About two decades ago, I ate a maitake mushroom for the first time. I remember it was at Craft Bar in NYC, a place that was getting a lot of attention for its ingredients and impeccable but simple preparation. These mushrooms had been locally foraged and roasted with some olive oil, garlic, and maybe a little thyme. That’s it. So delicious.
After this experience I looked for maitake mushrooms on menus, in fancy groceries, and at the local farmers markets. Now and then, I’d find and enjoy some. Along the way I bought a house in Maine and eventually started spending all my time there.
After nearly 10 years in our Maine house, one fall day I walked down the driveway, glanced down, and there it was in the fallen leaves: a big, beautiful maitake growing at the base of an oak tree. All evidence suggests I walked right past it, season after season since we’d bought the house, and never noticed it.
Yesterday I harvested this year’s specimen.* I’m sure I’ll roast it with olive oil, garlic, and maybe a little thyme. I can say with certainty that no store or restaurant version will ever yield the satisfaction that this discovery, right outside my door, does each fall.
All this makes me wonder, what do we miss that’s right in front of us, while we are searching all around?
As part of my coaching work, I recently became certified as a Gallup Strengths Coach. I’ve had the opportunity to work with many people who find the joy in discovering strengths that are right there, sometimes overlooked, while they’ve been focused their attention further afield. Sometimes this search involves trying hard to develop talents that are less accessible to them. Sometimes this search involves drawing hard on one or two talents while failing to be curious about others within reach. Either way, these clients miss the full potential of their accessible talents.
Sometimes that passed over talent – the one we walk right by every day while searching for something else – can be the key to unlock an entire new range of potential and might produce results over and over.
Why not slow down, focus our attention close to home, and see what talents we might be overlooking?
The Clifton Strengths assessment and the reports and resources that come with it are tools to him us discover our innate talents. In turn, awareness and appreciation of our full suite of talents allows us to invest our energy into the right development. The joy and satisfaction that comes from developing our core talents far exceeds that we can achieve when we try to force development in other areas.
If you’re interested in learning more about your core talents and how this awareness can propel your development, reach out to me here or at john@aconnectedcoach.com.
*Practice mycological safety. Only harvest mushrooms that you can positively identify!