S1 E6: Finding Your Zone of Genius: Unleashing Your Full Potential
Have you ever experienced a state of "flow" where everything just seems to click and you're performing at your best? This state of flow is often associated with discovering your "zone of genius," a place where your natural talents and skills align with your passions and interests.
In this episode, we explore practical tips for finding your zone of genius and unlocking your full potential. My expert guest Mark Pringle, Chief Solutions Officer at NeoOptima joins me to share insights on identifying your unique strengths, overcoming common obstacles that prevent people from finding their flow, and practical steps for applying your strengths to achieve success in all aspects of your life. Join us for an inspiring conversation that will help you unleash your full potential and find your zone of genius!
Key topics we'll be discussing today:
Mark’s background and what makes him such an oracle for all things knowing you.
How do you find out what you’re good at?
What if you don’t feel valued? What can you do?
What’s the middle ground between comfort zone and scary zone?
When you’re in flow you lose all sense of time.
What is the VAT?
We are always looking for permission.
Showing vulnerability in front of your team is a key thing.
Mark Pringle Resource Links:
Resource Links:
LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com › emma-clayton-brilliantteams
Buy your DISC Assessment here.
Do your strengths assessment here https://www.brilliantteams.org/strengths-finder
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SHOW NOTES:
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
TeamBuilding, Leadership, teamwork, Collaboration, Management, Business, Employee engagement, Organisational culture, Professional development, emotional culture, Team development, leadership development, High performing team, Team effectiveness, Team cohesion. Performance management, Conflict resolution, Personality assessments, Cross-functional teams, Emotional intelligence, Team performance
You're listening to Knowing me, Knowing you, the podcast that explores the art and science of creating, developing and retaining brilliant teams. I'm your host, Emma Clayton. Join me weekly for practical advice, simple steps, and inspirational ideas as we discuss topics that make a difference to leaders and their teams. I'll be sharing all the tools and having conversations that help you to build and sustain by performing. Welcome to the Knowing me Knowing you podcast.
Emma Clayton 00:53
Hello, and welcome to another podcast. It's your host, Emma Clayton. And I am so excited. I am joined today by that fantastic Mark Pringle, who is a dear friend, and also someone that I've worked with before. And he can bring so much richness to this conversation of knowing me, knowing you so welcome. And thank you so much for joining me today, Mark.
Mark Pringle 01:16
It's my pleasure. It's something we have talked about for a long time. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. And yeah, you're my first serve; you need to be gentle with me and lead me to the same excitement about being here.
Emma Clayton 01:29
I promise I will be gentle. Even now, while doing my podcast, I still think about what I am doing. So I've got a fantastic producer. So Mark, let's start right at the beginning and introduce you. And let's share with all my listeners how fabulous you are. Talk to me about your history and what you do now, and what makes you such an Oracle for all things knowing me, knowing you and your strengths.
Mark Pringle 01:58
That's quite an asset to do that. So I'll try and live up to that, that level. As for my background, I started off life in the world of clinical psychology and didn't quite finish my training, but I was working in the whole area of drug rehab. So the first part of my life, I was trying to work with human beings with people, not patients or clients, human beings and people and trying to get them to change their behaviour for the better left that environment for a whole host of reasons we could maybe do on an on another podcast, we do something about careers, and joined the pharmaceutical industry. And really just wanted to get into the whole training, development, and learning coaching environment. So to take the theories and models I'd learned early in my career into the more corporate world and loved it had various different jobs at various other companies and had to move companies a lot because I was pretty good at training. They kept saying, Oh, you need to go into marketing. That's I want to go into something other than marketing. I don't think I'd be any good at that. I want to stay in training. And then I'd be told I didn't have any ambition. So I had to leave and go to a different company. And then eventually, in 2001, after being told you need to go into marketing mica and upbeat so bad at it. I set up my first company. So from 2001 Till today, I've worked for my own company or little companies specialising in three things. It's about maximising potential. It's about optimising your strengths and then realising your potential. So it serves three things maximise, optimises and realise. And that's a mouthful, but it has always been a strange space. So when we first spoke about the podcast, I thought, wow, this is, yeah, knowing me, knowing you. It is all about that first bit, knowing me and what am I good at? And what value, talents and energy can I bring to the world?
Emma Clayton 04:09
Yeah, and actually, as Somebody that's been through many different cultures in my career as well. It's staggering to see how many people don't know their strengths. As a result, it can create a little toxicity around them because they're just fighting for everything. And those people that really understand their strengths. I know that when I've understood my strengths, my thought is correct; this is my lane. This is what I'm amazing at. And also, this is what makes me really happy. I've seen to become so much more successful, and I just accelerated my career. So I love this conversation because I've seen how beneficial it is when you really do get under the skin of your strengths.
Mark Pringle 04:48
I find it interesting that every now and then, you look on LinkedIn, or Somebody will publish a book, and they'll go, I've discovered the secret, but this isn't at all new Aristotle Our years and years ago defined excellence as we are repeatedly what we do. Excellence, therefore, is an app, not a habit. Then the Japanese talk about the ikigai, the bad cop, that intersection of the four circles of what am I good at? What does the world need? What can I get paid forward? What do I enjoy? So many authors have begged, borrowed, plagiarised and adapted, but it's common sense. And often common sense and common practice. And like you said, you know, so many of us fall foul of that negativity bias. And it's really easy to highlight what Somebody hasn't done. But why don't we spend more time highlighting what people have done and build on that? So it's, it's more of a mindset. And the whole strengths-based development starts with your own mindset.
Emma Clayton 05:55
So many questions, but let me ask you the first one that I think I will be dying to know, how do I find out what I'm good at?
Mark Pringle 06:03
Well, there are so many answers to that one question. Let me try and break it down. The simplest and the easiest. And the one that I think is abused the most is the dilute questionnaire. And we use a range of questionnaires in the business I work for now to help you identify your strengths. But that is one way of doing it. But what often happens is people do their questionnaires, get their results, and then do nothing with them. So that's, that's a bit sad because you've got some really interesting data that you need to turn into insight. The hardest way to do it, but the most valuable way to do it, is what I call the toothbrush moment. And what I mean by that is your greatest coach, the person who can help you realise your true talents and the true strengths you see every morning when you brush your teeth and you look in the mirror. And I think the point for me is we need to spend more time reflecting on what we've done; how do we do it? What did we enjoy? What did we get energy from? What do we give energy to and listen to those little voices in our heads? Those little voices in our heads will give you really serious but super insightful clues into what you're good at. And often, we don't listen to the little voice in our head that I call a self-coach. And we lift up and listen to that little voice in our head, the self-critic. So be really easy after this podcast, I mean you to go, ah, we did that wrong, we did that wrong. And I'd only done this, and I coughed it. That awkward moment. But nothing is ever perfect. And we can try and fix the mistakes. And you know, fatal mistakes are really serious mistakes we need to fix. But we don't spend enough time talking to that brilliant coach we all have, that person we see every morning when we brush our teeth.
Emma Clayton 08:19
And this is why everybody will know why I brought you on today; you are amazing. I always smile because you remind me that, you know, there is, there's just so much goodness in the world. And actually, it starts internally, doesn't it. And so, Somebody that is listening, that maybe has not got a great deal of confidence doesn't really believe in themselves, has reached an amazing amount of self-criticism flowing around their body. How would they start? Now? I know, there's, they can start with affirmations as they're brushing their teeth. But is there a tool that they could go and use? Or are there some questions they could ask people, like, where they could start?
Mark Pringle 09:02
There are three steps; I think almost help people go through them, and those three steps are mindset, skill set and toolset. So I always encourage people to start with a real mindset: what am I good at? What are my strengths, and what are my talents? Everybody has strengths, everybody has talents, Superman or Superwoman. And those Marvel heroes were bestowed with superpowers. But we all have superpowers. We've just got to realise what they are. And it is that looking in the mirror and just thinking to yourself What did I do today that brought me joy? Brought the energy and what I was good at because you've done something great today. But we spend so much time comparing ourselves to others, and social media is there. You know, you're talking about toxic environments; social media is great, but it can also be incredibly toxic. And instead of comparing ourselves to the latest Instagram, podcasts, or whatever else, just stop and be kind to ourselves and go, what did I do today that I really enjoyed? What did I do today? That was good. And reflect on that. And listen to that little voice in your head, the self-coach; listen to the self-critic who sits on your other shoulder. And we need to be cognizant of what they're saying. But it doesn't define us. Our mistakes don't define us. Because we all make mistakes, what fairness is our talents and our strengths? So I suggest that you start there. And then, once you've realised what your talents are. Your talent may be being creative, so if your talent is being creative, then the next step in terms of mindset skillset is thinking right; what skills have I got that allow me to flex and leverage that strength, and then bind a job, the hobby, a partner, or a friend and environment where your strengths are, are valued. So that mindset skill set is really important.
Emma Clayton 11:18
So you just had something important that I want to ask more about. And so you said, like when you knew your strengths, where your happiness is, and where you get that joy, and that really flows? And then you said where you're valued? What if Somebody knows their happiness, yet they're in an environment where they don't feel valued? Is there anything that they could do there? Is that something that is out of their control?
Mark Pringle 11:47
In those kinds of situations, if you think it's out of your control, if all your values and talents aren't recognised, and encouraged and rewarded and recognised in your workplace, or even in your personal relationship, if you think you've got no control, you're right, you will have no control. If you think, actually, I do have some agency here, I do have a choice, it might be a difficult choice, it might be a choice that will carry consequences. But if you think I can do something about it, you will also write it all depends on that mindset. And, you know, I know that there are probably many people listening to this, who made big decisions about our careers, about relationships. But we all have a choice every day, we have a choice. And I think one of the most empowering things we can do as human beings recognise our choices. Because there always is a choice.
Emma Clayton 13:00
What do you think? So Somebody's got two choices. One is a comfort zone, and one is the scary, scary stuff. What's your advice there? And I say that because I talk and I probably preach about this on the podcast, and I am probably more satisfied with the podcasts I genuinely believe in. And I know everybody says this, But when I've taken the choices where I've absolutely shut myself and thought, I don't know what will happen here. So when I left my corporate job about seven or eight years ago, everybody said you are absolutely batshit crazy. Why are you doing this as a single parent, you know, you are the only provider, but I just knew it was the right thing to do. I just knew something was gonna happen. I didn't have a clue. But it opened so many more doors for me that I know I'm one of those who will always go with the uncomfortable option. Go with a bit where you are scared to death because comfort zones keep us relatively contained. So where do you sit with that when it comes to people in that position?
Mark Pringle 14:12
When people present to you or me or friends to a coach to a friend to a loved one, and they've made it a binary decision, should I stay? Or should I go? Do I go up or down? Do I stay with them? Do I leave, and do I think the problem in those situations is we create a binary choice? And my strong advice would be to try very hard never to create a binary choice. Because if you sit there and you go I've only got one choice, then it's a fait accompli and it's never that if it's two choices, do I stay in my comfort zone or do I go to my skerries then you Got a dilemma? Because it's all, which way do I go into a go left to right? Choice happens when you get into three or four options; you don't want five or six because we need clarification. But encourage everybody who's listening, reads, or watches this. Whenever you've got a binary choice, you're in a dilemma, create the third option. So, for example, you said, comfort zone, a scary zone. Well, actually, there's a bit in the middle. There's your comfort zone. There's your stretch zone, and then there's the scarier zone. So I've been on my peloton bike tonight for the first time in three months, and I was quite anxious about it. The last time I was on my peloton bike, I did a big 30-minute high-intensity claim. If I'd gone there today, which was the scarier zone, I would have pulled a muscle, felt terrible yesterday, and returned to my comfort zone, doughnuts and red wine on the sofa. So you've got to find the middle ground; what was the middle ground? The middle ground is they were low-intensity 15-minute rides. I didn't enjoy it because I hadn't done it for three months. But it was I've done it. I haven't pulled a muscle. And I feel good now that I've done it. So my advice to the listeners would be, don't put yourself in a dilemma. Put yourself into choice. Look for that third option. And if it's a comfort zone, a scary zone, then maybe look for the middle ground, which is that stretch. Because I'm in the stretch zone at the minute on my peloton, if I do a 15-minute bike ride tomorrow and another one at the weekend, my stretch down there for 15 minutes will become my comfort zone. And then what I need to do is to stretch again to 25 minutes, 30 minutes. So always look for that period; where would be my advice.
Emma Clayton 16:59
elasticised choices? Love it.
Mark Pringle 17:03
Can I have that? I'm gonna write that down and copyright it.
Emma Clayton 17:07
Yeah, you can have that. And I'll let you trademark it and find a bottle of wine. So going back to strength marks. So I mean, I just love this topic so much. And I know you do as well. So in terms of our students, what would the benefit be of knowing your students within a team? Or actually even as a leader looking at the strengths within your team? What are the benefits of this? Because some people will go well, I'm alright as I am, I'm fine. I'm just coasting through. But where does this take us? We really understand.
Mark Pringle 17:38
I think when what time so that question, I think I need to maybe turn the conversation around a bit; we're talking about strengths as if they are the Holy Grail; we're talking about discovering your strengths as if it was the most important thing. And it's like, you know, finding, proclaiming the truth, that kind of all-encompassing truth. But I think there's something else to consider within strengths. And that's the dark side of strengths. And what I mean by the dark side of strengths is an overplayed strength becomes a weakness. So, undoubtedly, I have my two, I think, biggest strengths: strategic thinking, big-picture thinking and ideas. And when I'm in form, I am awesome at strategic thinking and ideas. But when I go too far and have a player with that strength, I become Somebody who has no attention to detail and can't prioritise, Somebody who confuses people because I'm just throwing idea after idea. So before I answer the question, I want to put it in there that there is a dark side of strength: when we have a player that and Gallup. Do I think one of the best strengths-based coach strength-based questionnaires has lovely terminology? They talk about balconies and basements. So a balcony is when I'm on top of my game; I am an absolute superhero with superpowers and awesomely contributing to my team. When I have a player, my strengths, I go into my dark basement, which has no vision. And I start over playing my strengths, and then I'm suboptimal. I could be more effective. I'm certainly no clean superhero. And I think the lovely thick team is when you create that psychological safety, but instead of being a cow today, I can turn around and go hammer, you know that command? That is a real strength of yours. You're just overplaying it today, and you'll be a bit of a control freak. I think the joy of a team is it can help everybody stay on their balconies and avoid their basements. So for me, one of the real, strongest elements of that strength-based mindset is when you can build it into a team culture where we can help each other, stay in our superhero zone and bring our very best selves to work every day.
Emma Clayton 20:24
Yeah. And that makes me so much happiness in the workplace, which is the big thing I talk about.
Mark Pringle 20:31
And it is because I do the thing I have; I was born in 1967. So I wasn't quite a hippie, but I'm going to claim I was in the 60s. So I have a slightly hippie-dippie mentality that I believe everybody comes to work to do a good job; I don't believe anybody comes to work to be a bleep bleep bleep. And I don't come to work to annoy you; you don't come to work to annoy me. So I believe everybody comes to work to do a good job. But sometimes we don't. And I think nine times out of 10 is because we have a player strength. And when I work with teams, we do team coaching, train, develop, and coach teams to coach themselves. People have told me that the most valuable feedback is when Somebody has just given me a head up that I'm overplaying a strength that helps me return to being a superhero. And at the end of the day, we all want to come to work, have fun, enjoy ourselves, and be around people that give us give us energy, and we give energy to them. And I think, you know, being in a team where you have that psychological safety to give and take feedback to help you stay on your strengths. The balcony is, you know, when you get that, when you get that moving, you've got a truly awesome, awesome group of people who are a genuine team.
Emma Clayton 21:56
Yeah, and just bounce off each other. Yeah. And there's no feeling like it when you're in that kind of team.
Mark Pringle 22:02
You said earlier in one of your questions about being in the flow. And you know, when you read around this whole idea about flow when you are in flow, you lose all sense of time and all sense of, Am I hungry? Do I need to go to the loo, you know, and suddenly, it's those meetings where you go, Oh, my God, we've been gone three hours. And then there are other meetings where you go, Oh, my God is only five minutes in. That's when we're in our basements.
Emma Clayton 22:32
So talk to me about people with different strengths. Because I find that those ones go on and on and on. And it's only been seven minutes into the meeting. And I think, Oh, my God, I've got to put up with this for another hour, versus those where time disappears, tends to be with people I get on with. And people have got similar strands because we're ID idea ring, we're formulating ideas, and we're strategising. And we're like projecting into the future or planning. And it's exciting. The minute Somebody starts talking to me about processes, regulations and compliance, and you know, all of that, like for me, very boring, dull work, I glaze over. Now I recognise, obviously, because I've trained in all of this myself, that that is a really good place to be because they cover off the stuff I'm not good at and the whole holistic blend, but it's irritating. And I know I'm really irritating to them, probably more so because I'm a little bit more hyperactive than those kinds of people. And I probably talk a lot more than those kinds of people. So when we're faced with people that are in opposite stances towards how do we, how do we cope with that? How do we deal with that? Because I'm sure that that is in every single office workplace organisation up and down the country.
Mark Pringle 23:50
Yeah, I think I've worked with a lot of teams. So if we go back a second and back to the Gallup StrengthsFinder, Gallup Strengths Finder will highlight your top five strengths, they have identified 34 core strengths. And depending on which those are questionnaire you do, you can get your top five in order, your top 10 or the top 34. And there's something really interesting here because if you do your Gallup StrengthsFinder questionnaire and do the simplest version, which will give you your top five strengths in order, which is really important. The chances of finding Somebody in the world with the same top five strengths as you in the same order because the order flavours how it's behaved. It is one in 33 million. No, yours, so I could do your sense profile tomorrow. And if you say to me, have you seen one like this before? I will go no because I haven't done it 3 million times.
Emma Clayton 24:53
Profiles have never seen to be the same ever in this whole
Mark Pringle 24:57
never But then, then you go, wow, that is mind-blowing. But we then need to think about when you put so many different strengths together, are you gonna get something combustible? Or are you gonna get some toxic, or you're gonna get something amazing. So Gallup did a really interesting thing: they grouped the 34 strengths into four buckets. So there's Executing strengths, which is doo doo doo. Influencing strengths, which is how I persuade you to my way of thinking, is then Relationship Building strengths, and they're the strengths and the people who want to plug everybody together. And then these strategic thinking strengths, the big picture stuff, now, me and I will be executing strategically without doing your profile. Now, if we need someone to influence the relationship, relationship building, we're just going to build a dreadful team. So when we have people with very different strengths, and the chances of finding Somebody with the same profiles are 130 3 million, most teams are super diverse. I think there are three things we need to encourage people in teams to do. And it's what I call my VA T rule. Nobody likes to be a T because it adds it adds cost to everything. So VA T in the strengths setting stands for when you meet Somebody with a different strength profile than you. When you meet Somebody, Miss Claire turned it Who is it was a little process pixie who will take all your crazy ideas and see them through. The V stands for do you genuinely value what they bring,
Emma Clayton 26:48
love that.
Mark Pringle 26:49
The A is, can you accept that they are different, and you are different. And actually, the value they bring if you accept them is that they will help you bring your crazy ideas into a brilliant podcast and a brilliant book. And then the critical one for me is the tea. Because people like that, I think I would have a similar profile to you. So when I made the process, pixies wanted to dot the i's, cross the T's, and check the compliance register. And there's meet GDPR. Oh my god. But I have to tolerate that. That's the tea I need to value, accept and tolerate because, without them, I'll do something that will breach some guidance and break a GDPR rule or whatever else. When we meet Somebody with a different set of strengths. Can we value, accept and tolerate them? But if I do that to you, you must value, accept and tolerate me. So it's about more than all being good friends because some people go on and on and on about processes and compliance dot the i's and cross the t to get the contracts, right? And then, ah, can't we get on it. But we need different people in the team; we need that diversity.
Emma Clayton 28:09
and then my TV timeout.
Mark Pringle 28:12
That might be your tolerance; I must remove myself from this room for five minutes. Go and speak to that great coach that you know in the bathroom. And that great coach of yours will go what Mark said, said God, what value do they bring? Right, the value they bring this X-ray, I need to accept that. Deep breaths. Go back and tolerate them because, you know what? When you're in the bathroom Carmen down there in the meeting room going, Oh, my car back cleared, and she's such a crazy cow. So you know, we've all got to do it. And I think you look at what's happening in the world. If the world implodes, the VAT will more often think we'd be in a much happier place.
Emma Clayton 28:57
That'd be it would be amazing. But don't say that to Jeremy Hunt as we record this because, yeah, but um, one of the things that just struck me that I really liked that VAT, I think I'm gonna I'm gonna steal that with pride. I really like
Mark Pringle 29:12
you can have that, and I'll have elasticated value; there we go.
Emma Clayton 29:15
Well, then we'll do a swap. So when people are stressed, it's much harder to go into that VAT mindset. So? Absolutely. If you're in an environment, it's a bit like, you know, the fish, when the fish is sick, you need to change the water. So where does this then take us into, like, the name restaurants and I know that they're their strengths, and I'm VA teeing this all the way home. I get it, but my environment is causing me to not think logically and to apply my VAT to the situation.
Mark Pringle 29:54
Where do I go there? Well, I think the answer is in the title Of the podcast. And I think the answer is no; in me, it's just being self-aware to know this isn't a comfortable seat. And sometimes, we might need to change that seat. So Jim Collins, in the book, Good to Great, came out with a great metaphor for getting the right people. So if you're building a team or a company, get the right people on the bus and put them in the right seat. And I think sometimes when you book, You've almost got to say it to yourself, right? I worked for company X. Is this the right bus. And I'm in the seat of being chief solutions officer, is it the right seat, because sometimes we're in the wrong in the right company in the wrong seat. And then you need to be big, brave, bold and have enough self-worth to go and need a different seat. And then there is always a situation where you might need to be on the right bus. And you might even be in the right seat. But if the company culture needs to be corrected, you need to find a seat on a different bus. And I think it's, it's really easy to say it on a podcast like this, but it is, it is that that point about if the environment you're in, gives you energy gives you joy, it gives you happiness and satisfaction, move towards it. If it causes you stress and anxiety, drains your energy, and you get no joy or happiness, then you have a choice; you need to move away from it. And I think one of the things I will spend a lot of my time doing when I coach people is it sounds a bit weird because I speak to a lot of people who are adults in very senior jobs, very highly paid. I have yet to permit them to do what they know is right.
Emma Clayton 31:59
We do that as humans; we're always looking for permission.
Mark Pringle 32:03
Yeah, absolutely. And sometimes we need that. And you can get that permission from a coach, a colleague, a boss, a mentor, a friend, or a loved one from a child. You know, I've had some of my best advice from, you know, from my kids. And sometimes we need permission. But I'll go back to my toothbrush analogy earlier on; I think the other person you can speak to is that person you meet every morning when you brush your hair, brush your teeth, and ask them what they think. Yeah, that's
Emma Clayton 32:38
so true. Because we do know inside. It's that visceral feeling that we get that feeling when it's Sunday evening, and you go, Oh my God, I don't want to do this tomorrow. Or the similar feeling of Monday morning waking up and going, right, let's go. It's six o'clock alarms have not gone off. But let's start; let's go. And I've had these feelings. And I know you've worked through some situations with me where I've, you know, felt off-peak or on the wrong bus or whatever. And you know, we've had some really, really brilliant conversations around this. And I think we're all looking for permission for what we feel is right. And that is just crazy in itself. Because if there's one thing I lost my dad a year ago that left a legacy for me, Chase, chase joy, chase that Northstar of happiness. And it really is a good Guiding Light and a good principle. So yeah, I really believe in that. And I do think that if something feels wrong, you've got to move away from it. Life is way too short.
Mark Pringle 33:37
It is, and I'm trying to think of it because I don't want to steal this idea. After all, it's not mine. It'll maybe come to me later. But I heard Somebody interviewed a few weeks ago, and they were talking about the culture. They trained and coached their juniors in a rugby club that said the way. And this rugby coach said. Somebody said to him or watched this video because Somebody had videoed a move on the training ground. And the coach, for the first time ever, heard how he was speaking to the kids. And he thought, oh my god, I can't speak to them like that. And he went back into the dressing room. And he tells us a great story about how the little voice in his head was vicious with him. His own little inner critic went crazy on him about the way he spoke to the kids. And then he said this lovely thing happened where you suddenly thought that my inner talk is negative and critical. It's hardly surprising the way I talk to other people is the same. So I think sometimes we need to be kind to ourselves and have a bit more self-compassion and talk to ourselves. I do it all the time when I take the dogs for a walk. I Do. I got my dog walker, don't listen to anything. I don't take the phone and ask myself questions how to do that better? What can you do today to be a better dad? What? Could you today be a better partner? How could you? So yeah, getting permission is important for some people sometimes. And sometimes, you don't need to go to other people, and you might be the most empowering person and the best coach in the world for you. Is that one that you see in the mirror every day,
Emma Clayton 35:27
really, and that's great, and that she doesn't cost you any money either. And you get permanent access to them whenever you want.
Mark Pringle 35:34
On-demand on demand. Yeah, can get
Emma Clayton 35:37
a little bit sick man at times, though. Yeah, you
Mark Pringle 35:41
might want to go and go and go and go and send a check that with other people, but then that's the joy of having a coach or a mentor, or a, you know, a good friend or a good boss, you know, you can go to these people and go, I'm thinking about doing this. Is this a crazy idea? Yeah.
Emma Clayton 35:58
So so, just one final question. If Somebody is leading a team here, and they can see, you know, in their team or people around them, that there's more to do for people to find their strengths or to get people in the right seats on the bus, or, you know, in the right roles and positions, so that they can create a lot more momentum around them. Because we know that this stuff, you know, it's proven that a happy workplace is a more productive workplace. And, you know, it shines out into customer experience, which is something I'm really passionate about. How could Somebody start to reevaluate what's going on around them and get the right bums on the right seats so that they can, you know, create that
Mark Pringle 36:39
momentum. I think the, and again, this is, you know, this is not new. It's been around for aeons and Aeons and aeons, but you know, it's common sense is only sometimes common practice. If we want to start developing a strengths-based culture as a leader, then demonstrating vulnerability in front of our team is key. So I would love it if a leader is last; I am still determining my strengths by listening to this thinking. I would love for them to go to their team meeting tomorrow morning; you know what, I listened to this podcast the other night. And you know what? I really bought into playing to strengths. So I'd love you guys to give me some feedback because I think my strengths or weaknesses are this; maybe that's just showing a little bit of vulnerability. And I've had the situation a few times when Somebody asked me, can you come and do a Strengths workshop for the team, but I can't attend? And then you go, Well, I'm not doing it. Yeah, so it's being exactly. So for me, it's about, as a leader, showing some vulnerability. When you overplay your strength, and you know, you're doing it, just suddenly go, You know what, stop, stop, let's just stop doing it. I think I'm overplaying my ideation here. Am I throwing too many ideas into the pot, and all the process pixies will go? We're still processing idea number one, and you're on idea number seven. And then I'm going to value accept and tolerate the very important process people sorry for you know, I don't mean pixie as a derogatory term at all. But, I think it's showing that vulnerability and that openness. Do you know the whole idea of Carol Dweck talking about a growth mindset? A growth mindset is being able to go; I do not know this. So I need Somebody in my team who's brighter, cleverer, faster, slicker and smoother than me to do it. Because you're better than me. The team leader is only sometimes the best in the room.
Emma Clayton 38:49
No, no, no. And I really like when I'm not the best at building teams. I always get people that are way smarter than me. And my role is to facilitate that. It's not to be the best person and get people that, you know, make me look good. And I found that I became a better boss and leader when I had nothing to prove in my career.
Mark Pringle 39:10
absolutely an amazing documentary about the Enron crisis called, you know, the smartest guy in the room. And if you find yourself as the smartest guy or lady in the room, you're in the wrong room; go to another room. That's so true. So, so wonderful not being the smartest person in the room. So when you find yourself being the smartest person in the room, got to find another room.
Emma Clayton 39:39
That's brilliant. Mike, I absolutely loved talking to you about this. I could talk to you for hours and hours and hours. Really? No, I can't believe the time. I know. Look at that. We were in flow one question that I thought I would ask all of my guest experts who joined me, and you can be my guinea pig. I want to ask a question because the podcast is called knowing me knowing you. And if there was Somebody that you could get to know better? Who would it be? And what would you ask them? And why?
Mark Pringle 40:06
Oh, my word, if there was Somebody I would want to get to know better, why? Oh, so many names flying through my head. And I think, you know, one of the things that I think I also have as a strength, which is a superpower in it, and a real Achilles heel is, is curiosity. I always want to learn more. So I wonder if I can answer that question. But what if you force me into answering that question, I think the person I've read a lot about, and I would love to understand more about what they know and why they know it and how they see the world, would probably be the Dalai Lama. That's probably a bit of a cliched answer. But I think, you know, the clarity of his thinking. And I would love to, to almost get behind some of his views and go, How did you arrive there? So yeah, it will be the Dalai Lama and add one to know a little bit more about how he reaches his decisions or creates his choices, which are not binary to get to the best decisions.
Emma Clayton 41:21
I really like that answer, Mark. It's been an absolute pleasure. It has.
Mark Pringle 41:25
Thank you. Yes, I really enjoyed that.
Emma Clayton 41:27
I would love you to come back, and we'll find some more. I'm sure some would love equally exciting topics to talk about. But for now, thank you so much for your time. And for everybody listening. If you want to find Mark, where can they find you, mark?
Mark Pringle 41:43
They can find me at WWE dot Nia optimate.com or mark Pringle near optimum.com.
Emma Clayton 41:53
Amazing. And for everybody else. If there's anything else that you want to know about strengths, you would like Mike to come back, then drop us a line. But for now, stay brilliant. You have been listening to knowing me knowing you. If you would like to take your personality or team assessment, go to brilliant teams.org forward slash store and let's get you knowing you knowing them. Tell your friends about us and share the podcast with colleagues. But most importantly, come and listen to us again next week. See you soon.
You have been listening to knowing me knowing you. If you would like to take your personality or team assessment, go to www.brilliantteams.org/store., and let's get you knowing you knowing them. Tell your friends about us and share the podcast with colleagues. But most importantly, come and listen to us again next week. See you soon.
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