What’s Your Genius?

Today, allow me to introduce my friend, Rebecca Korphage, of KOR Solutions.  Becca and I first came to know one another years ago when we both worked at Sprint.  Throughout the years, our paths have continued to intersect and find whenever I am with her, I learn meaningful and important concepts from her. 

That’s no surprise.  Becca teaches a wonderful principle related to the gifts each of us possess.  She encourages her clients to identify, hone and share their “genius” with the world.  In fact, one genius she possesses is the ability to help people see these gifts for themselves.

In my work, I remind people that in Networking, we all have value to add to one another’s lives irrespective of our age, our gender, our bureaucratic title, our years of experience.  Thinking about this concept vis-à-vis Becca’s work on genius, it stands to reason that the obvious value we bring may have something to do with these gifts. 

Becca is teaching a live, face-to-face workshop on this topic in Kansas City next Friday, April 25, 2014 from 8:30-11am.  If you are in the area, you might take some time to check it out.  Wherever you are in the world, join me in welcoming Becca Korphage as she shares a few opening thoughts on ways to “Free Your Genius….”

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Guest post by Rebecca Korphage:

Just as we all have something to learn, I believe we all have something to teach, something to share with the world. We have a genius. That genius may show up as a talent beyond compare like being a virtuoso at the violin, a gifted sculptor, an athlete performing at world class levels, or a whiz at writing code. Those are some of the more obvious, commonly acknowledged forms of genius. Yet it can also show up as the ability to diffuse any conversation with frustrated and frightened customers at a call center, giving comfort and finding solutions. Genius may have developed over the ten years you spent birthing a new industry – not just a business, an entirely new genre of business. Perhaps your gift is in the form of lessons learned the hard way through a series of rock bottoms and the highest highs that eventually leveled out.

You have genius waiting to be shared. Whatever it is, you have it. It may or may not be tied to your purpose in life or what you do for a living; but it is part of who you are. Gay Hendricks said in The Big Leap, “You have a unique gift deep within you — so close to you, you might not even be able to see it — that’s just aching to be shared with the world.”

Before you start listening to that inner voice that says, “But I’m just…(fill in the blank),” stop. Think about some of the most important mentors you’ve had in your life, people you looked up to, or pieces of advice that you still remember verbatim. Why did they matter? Why did they have an impact on you? It wasn’t just what was done or said that mattered. It was who said or did it. You trusted them. You valued their insight, know how, expertise or talent. You felt they were sharing something of significance with you.

Who were they to be of value? A CEO? A sports star? An honored philosopher? Well, maybe they were. Maybe they were also your grandfather, little league coach, the woman in the cube next to you who has done your job five years longer, or the guy who is sharing his business’ story at the Chamber luncheon. Whoever they were or are, what you experienced was a glimpse of their genius that they shared with their world, even if that world was just you in the moment.

So what is your genius and how can you share it with the world? If it isn’t readily apparent, which, as Gay Hendricks reminds us, it often is not, then ask someone that knows you. Chances are they see you better than you see yourself. Also, take a little inventory of the following: What is your deepest experience or expertise; where is your strongest book knowledge or know how; what have been your breakdowns and breakthroughs; where is your joy? What do you most want to share with the world? I guarantee there are many who seek to learn from you. Once you know the what of your genius you can start working on the how to share it…but that’s another conversation.

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Want more from Becca?  Check out her pieces in Thinking Bigger Business Media, “How to Sell Your Brain” and “Why You Need to Understand ‘How.’” 

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