“When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.”
Bring out the best in others, and you can improve the world. Do the math – to achieve anything notable, you have to involve other people.
Give others your time and energy, and – most importantly – the benefit of the doubt. Believe in them, even when they fall or fail to believe in themselves. It takes no talent whatsoever to believe in someone who is already hurting down stops. What’s hard is to see the ability buried so deep inside someone even he or she does not know it is there.
Expertise takes many forms, and it brings people to some unusual situations. Many of the most talented people you meet will be completely different than you; they will think differently, act differently, and talk differently. They may be loud when you want to be quiet, and they may be quiet when you are searching for input. Your greatest challenge is to see past your preferences to spot a light blazing inside a package that may at first make little sense to you.
Your role in life is not to be the smartest or most intelligent person in the room. Your role is to communicate with other people, cooperate with other people, and discover talent in other people. This may not apply to skeptics and hermits, but for the rest of us, this is where we should be aiming.
It is never easy to encourage talent. People will get discouraged and distracted. This is natural because it takes time to see one’s abilities. It also takes time to accept responsibility for one’s outcomes. You can help others, but it is not your role to do all the work for them. With persistence, you can communicate two critical lessons: you have talent glowing inside you, and you can bring it out if you are willing to put in sufficient effort. This leads to two truths: you have to invest effort in others, and they have to invest effort in themselves.
If you are in love with your abilities and goals, you will never find the treasures that exist all around you. To spot talent, you have to pay attention. You have to look for the smallest signs, and you have to be curious enough to pursue them. The greater your ability to pay attention, the more talent you will find.
Last but not least – I’m not just talking about people who work for you. I’m talking about your colleagues, friends, family, and neighbors. You are surrounded by people. Sometimes it is easiest to help those who have the weakest connections to you.
“No one is perfect – that’s why pencils have erasers.”
