By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC
The quote today comes from Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, who says”
“By nature we have no defect that could not become a strength, no strength that could not become a defect.”
Wow, what an incredible statement to make and it really connects with me! That’s for sure.
The first part of the quote for me is a ‘no brainer’. You see I am on a mission at the moment to change people’s mind sets. I am looking at the way we see things, issues such as the ‘VAT man’ or how we look at policies and procedures for example and how when we change our mind sets and we look at these in a more positive light, they actually become beneficial to us and to our businesses – so that one I don’t have a problem with.
It’s the second part of the quote that becomes a bit of a challenge! Actually now that I think about it – it’s not that difficult. I think that on some level, we as humans become somewhat ‘arrogant’ about our strengths and when that happens they can become our greatest weaknesses.
I recently saw a movie where the young lawyer had something like a 97% win ratio and this resulted in him being head hunted by some of the most prestigious law firms around. He ended up prosecuting a case that should have been a ‘slam dunk’ and which very nearly became the ‘undoing’ of him, when he lost it. His arrogance about his strength became his biggest weakness.
So no matter how excellent we are at something, it is in our own best interests to always do our best, take the time to ensure that we have all the facts and that we pay as much attention to something that we are good at as we pay to something that we are not so good at.
It’s about giving 100% all of the time irrespective of what the task is. It’s about taking pride in what we do and being committed performing the task to the best of our ability at all times.
Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za.
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