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I think of my sweet spot as that place or series of actions where I am most effective, where I can create the most value for others and the most satisfaction for me. Some people refer to it as your true north. I was fortunate to have found my sweet spot early in my working life. If truth be told, someone helped me find it.
Rather than talk more about it, let me take you back to that day and tell you the story of how it happened.
I should tell you that it’s my first job out of grad school and this is my first performance assessment. My job involves doing research and writing reports. The work is repetitive and rather boring. On the other hand, to a 23-year old like me, the people over in education seem to be having lots of fun flying all over the country conducting leadership classes.
So, the performance evaluation meeting with my boss, Larry, is going well. Then he says, “Let’s talk about your development plan and what you want to do over the next year to improve.”
I ask Larry if I can observe a leadership class as part of my development. He responds, “As a matter of fact, I am travelling down South next week to run some workshops. And Glenn, I’m happy to have you come with me, but I can’t justify your travel expenses unless you conduct one of the classes.” I panic and say, “Larry, what would I teach? I don’t know anything.”
He tells me not to worry, he will figure out something I can do. And he was right. I was able to teach something useful and the response was very positive. From that experience, I realized learning and development was my sweet spot, my true north.
I should mention that Larry was not an especially charismatic leader. However, as research tells us, leaders who establish interpersonal connections and empower action are more likely to positively influence others than a leader with an excess of personal charisma.
It was only many years later that I came to understand what Larry had done. He saw something in me—he believed in me, believed that I could teach and do it well. And rather than give me a rah-rah motivation talk, he created a situation and the conditions for me to be successful and realize it for myself. He was the first positive influence leader in my work life.
Our research indicates that you don’t have to be famous or wildly successful to have benefitted from a positive influence in your life. You don’t get to be a highly regarded corporate manager, an award-winning school teacher, a life-saving oncologist, or a fitness guru without some help along with the way. Every person we interviewed had no problem identifying a person, often more than one, without whom they would not have made it.
For more stories of positive influence and how you can become a positive influence leader, pick up a copy of our new book, Positive Influence: The Who Helps People Become the Best Self (HRD Press, 2020).