You can achieve anything if you follow the 5Ps
Ihad just finished teaching a group of ten-year-olds on how to tap into their leadership potential through some joyful activities and lesson plans I had designed. As I was getting ready to leave, a few girls shyly approached me and asked me to sign their notebooks. I hesitated but they stuck their pencils out at me.
I have since re-lived this moment in many different parts of the world, year after year. Every single time it happens, I am as humbled as if it were the first time — it is the universe rewarding me for my courage to pursue my potential.
Many of us are living lives not aligned to our true potential. If you think about it, how many truly brilliant doctors, lawyers, and engineers have you ever come across? The answer is always — very few. Yet these are still the most soughtafter professional lives that we assume would make us leaders overnight.
Your leadership potential only flowers when you spend time in your natural areas of power and passion. It sounds simple, yet it is difficult to practice.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life, said Steve Jobs. Unleashing potential requires you to get intimate with your five Ps.
First and second, get to know your powers and passions, and operate from a place where both are present. If you are not sure what these are, then consider following your “curiosities” for a while i.e. those things that naturally make you curious. Curiosity can often lead you to your passions, unleash your creativity, and even cause you to meet your powers for the first time.
Powers are generally the things that come naturally to you. Powers are the things that people come to you asking for your help on regularly. Powers are what you do better than everyone else. If I were to ask you —what could you teach me (do not limit yourself by your experience and degrees) if I gave you $100 an hour? Your answer should be a power.
One way to follow your powers is to pay close attention to the activities and situations that put you in the zone. And do not be afraid if you have a completely diverse set of powers. People with different powers in different areas, known as “T” personalities in design thinking circles, are the true innovators in today’s world. So someone who is an Olympic athlete but also brilliant at finance would be an example of a T personality. They see things the rest of us do not see, because of their diverse areas of talent and influence.
Second, passions are the things that make your heart sing. Passions make you feel good and you wish you could do them all the time. Passions can start out as a hobby, and you then start wondering if you could make a living doing them? What are the things you do that cause you to lose track of time? These are hints of your passions.
Passion is equivalent to setting yourself on fire. We all see passion very clearly, and we cannot help but admire it. Ken Robinson in his book Finding your
Element talks about the need for powers and passions to be present together in your life: “To be in your Element, it’s not enough to be doing something you’re good at. Many people are good at things they don’t enjoy. To be in your Element you have to love it: if you do, you’ll never ‘work’ again. Passion is the driver of achievement. Some people love doing things they don’t feel they’re good at. That may be because they underestimate their talents or haven’t yet put the work in to develop them. Either way, a strong passion allied with moderate talent will generally get you further than a strong talent with little enthusiasm.”
Third, you must frame and honour your priorities.
Priorities are attached to us like the clothing we put on each day. Again, they are different for each of us. A priority for you to feel good, as a mother, may be to drop your kids off to school every day. A priority for me as the breadwinner can be that I need to make a certain amount every month to ensure my family has a roof over their heads. A priority for a kinaesthetic personality requiring movement to think can be not to sit at a desk all day.
Very often it is our priorities that stop us from becoming Thumbprint Leaders. So ensuring you honor your priorities is key pebble in moving the mountain to get to your potential.
Fourth, you must pay attention to your personality type. The expression of your leadership can only thrive when you understand what your personality needs in order to thrive. Do people energise you or drain you? Are you a visual or a kinesthetic learner? Do you work best in the mornings or evenings? These are all key pieces of the puzzle.
If you are unsure of your basic personality type, try taking the MyersBriggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test. In fact, I would also suggest you take a few various types of personality tests on your emotional intelligence.
Knowing who you are and what you need allows you to develop a confident style of leadership that reflects who you are at your raw best. Keeping in mind your personality type brings texture and adds to the quirkiness of your leadership style.
And last, you must consider your potential i.e. the possibilities. Your potential encompasses all the other four Ps. What would be possible for your life if all the other four Ps were to line up? Dream far and tall. Be unrealistic.
Potential is realised when you say ‘yes’ to living a fully remarkable life. Potential expands every time you take a step toward the dreams in your heart.
It is possible, if you want it badly enough. A one per cent investment of your time each day devoted to our five Ps will add up over a one-year period. And the universe pays compound interest on Thumbprint Leadership investments. I am living proof, if you need an example!
Your leadership potential only flowers when you spend time in your natural areas of power and passion.