At the weekend I was picking up some supplies at Waggle and Forage, my local beekeeping supplier, after finding the dreaded Varroa mite in my hives.
They were recently on Australia’s TV Better Homes and Gardens, talking about bees, leaving corporate life and Varroa, and we were chatting about whether they were planning some sort of celebration now that the business had been featured.
“Maybe an opening party now,” I coaxed, I have been trying to nudge them for a party, but that’s just my Woo.
They laughed.
“It’s been open six years.”
Six years!
I stood there for a moment, slightly stunned. Six years since I first became a beekeeper, where has the time gone?
I suddenly realised how much I’ve learned in that time. I now have six hives. I’ve never lost a hive, swarms yes, stings yes and one of the best parts, honey.
Beekeeping is forever a learning curve and as I often say, I love learning through doing with Learner at #34. Good job, really as beekeepers will tell you:
“Bees don’t read the same books we do.”
You can read all the bee textbooks in the world, but the bees will still do their own thing.
That also got me thinking about how I operate with them. When I inspect the hives now, so much of what I do is automatic.
I know what I’m looking for.
I know what healthy looks like.
I know the signs when something isn’t quite right.
I know how to use the tools.
I am much faster and less messy when extracting honey.
It’s no longer something I consciously think through step by step. It’s simply… what I do. I am now unconsciously competent.
That realisation got me thinking about something we often talk about in CliftonStrengths workshops.
There’s an Ethiopian proverb that says:
“Fish discover water last.”
Fish are so surrounded by water that they don’t realise they’re in it.
The same thing can happen with our talents and strengths.
Our talents are patterns in how we naturally think, feel, and behave. Some of those patterns are part of our natural wiring. Others are shaped through experience, learning, and the environments we grow up and work in.
Over time, many of these behaviours become automatic, and we operate on autopilot. We too, are unconsciously competent.
When people take the CliftonStrengths assessment and read their report, I often ask them a question.
“What percentage of your report felt like you?”
On average, people say around 85% of the report sounds like them, with some saying it feels 100% spot on.
After all, they answered the questions themselves.
But the interesting thing is this:
People recognise their talents…yet they aren’t always intentional about using them.
Take Relator as an example.
People high in Relator naturally prefer deeper relationships. They build trust. They enjoy meaningful conversations in smaller groups.
Yet much of that happens automatically. It’s unconscious competence.
Which raises an interesting question.
What would it look like if we used that strength intentionally?
What if someone with Relator reached out to their network just 1% more than they already do? Built deeper relationships with someone they work with, same team or different team?
James Clear, in Atomic Habits, talks about the power of small improvements over time. Tiny adjustments compound.
Just 1% more intentional use of our strengths could have a significant ripple effect.
I hear time and time again from leaders that one of the biggest challenges in their teams is silos.
Interestingly, Relator is one of the more common talent themes we see in teams. So perhaps the opportunity isn’t a lack of relational talent. Perhaps it’s a lack of intentional application of it.
The same can be true for other themes.
Someone with Arranger might naturally juggle many moving parts with ease. It’s second nature but what happens when they combine that with Maximizer and become more intentional about what they choose to juggle?
Someone with Strategic can see a path forward when others don’t but what happens when a whole team has Strategic? Everyone sees a way forward but they may all see different ways.
Without communication, those ideas remain isolated.
Which is why I often smile when someone says in a team session:
“Uh oh… no one here has Communication (as a talent theme). We’re doomed.”
Every talent theme communicates.
Someone high in Focus may communicate clearly and concisely.
Someone with Context may communicate through stories and history.
Someone with Empathy may communicate through emotional insight and connection.
Communication simply looks different through different strengths.
So again, the question becomes:
What would it look like if we stopped assuming and started being intentional?
What if we didn’t take our strengths for granted?
What if we noticed the things that come easily to us, the water we’re swimming in and chose to use them with just a little more purpose?
I notice that often the talents we overlook are the ones that create the most impact.
They’re the things that come easily to us. The things we do without thinking. The things that feel so natural we assume everyone else must do them too.
But they don’t.
Which is why pausing to notice them matters.
Noticing what we do naturally.
Noticing what energises us.
Noticing what others might find difficult that we find easy.
Then choosing to use those talents just a little more intentionally.
Because the water we swim in every day is often the last thing we see.
