Nature or Nurture

I have never heard a case when a child was born, of the midwife or doctor saying "Congratulations Mr and Mrs whatever - you have a beautiful rugby player" or even " - you have a beautiful sales person." Which brings me to doubt that there is such a thing as natural talent. I did say doubt though, not disbelieve.

Now I know that some of my friends in the sporting world will disagree with me here, some more vociferously than others I fear, but I don't think I would get a great deal of argument from the business sector...please feel free to buy me a Guinness and discuss it with me at any time if you do.

I am reminded of a statement I read in a book once which stated that:

"Champion athletes are not extraordinary people;
they are ordinary people who do extraordinary things."

The very same could be said about champions of the business world as well. We are all just ordinary people. It just so happens that some of us choose to do some extra-ordinary things with our time.

My great friend, Stuart Wilkinson from the Rhinos, is one of the most respected coaches in the game. We discussed whether natural talent was a factor in sporting success and, if so, could the same be assumed for success in business (this all depends on your definition of success by the way.) I have to say that what he told me opened my eyes and my mind to a whole new way of thinking.

In short, Stuart is a believer in natural talent - at least, he believes that certain people are born with certain motor skills that the owner then needs to learn how to use effectively. He also believes that a great many more people are born with the same skills but never discover how to use this "natural" talent. To put it another way, nature provides certain skills that must then be nurtured and one of the ways that these skills can be nurtured is through social inclusion. That was the point at which we started to agree about the existence of natural talent.

You see social inclusion, to me, is the same as the "law of association." If certain people are born with the skills necessary to reach the top flight in their chosen sport, it could be true that certain people are born with the necessary skills to do the same in a business environment. I'm not saying that everyone who is born with the ability to speak has the necessary skills to become a leading sales person or a professional speaker. I do feel, though, that many people could be more successful in this field than they think they could. They just need to surround themselves with the type of people who will nurture their skills rather than devalue them with limiting beliefs and negativity.

So here is my challenge to you. Take a look at your beliefs with regards to your ability to succeed in your chosen field and then look closely at your present results.

Now the hard bit! Take a VERY CLOSE look at the people you are surrounding yourself with. Are these people standing for your magnificence or are they holding you back from exploiting your natural talent to succeed? In short,

"Are the people you are following going where you want to go?"

 
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