Operating from Abundance

People sometimes ask me, “How do you do it all?”

First of all, I don’t.

You should see my laundry.

But I have gotten much better at knowing where I have something meaningful to contribute—and where I absolutely do not.

That started with understanding my strengths.

Over the years, tools like CliftonStrengths have given me language for things I intuitively knew about myself. I love ideas. I see connections everywhere. I like messy problems and figuring out what we could do next. I genuinely enjoy introducing two people and saying, “Y’all need to know each other.”

And I rarely look at one assessment in isolation. CliftonStrengths, Working Genius, DISC, Enneagram, communication styles—each gives us a slightly different lens. I love putting them side by side and looking for the patterns. Where do they reinforce each other? Where is there tension? What keeps showing up?

That’s where it gets interesting.

Because no assessment gets to tell you who you are. But together, they can give you some really useful language for understanding how you're wired, how you show up with other people, and where you tend to do your best work.

Give me good people, a complicated problem, and a whiteboard and I am ridiculously happy.

Give me a repetitive administrative process with 14 carefully labeled steps and, well, that is probably not where I’m going to do my best work.

Knowing that about myself has changed the way I work.

It’s also changed the way I think about abundance.

There is enough good work to go around.

Enough room at the table to invite someone else in. Enough opportunity to celebrate somebody else’s success. Enough wisdom in a room that I don't have to be the person with all the answers.

And thank God for that, because I definitely don't have all the answers.

Some of the best work I’ve been part of has happened when people stopped protecting their little corners and started sharing what they had—their ideas, relationships, resources, experience, and encouragement.

Collaboration over competition. Generosity over guarding. Connection over division.

That’s how I want to work.

It’s also what I want for the people I work with: to understand what they bring to the table, trust it, and use it generously.

Because knowing your strengths isn't about getting a list of five words and saying, “Well, that’s interesting.”

It’s about recognizing where you come alive. How you contribute. Why some things feel natural while others require a whole lot more energy.

And maybe even giving yourself permission to stop trying to be good at everything.

We don't have to do all the good work.

We just need to know what we bring to it.

Not sure where to begin? Start with your strengths.

It’s one of my favorite places to start.