{"id":44151,"date":"2018-12-05T14:29:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T19:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/?p=44151"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T13:48:13","slug":"play-to-your-strengths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2018\/12\/05\/play-to-your-strengths\/","title":{"rendered":"Play To Your Strengths!"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><p><em>Written by Lynne Richardson, Vice President for Administration &amp; Finance at the University of Mary Washington<\/em><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/07\/jugglingact.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"longdesc-return-44087\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-44087\" src=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/07\/jugglingact-300x296.png\" alt=\"Woman Juggling Many Aspects of her life: house, work, love, family\" width=\"110\" height=\"109\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw?longdesc=44087&amp;referrer=44151\" srcset=\"\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/07\/jugglingact-300x296.png 300w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/07\/jugglingact-150x150.png 150w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/07\/jugglingact-50x50.png 50w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/07\/jugglingact-75x75.png 75w, \/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/07\/jugglingact.png 558w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 110px) 100vw, 110px\"><\/a>I&rsquo;m a huge fan of the concept of doing work that encompasses things you really do well AND enjoy doing.&nbsp; In fact, I am a devotee of StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath, a book that espouses that people should figure out what their strengths are and then find work that allows them to utilize their strengths.&nbsp; Based on years of research by Gallup, the idea is that utilizing your natural strengths (and everyone has a different set!) vs. trying to improve on areas we&rsquo;re not so good at is best for both you and the organization.<!--more--><\/p><p>I totally agree.&nbsp; This is why I&rsquo;m returning to the business dean position in January.&nbsp; You may know my story, but here&rsquo;s a quick recap.<\/p><p>I became a business dean in 2001 at another institution and served there for six years before taking another dean position.&nbsp; After doing that for several years, Mary Washington recruited me to become the Founding Dean of the newly formed College of Business.&nbsp; I was plugging right along working on several items on a &lsquo;to do&rsquo; list.&nbsp; In August 2017, I very unexpectedly was asked to serve as interim (and then permanent) Vice President of Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Mary Washington.<\/p><p>The first 6-8 months were crazy as I had to learn about the areas I now led and managed, most of which I had little to no interaction with while dean.&nbsp; My direct reports were amazingly patient and tolerant as I climbed the steep learning curve.<\/p><p>After about a year in the job, however, I realized that I was not playing to my strengths in this role!&nbsp; The more I thought about it, the more I knew that I wasn&rsquo;t, with respect to Jim Collins&rsquo; GOOD TO GREAT, in the right seat on the Mary Washington bus.<\/p><p>So I surprised many people by asking to return to the business dean position, which is the best place for Mary Washington to utilize my strengths.&nbsp; While I was a good VP (I&rsquo;m told), I wasn&rsquo;t a fulfilled one.&nbsp; Fortunately, my boss said YES and I will become Dean 2.0 in January.<\/p><p>If you&rsquo;re not utilizing your strengths in your work, please recognize this and find a different job that allows you to contribute and shine.&nbsp; You&rsquo;re not a tree, so pick up and move!&nbsp; We need the best that you can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Lynne Richardson, Vice President for Administration &amp; Finance at the University of Mary WashingtonI&rsquo;m a huge fan of the concept of doing work that encompasses things you really do well AND enjoy doing.&nbsp; In fact, I am a devotee of StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath, a book that espouses that people should figure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":44087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"sidebar-content","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-44151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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