One of the big news stories this week was about Amazon’s futuristic, out-of-the-box idea of delivering packages within a half hour of the order being placed, using drones. This thinking is so far ahead of the curve, it stands to once again revolutionize a commerce system that it has already revolutionized since its inception less than twenty years ago. What struck me as quite interesting was what Amazon’s founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in the interview. He said he recalls a time when the biggest goal of Amazon, which was then operating out of his garage, was to be able to purchase a forklift. Even he didn’t fully realize the potential of what he started.

So how does one person have such a massive impact on the world in just 49 years? I can tell you it goes deep…farther back than 1994 when the company was founded. This type of thinking was woven through Jeff’s life going back to his childhood. And it goes even farther than that – to his grandfather who was a director at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

This is why DISC profiles fascinate me. Who you are at the core dictates how you think throughout your life – and it is part of a genetic code that can trace back generations. Obviously, Jeff Bezo’s grandfather had a scientific mind. Jeff inherited that from him to a large degree. And he had the wonderful advantage of being able to spend a great deal of time with his grandfather, learning even more from a young age about science and engineering. So while it may seem that he learned and accomplished all he has in just 49 years, the fact is, Amazon is rooted in generations prior that are just now bearing fruit. Amazon is, to me, the culmination of compound strengths being applied across generations…with absolutely astounding results.

As parents and grandparents, we owe it to future generations to know our strengths and to carry them as far as we can in our lives. We also have a responsibility to relay to our children and grandchildren the things we have learned so they can build from that level instead of starting at ground level when they graduate from college.

In this week’s podcast, I talk about how to recognize and identify the DISC profiling of those with whom we live and work. This is just one good illustration of why that is important.

What if your grandchild had the potential to revolutionize the world someday?  Know your strengths…know theirs. And help them reach their full potential.

For a sample Strengths Report, click here.