Strengths

Operating in Your Strengths

January 28, 2025

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I'm Deb- CEO, worldwide executive coach, mentor, consultant and speaker. I'm here to help you take your leadership and impact to the next level!

Meet Deb

Operating in Your Strengths

Image Credit: Depositphotos

He grew up poor and, while his mother worked day and night to support him and his brother, their father had abandoned the family years before. But his life was transformed by the lessons and actions of his mother.

One day, in response to falling grades, she announced there would be no more than three television shows a week. To fill the gap, she told her two sons they were to read instead.

While at first this was met with resistance, the boys loved and respected her enough to do as she wished.

And so, young Ben began to delve into the world of books. Left open to exploration, he began to study and collect rocks.

One day in school, the science teacher held up a rock and asked, “Does anyone know what this is?”

Ben waited for the “smart” kids to raise their hands. No one did.

Then he raised his.

He named the type of rock and how it was formed. The class that used to tease him and call him the “dumbest kid in the world” now sat up and took notice of his expertise.

After that, Ben began to read more and more about different subjects, and his classmates, who had previously mocked him, now came to him for help with homework.

His mother also took the boys to church where, one day, a medical missionary spoke of his adventures. That is when Ben told his mother he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up.

With her encouragement and his tenacity and zeal for learning, Ben went on to graduate with honors and attended Yale University.

He worked in the summers to earn money for school. One summer job was working in a steel factory, where he operated heavy equipment but had to do it with great precision. It is this job that made him realize he had a gift for seeing things in three dimensions and for precision.

His gifts for insatiable learning to overcome a challenge, speed, precision, and tenacity carried him around the world. He became a world-renowned neurosurgeon.

And here’s the thing: those gifts were in him from the time he was a child. They simply had to be unearthed, encouraged, and refined.

What are your strengths?

In coaching individuals, and especially students and entrepreneurs, there’s an exercise that often creates “Aha!” moments. It is one where they are asked to list their accomplishments through the years, going back as far as early childhood. What did they excel at and enjoy?

When we review those with a particular strategy, it is amazing to see the light bulbs go off. Their gifts were there, all along, hiding in plain sight.

And the same is true for you.

You have strengths that are unique to you. Your experiences have revealed them. Your studies have developed them. But you may not be able to see them. This is where you need someone who can help you identify those strengths and encourage you to use them.

Your world needs you, operating in your strengths. Identify your strengths and put them to use in serving your world. This is both purposeful and rewarding.

For valuable resources on Leadership Strengths and Tools, click here.


Deb Ingino is a highly sought-after executive coach, mentor, consultant, and speaker worldwide. Deb is well versed in business operations and in the importance of asking key questions most business leaders won’t ask themselves. She brings deep experience in leadership development, strategy, high performance team building and effective communication. She has a passion for leading people to discover and maximize their strengths as well as those of fellow team members, while offering advanced strategies to achieve high performance. Deb is the perfect fit if you’re ready to take your leadership and impact to the next level!

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