Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.
– Leo Buscaglia
Last Sunday, we had our very first meet-up session on “Serving with Strengths”. It is a gathering of like-minded individuals who would like make an impact on the community with our Strengths.
In Feb 14, we had our first StrengthsFinder Singapore Networking Session. Our normal meet-up sessions aimed at helping people identify their talents using StrengthsFinders, and through our meet-ups gain greater awareness and develop them into Strengths. But I believe that we do not have strengths just to serve ourselves. We have strengths so that we may serve those around us. As Leo Buscaglia so nicely states: What we do with our talents is our gift back to God.
This is why I think that serving with an outward focus is important. Let’s take a look at the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. Both rivers are connected further inland, yet the two are so different. The Jordan River which has an outlet into the sea is bursting with life, fisherman make a living by fishing in the river, plants and animals are abundant near this life-giving river. The Dead Sea however, is so dense with salt and minerals because there’s no outlet to the sea such that it cannot support any form of life, hence it is called the Dead Sea. In a similar way, our strengths and abilities are meant for us to give away…. to serve others around us.
With that…. “Serving with Strengths” is born!
We are at the infant stage, but the gather of resources is amazing! We have people skilled in training and facilitation, coaching, hands-on experiential learning, diet and nutrition, and coaching. We have people who are teachers who can encourage students to volunteer, we have people who are starting a youth-hub which will reach out to youths-at-risk. When I look at the quality and passion of the people who have gathered, I think it is mind-blowing!
With us, we also had volunteers from Community Service Marathon (CSM) and Heartwarmers who shared with us what they do, and we explored some ways that we can support them in making a difference. After some exploration, we discovered that many volunteers who freely give of their time and energy could benefit from some training and development. Some skills may include language, or specialised skills on how to interact with elderly with demential, and even helping the volunteers discover their strengths and leverage on it. And that’s what I’m excited about – the opportunity to help build up the volunteer’s strengths as they serve the elderly.
At this stage, I’m inclined to think that “Serving with Strengths” would be looking at how we can help with the development of volunteers in various volunteer organisations, and multiply the impact these volunteers have on the community. Some of our members may also wish to serve the beneficiaries directly as well. It’s all very preliminary, but I can feel the excitement and momentum building! Can’t wait to see how this develops!
Are you located in Singapore and would like to learn more about your Strengths? Or are you interested in joining “Serving with Strengths” as we give back to the community? If that’s you, come join our StrengthsFinder Singapore Network!
