This brilliant question was posed by the wonderful Louise Hallam and it’s a question that has the potential to take us very deep if we let it.
When we think about the various development programmes we attend as leaders we are often seeking new skills, new competencies, new ways of enhancing our leadership impact. What if we also, or instead, looked inside ourselves and our life journey to see the potential that has yet to be realised. As we get older and have done more than a few turns ‘around the block’ we may convince ourselves that there’s nothing inside of us that we haven’t already given – especially if we’ve successfully embraced more challenging roles along the way.
Yet pondering the question ‘what haven’t you used yet’ can open us to a core quality, gift or strength that we have yet to bring forth to the world for any number of reasons. It may have needed time to ripen. It may have been evident when we were much younger but the layering of life has overshadowed it. It may be that it didn’t feel safe to bring it out into the world. It’s quite possible that it could be a gamechanger of some sort and that also brings its own concerns – are we ready for the responsibility that using this gift might land on our doorstep?
It can be so easy to see ourselves cast in a particular mould and to accept that this is who we are and how we will always be. Even when we are doing leadership and personal development we may simply be playing variations on a theme rather than looking inside to notice the treasure that is waiting patiently for its turn to contribute and shift our impact.
The list of things we may find is endless; a heart full of love that hasn’t yet been expressed; a passion for innovation that we’ve been too reticent to bring out; a commitment to an ideal that is demanding our attention and participation; an inner voice that has been trying to reach us for some time to provide guidance. And so much more.
Do you have the courage to ask yourself the question ‘what haven’t I used yet?’