Circle of Life…What About the Circle of Competence?

Leadership

Feb 28

How to Move Forward While Staying in One Place

Excelling From Within Your Circle of Competence.

What’s the secret to skyrocketing success and extraordinary fulfillment?

**Understanding your Circle of Competence.**

This concept is one that Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have referred to often over the years. It was meant to be a beacon for how to make the best financial investments: Focus only on operating in the areas of business that you know best. But the idea is actually applicable to all areas of life. When we double down on our strengths, success will come.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter if we have one strength or ten. As Buffett said: “The size of that circle is not very important; knowing its boundaries, however, is vital.” The idea is to have a clear knowledge of what we’re really good at and where we’ve built the most skill. Additionally, we must know where we don’t excel.

Knowing your Circle of Competence helps you make better decisions, identify where to focus your attention, and overcome your handicaps. It also allows you to open your mind to learn from others and align yourself with the right people.

So how can we benefit from this simple, yet effective, Circle of Competence model? And then how we can take it one step further to truly maximize the gain? Here are some tips:

● Identify your personal Circle of Competence. First, you must give yourself an honest evaluation of strengths and weaknesses. Where do you naturally excel? What are your talents and gifts? What skills have you built over the years? In what area do you have the most experience? On the flip side, where do you fall behind? Where do you feel unqualified, inept, or insufficient? From this analysis, you will paint a clear picture of your circle and what lies beyond it.

● Minimize the energy you are giving to things outside the circle. Now that you have a defined picture of your circle and its boundaries, do an assessment of your life and how you’re operating. Are you focusing most of your energy within? Or without? How can you reduce the time spent outside the circle? What can you delegate or stop doing altogether? How can you redirect that focus to a place where you can really make headway?

● Align yourself with the right people. Knowing your Circle of Competence also gives you a clue to the kinds of people you should be surrounding yourself with. Sure, it’s great to have peers who do the same things as you. You can share ideas and enjoy socializing with each other. But it’s arguably more important (especially in a work situation) to find those people who fill in the gaps — the people who are really good at the things you are not. If you do this, you make better progress at a faster rate.

● Align yourself with the right positions in the right places. Are you in the right job at the right organization for your strengths and skillset? If you’re not making the best use of all you have to offer, you may want to reconsider your choices. When you feel aligned with your workplace and the job you show up to do every day, the potential for success is limitless.

The takeaway is simple. Put the spotlight on your natural expertise and talents, adjust your life to fit with it, and you’ll achieve more than you thought possible (and be so much happier doing it).