July 24, 2009Speak Strong: One trick pony: Tyranny of the tool

Filed under: This Week in the World by merylrunion |

I just posted about the movie The Wrestler. The theme song has these words. “If you’ve ever seen a one trick pony then you’ve seen me.” The words refer to the fact that the hero is outgrowing the profession of his youth and has nothing to draw on.

Many of us are gifted in one or two parts of my SpeakStrong, Smart and Sweet formula for effective communication. And we might emphasize the wrong tool, or approach, for the situation. We might try to love someone out of being exploitative or pressure someone out of being hurt or use logic to help someone get over a loss.

The SpeakStrong foundation is simple – say what you mean and mean what you say without being mean when you say it. The application can be confusing, because every situation calls for a different mix. Love relationships certainly don’t call for the same mix as, say, being a collections officer.

So don’t abandon the strengths that you have. Augment them. Be a many-trick pony, and let the tools you learn serve you rather than the other way around.