Before I was called to ministry, I was in the financial accounting field. I always love data analysis and strategic planning and have a passion in improving operation efficiency. Till these days, I still get fascinated when I see images of production lines and conveyor belts. They often trigger my thoughts on how to improve the efficiency.

Years ago I responded to God's call and had left the business world to embrace the ministry. Serving people requires very different sets of skills. Being an introvert analytic, there were moments that I noticed a real gap between my natural gift and what the job calls for. In those moments, a sense of inadequacy often surfaced.

Early this year, I made a commitment to smile more; a baby step to help me become more welcoming and less uptight. This self-awareness really made a difference at the beginning. Nevertheless, when fatigue strikes and stress mounts, it's so easy to give in and drift back to square one. The reality check pushes me to reflect on a few key principles:

Self-awareness. It is imperative to know what drains and what rejuvenates us. At the end of the day, we need to make sure our inner energy bucket is refilled, and this often is related to how we are wired. An extroverted outgoing person may get energized in crowds while the introverted quiet one may need the alone space to chill. Having that realization helps me safeguard my reflective time. Reading and writing are no longer a luxury to do when time allows; instead, they are the non-negotiable to maintain my emotional health.
Form a team that complements you. Knowing the temperament of the team members will strengthen the team effectiveness and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. Be open in admitting areas that are not our natural strong suits. Be bold to invite people with different personalities and strength into the team. We don't need to do it all to be effective leaders, we just need to have the openness to allow talents of all sorts to shine in a platform that fits them.
Just do the thing you are good at. The older one gets, the easier to admit that it is very difficult to improve in the areas that we are naturally not good at. Instead of spending countless hours to strengthen the weaker links, we may be better off in focusing on things that we are good at, and work on it with laser focus. Be mindful that the same type of strength may have distintive ramifications in different fields. Be creative to find your niche and work tirelessly toward the goal. You will reap fruits eventually. And because the fruits grow out from the soil with your natural gift, it can be a very joyful journey.

If you are in the process of soul searching; wanting to know yourself or your team members more, here is an awesome tool. It is by far the best free resources I have come across in this area. Check it out and take the free test, the analysis is quite comprehensive. https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types