Do You Have Hidden Talent? - How You Can Make It Visible

Have you ever fantasised about having an invisibility cloak

? Then you could wrap yourself, Harry Potter style, and sneak unseen into privileged places. What secrets you could discover!

Of course you would want to take the cloak off sometimes - when you wanted to be noticed. It would be miserable to be excluded because you couldn't be seen.

Actually the invisibility cloak is not just the stuff of fantasy and fairy tales - we all have one. We wear it when we want to merge with the background. We put it on when it seems too dangerous to raise our heads above the parapet.

We may have first used the cloak to avoid the bully in the playground. Since then it's bound to have been useful on many occasions. For instance, I remember sitting in the audience when the comedian on stage was picking out individuals for embarrassment. I tried to hide completely with all my body language saying 'don't pick me'!

Useful as it may be, we can wear our cloak inadvertently. We hide under our cloak whenever we assume that something is beyond us. We dive behind it when our ideas and creativity could make a positive difference yet we tell ourselves that no one will listen. We are invisible when we adopt false modesty; when we underplay our talents; when we don't even start.

Fortunately when you become aware that you can be wearing your cloak without realising it (and you are aware now!), you can make wearing your cloak a matter of choice. When you want to have influence you need to be visible.

Becoming visible is an act of leadership. Even if you are not in a formal leadership role, it is still true. When you step up, assert your point of view, make your honest contribution you are becoming visible. You are sharing something of yourself.

Whatever way you choose to become visible, the first step is one of communication. You need to make it clear what you are offering - a sort of signpost to the sharing that follows. There's sometimes a span of time to test your staying power. For example, you might make an offer to take on a particular conference slot (signpost) some weeks before actually running the session (sharing).

Taking the lead is a service to others. They may accept or reject what you share - ultimately that is their choice. If you try to please everybody all of the time you are likely to be wearing the cloak again soon!

Staying visible is a challenge. It's tempting to retreat and go back to wearing the cloak. Yet you have so much to offer. Don't underestimate what it is worth. The question is: what are you going to choose? How will you be visible today?

by: Trevor Hill

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