When Our Weaknesses Become Our Greatest Strengths
I loved this recent viral video giving children with disabilities a chance to be real live superheroes. What I liked most was the way that the photo shoot didn’t ignore the children’s limitations, it celebrated them. For example: “Zaiden has severe ADHD and loves to run…I decided to turn his weakness into a strength and make him The Flash”, said photographer Josh Rossi.
I’ve been thinking lately about how those kinds of ‘weaknesses’ can apply to business. How the little guy takes on the big guy. David and Goliath, to reference a story you might be familiar with. To bring it back to superheroes – think of how a little, nimble superhero like Spider-Man might take on a bigger, powerful guy, like The Hulk. Spidey will never beat the Hulk in a blow-for-blow boxing match, but if he can stay back, use his unique tools, and do whatever a spider can…he just might win.
At Matchmaker Logistics, we’re not the Wal-Mart or the Amazon.com of the trucking industry — we’re more like Spider-Man, one of the little guys. And while we can’t provide the massive, instantaneous reach of the industry giants, we do have our own strengths. We know the names and personal stories of every one of our clients, and we take the time to be a solutions provider in ways that go beyond the scope of our competition.
We’re not the only ones parlaying a perceived weakness into a strength. Take Virgin chairman Richard Branson, who famously suffers from dyslexia, a learning disability that transposes letters and makes reading and written communication difficult. Because of his disability, Branson insisted that written communication be as clear and concise as possible so as not conflict with his dyslexia. It enabled an efficient style of management and corporate communication that was entirely unique. He used that unique style to build eight billion-dollar companies in eight different countries.
Similarly, in business, being small and nimble can enable you to outperform your largest competitors. Says Henry Elkus, COO of Unlimited Ltd. Clothing, “A well-tuned small business can easily outperform its larger counterparts in customer service, trend identification, product output and quantity control.”
As the trucking industry moves forward, we’ll stay a Spider-Man. A David. In an era of automated everything, you’ll always get a person on the other end of the line. More than a person, in fact – a superhero.
Fuel for Thought,
~Bob
