An Achilles’ heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength that can actually or potentially lead to downfall. It is a vulnerability that is overlooked but eventually leads to disaster. The phrase is coined from Greek Mythology which states that when Achilles was a baby, it was foretold that he would die in battle from an arrow in the foot. To prevent his death, his mother took him to the River Styx which was supposed to offer powers of invincibility and dipped his body into the water. But as his mother held Achilles by the heel, his heel was not washed over by the water of the magical river. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles but one day, a poisonous arrow shot at him was lodged in his heel, killing him shortly after.
Looking at the mission that led to Osama’s death, we are told that he had built up a fortress and would not even allow access to modern technology to ensure that he could not be tracked or found. No man is an island however and in order to communicate he chose to use couriers. One of these couriers eventually led the US Government to his doorstep. The courier in essence became “Osama’s Heel”, the weakness that led to his destruction.
When I coach about people and people skills I often emphasize the idea that it doesn’t matter how talented or hard working we are, we really need to think about the people we surround ourselves with-You become like the people you spend the most time with. Our greatness weakness or vulnerability can sometimes be found in the people we choose to spend time with who are not genuine or do not support our vision for success. We often find that the more successful we become the more we have to make difficult choices regarding people around us who do not share the right mindsets and behaviors and can influence us negatively.
Obviously this is more easily said than done but the easiest way to root out the bad apples is to take some time to reflect and think about the people we spend the most time with and the value they add to our lives. You can go as far as writing this list down then next to each name you can write down positive and negative experiences that have happened. Once you’ve been at this exercise awhile, you’ll start to see a trend emerge and you’ll also realize the relationships where the positive outweighs the negative or vice versa. The goal here is to manage the negative relationships and ensure that they do not translate into Achilles’ heel and lead you off your path of success.
Beyond the people around us, there are also other factors that can act as Achilles’ heel in our quest to succeed. As you pursue your dreams always remember to be smart about your choices, and no matter how successful you get, don’t get too comfortable to self analyze, recognize and eliminate your hidden weaknesses before they turn fatal.
A great read. More please !
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