I remember my younger son's first project. This was a boy who could recall every name of every sports figure—plus the details of the games and who scored what and when—but couldn't remember the names of prime ministers or do simple math equations or anything science-related.

What to do? How could I, as a parent, help him create something he could understand and explain to the judges in a way that made sense and met the learning objectives?

We chose the topic of static electricity. Now all I had to do was figure out how the child was going to remember what he needed to know about electrons, protons, neutrons, and atoms. Let's face it. Even most adults don't understand that stuff!

We decided to build on his strength—sports knowledge...what he knew well, even at the tender age of 8.

So we created the following.

1. The game was played in the Atom Arena.
2. The home team was the Edmonton Electrons.
3. The visitors were the Pittsburgh Protons.
4. The referees, who are supposed to be neutral, were the Neutrons.

He got an "A"!

I have always remembered that, for a couple of reasons.

The first: We need to help people learn to play to their strengths. Too often, I find people are so focused on what they can't do, they never get around to doing what they can do!

My son can remember everything there is about sports, so it was to our advantage to find a way to play to that strength. We could have sat with him and tried to teach him "the old textbook way" but it wouldn't have stuck. As soon as we put the problem into a context he understood, he flourished!

I believe we do a disservice to people if we spend most of our time trying to get them to work on their weaknesses. I will never be a detail-oriented person. I can spend countless hours reading books, taking courses, and listening to lectures on how to be more detail-oriented—and for a while I may actually become more so. But in the end, you will not want me doing your taxes or the pre-flight check on your airplane.

When we found a way to combine my son's passion and strengths around sports with learning, he became fully engaged.

Do you have people on your team right now who don't seem to be "getting it"?

It could be that you have them doing things that don't play to their strengths. Marcus Buckingham, in his book First Break All The Rules, writes that if you look at your staff, the message isn't that everyone should become well-rounded and fix their failings; the message is Partnership.

You need to put a system in place to compensate for weaknesses. There is a limit to how much you can rewire someone's brain.

For example, some people don't think strategically. They don't play out what-if scenarios; they don't anticipate and put together contingency plans. Wouldn't it be nice if they did? Yes, it would, but not everyone's mind works that way.

Great coaches look inward. They look inside the company, into each individual, into the differences in the Personal Style, goals, needs, and motivation of each person. The differences are small...subtle...but great managers need to pay attention to them. Those subtle differences will help guide you toward the right way to release each person's unique talents into performance.

Which brings me to the second part of the lesson from my son's science project: We all learn differently. My son is an experiential learner. That means he is partial to presentations that are entertaining and fun—like his science project. He also doesn't learn that well in highly structured learning environments, which unfortunately is the traditional learning classroom. He needs variety in his learning. It also means he often seeks fun ahead of work.

In a conversation with our School Superintendent, the chap told me that if it could be arranged, he would have each student start each day in the class where he or she had the most fun. Why? Because having fun creates a much better atmosphere for learning.

Now some people have fun studying history or working out math equations or building science projects, while others have fun playing sports and getting their hands dirty. There is no right or wrong to what others enjoy.

But there can be right or wrong when I always use the same approach when it comes to teaching or training others.

Here is the kicker. Learning doesn't stop when we leave high school or university. If we want to add value to the marketplace, we need to be constantly expanding our knowledge, skills, and competencies. That means we must be aware of our preferred and best learning styles so we can be intentional with our learning experiences.

Your learning style is simply your natural preference to seek out, acquire, and apply information from learning situations. Many factors determine your learning style and the degree of rigidity or flexibility you demonstrate. There are no right or wrong learning styles; there are simply preferences. I am not talking about your IQ, skills, abilities, interests, learning disabilities, health, or culture. I am simply talking about the way you prefer to learn.

CRG Consulting Resource Group can help here with two excellent resources.

• The first is the Learning Style Indicator that equips you and your team with the knowledge to be proactive in your method for attaining success.
• The flipside is the Instructional Style Indicator, which is great if you teach or instruct in any capacity. It will reveal your predominant instructional style and the impact it is having on your learners.

Today my son is working on a dairy farm while completing his Agriculture degree in university. I never thought he would make it to college, but he discovered his passion and strengths in the agricultural world and hasn't looked back. He is able to take what he is learning in the classroom and apply it directly to his work life.

He is growing, not only in his strengths but also in his ability to learn more and add more value—which, at the end of the day, is what living is all about.