You Cannot Take a Step Longer Than Your Legs

This is a saying I heard recently from a Portuguese coachee this week, and has been rattling around in my mind: “You cannot take a step longer than your legs.”

She specifically connected it to her Responsibility strength, reflecting on how easily it can lead you to take on more than you can reasonably manage. That landed strongly with me, but as I sat with it, I could also see how this wisdom applies to other CliftonStrengths as well. Obviously, lets start with Responsibility..

Responsibility: Carrying the Right Load

Responsibility is one of those strengths that naturally takes ownership. People who lead with Responsibility feel a deep commitment to follow through, keep promises, and do right by others. But here’s where the Portuguese wisdom is so useful: if you try to step out further than your legs, you’ll stumble.

Responsibility works best when the “volume” is tuned right – loud enough to create value, trust, and reliability, but not so overwhelming that it leads to burnout or resentment. You cannot take a step longer than your legs is a reminder to pace yourself, to notice when you’re at capacity, and to honour your limits. Carry what is yours, not the world. But some other examples...

Strategic: Choosing the Right Step

For those with Strategic, the saying points to the value of choice. Strategic people see pathways and patterns, often many at once. But there’s no use spotting twenty possible routes if you try to sprint down them all at once.

The You cannot take a step longer than your legs saying - reminds Strategic to take the step that matters most now – to match the pace of your legs with the clarity of your mind. Small, well-placed steps are what move things forward.

Achiever: One Step at a Time

With Achiever, the drive for productivity and progress can tempt you to push your legs further and faster than they were ever designed to go. Achievers often live by the checklist, adding more and more without pause.

You cannot take a step longer than your legs is a gentle nudge to slow down, to recognise that constant forward motion doesn’t always equal sustainable success. Achiever shines when it takes one strong step after another, not when it tries to leap beyond what’s possible.

Connectedness: Trust the Rhythm

For Connectedness, this wisdom speaks to the natural rhythms of life. Everything has its timing. Just as legs have their stride, Connectedness sees that we’re part of a larger flow.

Trying to take a step longer than your legs is like forcing outcomes before their time. Connectedness teaches us to trust that each step has its place, that what’s meant to unfold will, when the pace is right. Relator: Depth, Not Distance For Relator, this saying is about depth over speed. Strong, trusting relationships take time to grow, and trying to rush them often leads to shallow connections. Relator flourishes when it honours its natural pace - investing steadily, step by step, in the people who matter most.

Final Thought

As someone with Input, I’m always looking for nuggets like this – and often my coaching sessions give me as much food for thought, as they do for the people I coach.

This simple saying from my beautiful coachee this week, is a reminder that strengths are most powerful when they work within our stride – grounded, sustainable, and aligned with what truly matters.

You cannot take a step longer than your legs. And you know what? You don’t need to.