How to kickass With Your Greatest Strengths

Recognizing our strengths and weaknesses can be extremely beneficial in our career. This awareness is priceless because it enables us to focus on the right things in the most efficient manner possible. Naturally, this will also assist us in making more informed career decisions in the future.

Knowing our strengths, for example, can help us become more resourceful during times of difficulty in our journey. Additionally, we will be in a prime position to capitalise on critical opportunities that arise only when we are focused on the right things. On the other hand, recognising our weaknesses enables us to secure the necessary help in critical areas where you most require support. As a result, you can convert these weaknesses into strengths by securing the necessary support and resources to accomplish your career goals.

Additionally, we may be asked to describe our personal strengths and weaknesses at some point during an interview process. Numerous job candidates are unsure how to respond to this question. By establishing the proper context, however, we can provide hiring managers with an honest, thoughtful response that demonstrates our self-awareness and professionalism.

Even if we are not specifically asked about our strengths and weaknesses, scripting our response to this frequently asked question will provide us with an honest yet compelling description of what we bring to the table and how we wish to grow in the future. With these talking points in hand, we'll be prepared to confidently respond to a variety of common interview questions.

Factors that Contribute To Our Strengths

Strengths are a fusion of skills, knowledge, and talent. For instance, recognising the processes involved in a project remains as knowledge, using those processes to navigate the project toward completion become skills, and using them along with other tools/resources effectively and managing colleagues or team members to do the same is talent. As a result, the ability to take charge, sharing insights, and manage a project becomes a strength.

Furthermore, knowledge (the fact of knowing something), skills (the ability to perform tasks competently at work or in a given situation), and talents (the competency to master the skills necessary to perform at work or in a given situation) are acquired and developed through training and practise.

And because talents are inherent, they last a lifetime and help define us as an individual. They cannot be acquired or forgotten throughout the course of our career journey. We are innately hardwired through our talents to think, feel, and speak in a certain way, to react in a certain way to a given situation or event. We can develop this by knowing the purpose of doing them, doing techniques that improve them and constantly progressing.

How To Assess Your Strengths

To begin, make a list of your talent, skills, characteristics, behaviours, and areas of greatest knowledge. Consider the following:

• What are my most endearing characteristics?
• Which of my strengths has aided me the most?
• What would [individual's name] describe as my greatest strengths?
• Which characteristics am I unable to live without?
• What am I particularly adept at?
• What appears to be simple to learn and simple to do?
• What irreplaceable knowledge do I possess? How is this a virtue?
• What activities drew me as a child?
• What abilities have I quickly acquired and mastered?
• Which skills, abilities, and/or characteristics best describe my greatest accomplishments?
• What activities do I immerse myself completely in?
• Where do I have the potential to be exceptional?
• Which aspect of my job do I perform better than others?
• What behaviours contributed to the development of my strengths?

While some of your strengths will be more obvious, others will be more subtle and difficult to pinpoint. They may be overlooked when compiling your list of strengths, but they are still all aspects of yourself that can provide you with the strength you require during times of difficulty. As such, it is critical to dig deeper and keep track of these characteristics wherever possible.

If you're having difficulty compiling this list of strengths, consider enlisting the assistance of a few trusted friends. These individuals may very well be fully aware of the situation that you are not. And it is frequently those other seemingly insignificant details that have the most profound effect on your life.

After you've compiled your list of strengths, take a moment to consider the three additional questions below:

• Which of my strengths do I wish to improve further?
• Which of my strengths is most critical to achieving my career goals?
• Which of my strengths will assist me in becoming the person I aspire to be?

Ultimately, the purpose of this assessment is to assist you in making changes to your life and/or career in order to help you achieve your goals and develop into the person you want to be. However, what if you're unsure of what you want to do in life? That's why this process is about gaining the clarity necessary to build your goals or career path around your personal strengths. For this, you will use this process to help establish the path of least resistance.

When you identify your strengths, you will naturally make better decisions and choices. You utilise your time effectively and maximise the effort you put into something. You will no longer struggle to maintain focus on tasks and activities that frustrate you. These are the tasks you delegate to others. Rather than that, you concentrate on the areas in which you excel, are most passionate, and perform at your best. That is essentially how the world's highest achievers lay the groundwork for their success.

Creating Value At Work With Your Strengths

We are still left wondering in these uncertain times, about how to keep our jobs. How can we show our boss that we are an asset at work? What do employers prefer to see in order for us to demonstrate our capabilities and strengths in the future?

Here 4 tips on how you can convey your best value and strengths:

1.Maintain Integrity and Authenticity in Everything You Do

Consistently represent yourself—be consistent with people at all levels of the organisation. Additionally, ensure that the ideas you promote and the decisions you make are beneficial to the company as a whole, not just to you personally. Your goals and the company's goals should be congruent.

2. Be Aware and Offer Assistance

Maintain a connection to what truly matters. Understand how the business makes money and how your work relates to that. Also, don’t forget to check in on your peers and offer assistance when possible. Even removing a small task from someone's plate can make a significant difference not just to your work but for the company as a whole.

3. Determine Where Gaps Can Be Filled

Determine the state of your company and team and determine where you can add value to fill in the gaps. For instance, if you have strength in influencing and the company is going through a period of change with low morale, you can add value simply by maintaining a positive attitude and influencing the team's morale.

4. Be Eager and Make the Most of Your Strengths Whatever field you work in, it is critical to continue learning and developing your strengths, as well as remain productive, now more than ever. Avoid becoming sloppy. Manage your tasks and the projects of your team as efficiently and as organised as possible.

It is common for people to compare themselves to others and feel superior or inferior to them based on their strengths and weaknesses. The fact is that each individual is unique, and we all function differently as a result of our unique characteristics. That is how critical it is to understand oneself, one's capabilities, and strengths that you can leverage and use to propel yourself forwards and stand out for your career goals.

There are numerous wonderful things you can accomplish if you are aware of your true potential and what you are capable of.

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If you're interested to get clarity on your leadership goals, especially for a career in the data space, see more details here.

Also, check out these resources I prepared for you.

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This article is part of The Clear Sight series. If you like this article, feel free to share, comment or tag people whom you think can benefit from this.

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