Know, develop and work on your strengths

We are very close to talking with our employees regarding their 2023 performance and establishing goals and objectives for 2024. I have participated in many conversations on the managerial and employee sides, and they were only sometimes conducted correctly. A central aspect is that the talks focus less on what was done well and more on the deficiencies and how we should correct them over the next year. These is a common mistake that starts since the beginning of the working relationship, HR always ask about our weaknesses and how we can improve them but when they ask about our strengths, they never give us the chance to talk about how we can use those in benefit of the company.

In some point of your life, you have been asked to do a SWOT analysis, people are always concerned with how to get rid of weaknesses, how to take advantage of opportunities, and how to face threats. I have seen many people think about how to work in these three fields when the solution is in the first field. Most humans always focus on the negative parts and how to avoid them, heal them, confront them, etc., and regarding the positive things, we usually leave theme there, like if there is no need to do something about them because they are fine. Studies have shown that if we focus on the positive aspects and our strengths, enhancing our personal development and growth will be greater.

"The key to human development is to build on what you already are", Tom Rath.

Which structure will be stronger, the one with solid foundations because it is something with which we feel safe, confident, and strong, or the one we are building from fear, insecurity, and frustration?

How do you feel when doing a job you like, as opposed to how you feel when doing something you dislike? This analysis can be clearer if we go back to the school years. If the teacher asks you to work on a matter you like, you do it with pleasure and dedicate time to it. But when it is about something you find boring, you will probably procrastinate and do the work with poor quality; the same happens in the professional and personal world. We should find a job or activity where we feel strong, confident, safe so that we can develop more our skills, but the problem is that school, parents, and society have long been pushing us to be good at the "Right Things," this makes us forget the things we like and are naturally good at.

For many people is complicated to know what they like, what are they good for, but the good thing is that we have strength tests that measures personality traits, which allows them to be more accurate since they do not have as many variations as skills. These tests will bring you not only the strengths but also the areas in your personality that you are not as strong with. But before you start focusing on the ones at the bottom, remember that being very balanced doesn't necessarily lead to higher performance. You can achieve the highest levels of success only when you stop trying to be a little good at everything and instead hone what naturally works best for you.

Knowing our strengths is essential to facing life's usual problems and the professional ones. Benefits of identifying our strengths:

-???????? Positive self-esteem: High self-esteem helps us solve problems, motivates us to achieve goals, and gives us the ability to protect ourselves from stressful situations.

-???????? Empathy and recognition: Acknowledging our strengths helps us recognize and value the strengths and accomplishments of others. This allows us to have an attitude of empathy and admiration towards others without feeling envious or resentful.

-???????? Confidence and positive attitude: Confidence drives us to face challenges and difficulties with a positive attitude. Self-confidence is based on experience, reality, training, practice, and authenticity, which helps us to excel and achieve our goals.

-???????? Ability to take advantage of: Strengths are part of our personality; they manifest naturally and are part of our character; knowing them allows us to develop and exploit ourselves in those we are better at.

Considering these tests, we can say that we do not have weaknesses, only areas in which we have fewer natural attributes or even interest in, and our personal and professional growth needs to know what they are, not to dedicate time trying to improve those areas because anything we change will modify our list of strengths and it may imply a change in our personality. The important thing about knowing them is to identify the personality mixtures with which we can support ourselves so that together, we can achieve great things. We constantly interact with people with different skills, and the more we know about ourselves, the better it will allow us to work with others in our personal and professional lives.

Let's take this topic to another level: think about what is natural to you, think about what you wouldn't mind doing, think about what you could do all day without stopping day after day, and that's what you should focus on, that's what you should develop. I know what many may think, but whatever option you have thought of is right for you. You can make a living from sports, art, video games, extreme sports, fashion, makeup, or whatever you are good at.

The problem in most cases is that fears transmitted through generations and going through the right path stop us from seeing beyond, and prevents us from making the decisions that can lead us to our best development.

It's a reality that we can't be all we'd like, but we can be so much more than we already are, Tom Rath.