"Letters to my 22 year old self" - Part VII- Anchor your career with your towering strengths

“The task of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths so strong that it makes the system’s weaknesses irrelevant.” - Peter Drucker

Dear Shawn -

Growing up you were exposed to so many different things from food to sports to knowledge across a wide array of experiences. While engaging in activities it was clear early on that some were natural talents while others seemed difficult and unnatural; requiring significantly more effort to achieve similar results. As your scholastic and athletic experiences progressed you naturally gravitated towards those areas where you were passionate but those where you felt you possessed potential.

As you entered the workforce you were fortunate to take part in a wide variety of personality tests including Myers-Briggs (MBTI), Hogan, StrengthFinder and many others. Typically, the process for these included answering 50-100 questions and then receiving a detailed report outlining your "strengths" and your "weaknesses". In most cases these reports allowed for self-awareness and opened the door to coaching focused on finding a way to shore up your weaknesses and become a more balanced employee and leader.

Today's advice will focus on how to leverage these types of skills inventories to not only achieve success but to leverage them to find a career path and a personal path that harnesses the best of the skills that you have been given.

Here is what I have learned specific to leveraging your skills and attributes inventory in the career decisions you make.

1. First, look at your towering strengths as these represent the foundational talents that you possess and ones that you likely execute on better than the general population. As you look to your future ensure that you have an opportunity leverage these skills as foundational to achieving success. Specifically, these skills should also make up 50-60% of your chosen vocation allowing you to spend most of your time doing things that not only bring you joy but things you are naturally talented at.
2. Next, look at your "blind spots" or deep weaknesses. These represent areas where your natural talent and acquired skills are weaker than the general population. You need to reflect on what these blind spots means to your professional (and personal) success since they are likely the ones that will hold you back and represent significant frustration over time. Keep in mind that you can, indeed up-level some of these to get them on par with the general population.
3. Lastly, look at the skills and attributes that rank as "balanced". These are the skills where you can invest time and energy and evolve into strengths over time. Ask yourself specifically which of these skills you are passionate about developing, likely because you enjoy them or aspire to be great at them, and focus your development plan on formal education, mentorship and on-the-job training to improve them.
4. Engage in several of these assessments to ensure you have a balanced view but also refresh them every 5-7 years to confirm the skills that have developed over time

Early in your career there are so many opportunities to reflect and become self-aware of the skills and attributes that have the potential to make you great, those that may hold you back and those where time and effort will drive results.

Taking the time to reflect on these early on is an excellent exercise and one that I highly suggest you prioritize.

Past Posts in the series

Part I - "Keep an eye on the gas gauge"

Part II - "What's the worst that can happen?"

Part III - "What's the ONE THING"

Part IV - "Navigating the ups and downs of a career in sales"

Part V - "Don't eat the marshmallow"

Part VI - "Not every mountain is Mt. Everest!"