"Leveraging Your Strengths to Achieve Greater Joy and Fulfillment in Life" by Karen James

Over the last few weeks, I was pleasantly surprised when I received a few personal notes from leaders and staff members I work with regularly. As I read them, I was humbled by the kind remarks and heartfelt gratitude yet perplexed by what I said or shared that warranted such thoughtful responses.

The reality is that it was my pleasure to have such deep and meaningful conversations with them, as well as, to listen and learn from their perspective.

Then it hit me, I was thriving in my strengths during each of those interactions. I was leveraging my natural talents and developed skills that bring me satisfaction. It’s natural for me seek connection with others beyond the surface level and I’ve worked hard over the years to become a skilled listener. I’ve learned to focus on the individual, ask thoughtful questions to uncover what’s lying underneath and most importantly only insert my opinions when requested or with their permission. It’s all about their agenda.  And those individuals could sense I was doing so. 

There is a Strengths-based movement surging in organizations and the premise is to focus on leveraging your strengths versus focusing on your weaknesses. By understanding and leveraging your strengths, you can move exponentially faster to achieving your goal than by focusing on your weakness.

According to the Gallup organization, people who focus on using their strengths are three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life and six times more likely to be more engaged in their work.

Two of my favorite assessments to help you discover your strengths include the Strengths Finder by Gallup and StandOut2.0 by Marcus Buckingham. Each of these is helpful in refining and deepening your understanding and creating common language. The reality is you can assess your strengths by increasing your self-awareness. For example, notice

• In what projects or conversations do you lose track of time?
• What projects give you energy?
• In what areas does excellence come naturally for you?
• When and why do people come to you for feedback or recommendations?
• For what reasons do people frequently thank you?
• What comes easy to you?
• What do you enjoy learning?

These are all good indicators of your natural talents or strengths. And with focus and intentional development, they can become your superpowers.

Of course, there are times when we must employ skills and behaviors that aren’t our strengths. Here is where I suggest modifying the Pareto Principle (also referred to as the 80/20 rule). The principle suggests that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results. I modify it by saying if I can live in my strengths 80% of the time, I will succeed at the other 20% by leveraging the strengths to help me manage or by partnership with others to help me grow.

Before I knew anything about this concept, certain college classes came very easily for me and others were more challenging. I loved consumer psychology, research and a course called Campus to Career. In each of these courses, I had an opportunity to research topics of interest, study individual and organizational behavior, as well as design and test development programs with peers. But Intermediate Accounting was different, I didn’t love it and sought a coach to help me make it interesting and work through it, as I got bored easily.

It’s important to note that strengths are not profession driven and are career transferable. What excites you in one profession can excite you in another. For example, I know an attorney who appreciated, research and helping others. He left his private practice to become a fitness entrepreneur, opening a successful gym in the Bay Area. He continues to research but with a focus on body mechanics, and he helps individuals and teams solve problems and become successful in achieving their goals.

I encourage you to recognize and own the uniqueness of your own strengths. We are all individuals, and while there are certain behaviors that drive success like drive, resilience and tenacity, understanding and thriving in your strengths make the journey more less stressful and more engaging.

Actions you can take:

• Identify your strengths – you can do this via numerous assessments. By using thoughtful questions and seeking feedback from others. Or to increase your self-awareness.
• Understanding of how your strengths have served you well. Study your success to develop a deeper understanding of why you were successful. What can you take from that success to create another?
• Design a plan to help you become more intentional in deploying your strengths.
• Help someone else recognize and understand their strengths. Share with them what you appreciate about the work they do.

Go forth, celebrate your uniqueness, and leverage your strengths!

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About Karen James

Karen is a senior Learning & Development Manager with over 15 years of experience developing and facilitating training sessions for business executives at top corporations such as APS, Starbucks, and Farmers Insurance.

Karen is a Certified Master Trainer with a proven track record of success developing training curriculum and employee engagement programs, leading Train-the-Trainer programs, and traveling domestically and internationally to deliver various training programs.

Dynamic communicator with excellent facilitation skills both in classroom and online environments. Diverse background includes experience with Talent Development, Performance Management, Succession Planning, and Leadership Development.

Karen can be reach at [email protected]