Playing to your strengths and why it's so important

All of us are a unique melting pot of different skills, experiences, interests and hobbies... and as a result we all have completely unique sets of abilities and strengths that we bring to the table.

While we can all feel a little useless at times, no one is in fact completely without unique talents or abilities that set them apart from the pack and it's important to realise this so that you can go about maximizing your own abilities and using them to your advantage.

This is especially true at work. Making the most of your strengths will help you work smarter, not harder.

Identifying and exploring your strengths will naturally develop your confidence. Increasing your ability to not only do a great job but get recognized for it too.

First thing's first, make a list of your strengths. Set yourself a challenge to note down 25 strengths and then work out which of these you love. So, for example, you may be brilliant at creating and maintaining Excel spreadsheets, but it could be something that you absolutely hate doing! Try to choose the strengths that energise and engage you and make a list of the ones you want to focus on.

In a leadership role it's also important to be aware of one's weaknesses. Blindly forging ahead without taking these into account is not helpful for anyone. So, take a look at where you could improve and also delegate if need be. There may be someone in your team who can take your weakness and turn it into THEIR strength!

Think about the vision you want to achieve and how your strengths will help you and your team to get there. Working together towards one vision can really make the most of everyone's strengths.

Finally, you can work on elements that are not quite yet your strengths. It may be that you love certain aspects of your role but you know you could do them better - how could you develop these? Look into training or coaching so you can learn to enhance your strengths.

If you want to get close up and personal with your strengths and discover your leadership brilliance, sign up for the?IGNITE Bootcamp?- it's an on-demand, self-paced programme designed to provide you with all the tools you need to exponentially grow as a leader, while preserving balance in your life. Find out more?here!