Show Your Best Self – Work To Your Strengths!

Working to your strengths is personally empowering and enables you to present your best self, whether in your work or personal life.

We each have a combination of qualities, talent and skills that are unique to us. To work to your strengths, you first have to identify them. For some this is an easy list; for others this focus on self is more challenging. Here are some ways to identify your strengths.

Check in with your colleagues and trusted advisors/friends, and ask them what they see as your top 3 strengths (you can ask for more – 3 seems a good number).
Spend some time personally reflecting on those activities and tasks that you are drawn to and enjoy, then write up the list – what may be a natural tendency for you may be more difficult for others.
Cross check these lists for common themes on your strengths.
There are also professional tools available to assist you in identifying your strengths.

When you focus on and work to your strengths, it builds confidence and reinforces self-belief. You will feel more engaged and make the most of opportunities to show your best self. When you do something you enjoy, you will be more productive and overall add more value in your work or organisational context. You benefit, and so do others.

In a career context, when you are working to your strengths, you will look for opportunities that align to your suite of strengths. You are more likely to be successful and success builds confidence, and improves your performance. This in turn will allow you to leverage your strengths for further growth and personal development, as well as build your skills base.

Strengths are not stagnant. You can expand and refine your strengths and become even more effective. We also need to know when to ‘regulate’ our strengths with a good dose of self-awareness. Knowing when and how to best use our strengths takes it to another level. A strength used inappropriately or overused can be a ‘weakness’ – e.g. being an effective organiser versus taking over/bossy and not letting others develop.

Knowing and working to your strengths also feeds into self-worth and truly knowing your value – the unique combination that you contribute - to enable you to flourish and inspire.

For personal and dedicated assistance with identifying your strengths and using this to further your career - contact me at powerup@careerforceaustralia.com.au or 0409 894 131 to learn more.

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