When you want to explore your career: 5 actions to discover your strengths
Last week we spent time understanding your values. I believe values are the most critical component to discover when thinking about your career. When values are out of sync, nothing feels right. We simply cannot live in conflict forever; something will give, and usually that something is our health, mindset, mood, and/or motivation.
A second part of focusing on your career desires is to understand your strengths. This is probably not new news to you. This is not to say we shouldn’t improve areas or skills that may not be our strongest. Some experts, like Marcus Buckingham, put forth that we should focus on our strengths and minimize weaknesses as those don’t come to us naturally in his book: Now, Discover Your Strengths. We should be staffing and aligning people to roles that maximize their strengths. This definitely makes sense.
I would say the exception to this is if someone wants to pursue a role where they may be a little green, not naturally good at a particular skill, or even exhibit an attribute that may not be innate. I am the perfect example of this.
Buckingham’s book includes an assessment and methodology many organizations use called StrengthsFinder. Your signature 34 themes (or strengths) are rank-ordered based on a self-assessment. My top five themes are Communicator, Activator, Achiever, Futuristic and Strategic. My last theme? Empathy. Ouch.
Learning that empathy was dead last made me feel, well, awful. However, I write about and practice empathy all the time. While empathy may not come naturally to me, I have focused on and practiced this skill, and have received feedback that I employ this ability all the time. I feel that over my career I have honed this mindset, and we need this skill now more than ever.
Strengths are those skills or attributes we are not only good at but that we like doing. This is an important point. So, perhaps in my case, I enjoy practicing empathy because I see how demonstrating empathy makes people feel better and alleviates stress.
Some of us excel at specific things that we don’t care to do. For me, it is math. I was an advanced math student, but I hated doing math. I shudder when I have to use algebra or deal with fractions. Thank goodness trigonometry and calculus don’t show up in my daily life! I consistently scored well in math but never enjoyed it.
I know people who are very good at budgeting but dislike managing budgets. I have colleagues who are pretty good at delivering presentations but cannot stand delivering them often. I know people who are excellent people managers but prefer to be individual contributors.
Strengths are those skills and characteristics at the center of “good at” and “like to do.” So, think about this intersection when you are identifying your strengths. Knowing your strengths will only help you identify possible career paths and judge whether a current or new position will leverage your strengths.
For example, if a job you are considering is very administrative, focusing on processes, budgets, and analytics, and you are a people person who prefers to build relationships and deliver presentations, this may not be the best fit. Conversely, if you love process mapping (and good for you, by the way!) or enjoy managing programs behind the scenes, a position in sales or customer success may not be the best fit.
Those are pretty obvious examples, but there could be more subtle responsibilities you may need to uncover in an interview. Many professional positions require someone to use a diverse combination of skills. You may be asked to consult with clients, deliver presentations, analyze results and manage project budgets. In this case, if you don’t have the skills or dislike doing all of these activities, you have two choices.
You can decide this diverse role is not for you, and you should look for a position that maximizes the people part or operations part depending on your strengths and preferences.
Ask how much time is spent on each activity. If the analysis is a small part, and that is not your favorite, then this may be an okay fit for you.
Here are five to-do’s that should be on your list to learn more about your strengths.
Record your thoughts.
As with values and the following two components to come — Energy and Belief — if you are stumped about your strengths, you can do a couple of things. You can simply carve time and write down what you think is at the center of “good at” and “like to do.” You probably know what these skills are but have never taken the time to reflect and write them down. You can also keep a journal for 30 days and jot down at the end of each day what you felt you did really well or what you received positive feedback on. If you record these thoughts for a month, you will spot themes. You may have nailed that presentation, fixed a hairy problem, or exercised patience in helping a big client. In this journal activity, pay attention to what you are doing and how successful you are in these activities.
Take an assessment.
As I mentioned above, there are many assessments to learn your strengths, just like with values. StrengthsFinder is one. StandOut is another. The Via Institute offers a mindfulness character-based assessment that I have found very helpful. Some cost money, and some don’t. If you are with an organization, ask what your HR group may have and take advantage of those assessments. In this case, standard personality assessments may also help you find your strengths. If you take an assessment and get a report, read through it and spend time reflecting how accurate the results are and how they show up or don’t show up in your current position.
Ask others.
Other people may not be able to tell you what you like or don’t like, although close friends and colleagues may be able to. Asking others for their opinions on what you do well will give you a different perspective. While we can reflect on our strengths, we can take for granted things we know or do that we may not think are a strength. When I was newer to managing teams, I always had an agenda for team meetings. It is always good to chat but having an agenda helped maximize time together. I thought this was a no-brainer, but I was told that not everyone structures team meetings like this and that my ability to prepare and provide an outline to include sharing, discussion, problem-solving, and fun was a unique skill. I suspect you have strengths and skills you may take for granted as well. Ask others and find out what those are.
Try out something.
If you don’t know your strengths or are on the fence if something is a strength, try it out. Don’t be afraid to try new things. I always thought I would hate budgeting. It was related to math, so I put it into my “things I hate to do” pile. It turns out I like budgeting. Yes, the process can come with some frustration, but the planning side of budgeting appeals to me and helps drive what we can do as a team. I was surprised how much I didn’t mind the activity. Conversely, you may try something out and find you don’t like it. That’s okay — the goal is discovery. The best way to discover something about yourself is to take action and try it out.
Note what you want to develop.
If you find you are not good at something, like budgeting, but you think you need the skill in your next role, then make a plan to develop that skill. Take a course, watch a YouTube video, or ask someone who may be good at budgeting to walk you through it. Just because budgeting doesn’t come naturally doesn’t mean you can’t learn it…especially if you have the desire. Desire is half the battle. If you are willing to learn something, you can learn it. If you think you can’t, you won’t be able to. Mindset plays a huge role in learning and development.
Strengths, along with values, considerably drive your career. Finding a path that aligns with your values and maximizes your strengths is a recipe for success. Spend time documenting, reflecting, asking others, and trying new skills. All of these activities will help you with self-discovery. Good luck and go learn your strengths.