Know your Strengths and Find Success

 

 

When going into a job interview, you can be sure that you will be asked what you believe your strengths are. When you’re asked this question, you’re going to respond with what you think your strengths are; the person you believe yourself to be. It turns out that knowing your true strengths and even the strengths of those around you can lead you to success. Here’s some questions to consider if you want to find your strengths and make some changes.

What do your strengths mean to you?

You may not even realize what your true strengths are. How you naturally think, feel, and behave all play a part in creating the strengths that you have. There are certain assessments available, such as the Gallup assessment, which will tell you your top five strengths. When you learn about your strengths and what they actually mean, you will be able to better apply them to the situations in your life. For instance, if one of your strengths is positivity you would take that strength and ask yourself what it means. Then, you would ask yourself how you could apply that strength to your work or even to your personal relationships. If you are able to explain to people exactly what your strengths are and who you are as a person, you are going to be able to explain to them how your strengths will benefit them. When thinking about your strengths, you may think of them in one way, but someone else may take them differently. You have to really take the time to consider how your strengths can be perceived by others, and take that into account when interacting with others.

Why is it important to know your strengths?

If you know your strengths, you are going to be able to reach your end goals quicker and more efficiently. Knowing who you are and what you can do is going to save you a lot of time in the long run. What you need to do is make the most of your strengths; don’t waste your time trying to be someone else when you should just be becoming the best YOU that you can be. Make your job and the steps you take to reach your goals your own. If you understand your strengths, you can form alliances with others who can help make up for your weaknesses and help you go to the next level. Play off of each other’s strengths; being a leader isn’t about being alone on the top of the mountain, it’s about working with other people and bringing them up the mountain with you. You and your team need to ask yourselves, how do we get to the top of the mountain and bring others with us?

How can you use your strengths to increase your accountability?

Accountability is all about reciprocity and trust. You have to have an accountability partner; you can hold each other accountable to the end goal, and experience success together at a quicker rate than you would alone. The way that you build trust with one another is by learning each other’s strengths; how do they think, feel, and behave? When you understand this, you can be mindful of one another when working towards your goals. When thinking about choosing an accountability partner, choosing someone different from you is going to benefit the both of you because you will work off of each other’s strengths. The journey to the end goal is no longer just about you; it’s about both of you.

How do you figure out what your strengths are?

As mentioned above, Gallup, a company who works with leaders and organizations to solve major problems, offers many resources. You are able to purchase the assessment which will allow you to identify your top five strengths or you could purchase books for your team. Strengths Finder 2.0 and Strengths-based Leadership are two Gallup books that will be very beneficial to you and your team. There are also Gallup coaches available who help facilitate conversation between teams or with individuals in hopes of creating quicker, cheaper, and more efficient success. 

The main point to remember is to always be yourself and use your strengths to the greatest of your ability. People tend to focus on their weaknesses, when it is your strengths that you should be focusing on and using to reach the end goal, with the help of your team members. Think about the daily choices you are making to be more of who you are. If you aren’t happy with your current reality, whether with your job or personally, make changes. Make the most of your journey.