4 Ways To Know If You're Playing To Your T.R.U.E Strengths
Posted on July 02, 2015 by Tracey Sloan, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
Be T.R.U.E. to your strengths, and success and satisfaction will surely follow!
Which one do you instinctively want to play with more, words or numbers? In their classic book, Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton reveal that it’s a combination of your talent, skills and knowledge that combine to create your strengths. According to the authors, our brains are wired to approach life in certain ways, and how smart or effective we become depends on how well we capitalize on our strongest connections.
In the book, Warren Buffet is offered as a great example of someone who has successfully cultivated his strengths. He turned his natural patience into his now famous “twenty-year perspective.” Buffett’s unique viewpoint and strength, patience in this case, led him to invest only in those companies whose trajectory he could forecast with some level of confidence for the next twenty years. He was uniquely qualified to achieve this, just as you are uniquely qualified to deliver certain results for your company.
Thinking about this notion made me realize that over the course of a long career, it would be easy to stray from one’s innate strengths and instead let ourselves be shaped by the skills, knowledge and experiences that our companies value as essential for success and sustainability. Being adaptable and staying current with expertise and business acumen makes alot of sense, but it may at times come at the cost of leaders not fully realizing or capitalizing on their inherent strengths and gifts. This results in an opportunity cost for leaders and the companies they serve.
1-minute exercise: Consider the list of strengths below (or add your own). Identify and make note of your top three strengths at work:
Results-Oriented Analytical Driven Collaborative Creative Resilient Positive Adaptable Confident Dedicated Encouraging Optimistic Fair Visionary Effective Efficient Brave Flexible Ownership Servant-Leader Supportive Responsible Strategic Influential
Ok…now consider if you based your answers on skills, knowledge and feedback (recency effect; surface level) or did you go deeper and identify your T.R.U.E. strengths (genetic strengths, passions and abilities). Are all three:
Timeless? Is this a strength that you’ve demonstrated your whole life, through a variety of settings and circumstances? Have you applied this strength at work, in your community, at home, with little conscious effort, over time?
Resilient? Is this a strength that sticks with you, even when times are tough. For example, no matter what is thrown my way, my genetic predisposition keeps me seeking out and seeing the positive in circumstances. Trust me, this strength has been an essential antidote through divorce, diabetes and a host of other twists and turns in life. Through it all, I keep moving forward, knowing there is always light on the horizon to be found….thanks, resilience gene!
Undeniable? Is this strength a natural part of who you are, how you think and how your behave? If it’s something that consistently pulls you out of challenges, or finds its way in work and personal settings for the good of you or those around you, it’s an undeniable strength to be treasured.
Easy to see? Do people call you out (in a good way) for this strength? What is easy for you that may be tough for others to think, do or say? True strengths are apparent to those around you, and valued by those you impact in a positive and productive way.
Upon reflection via the T.R.U.E. lens, my top three strengths changed from Results-oriented, Ownership and Positive to Resilient, Creative and Positive. Yes, I noticed the double-dose of Positive, too. What are your top 3 strengths? Are you using them fully, and striving to grow them every day on some level?
My hypothesis is that in order to be both successful and fulfilled, you need to grow your skills, knowledge and experience, while also respecting and cultivating your natural strengths. Discover those things that only you are uniquely qualified to offer your organization, and apply them to your business and people challenges for the betterment of all. In doing so, you’ll enjoy more, achieve more, and encourage your teams to do the same.
