Did you know that if you work more in your areas of strength, you will be much happier, successful, and productive? That’s kind of a “duh”, but we often don’t really think about it.
The last few weeks, I have been reviewing behaviors to emulate to become a purple squirrel and maximize your potential at work. This is #3, although they are in no particular order. Here is a review of what we've covered so far.
So, let's delve into strengths a little more and learn how to discover and apply them.
Discovering Your Strengths
The first step is to discover what your strengths are! You can do this in several different ways.
Assessments - The Working Genius Model and Assessment developed by Patrick Lencioni and his team is my favorite tool for assessing strengths. It helps individuals and teams identify their talents and frustrations in the context of how any work gets done – and easily apply this information to be more productive and engaged.
Self-reflection - Carve out some time to reflect on the questions below.
o What do I do well?
o What don’t I do well?
o What uplifts me?
o What drains my energy?
o What have others told me that I’m good at in the past?
o Where have I excelled in school and at work?
Ask trusted friends or colleagues for feedback - Ask trusted friends and colleagues to share their perspectives on your strengths, and while you are at it, ask for feedback on your areas for improvement.
Applying Your Strengths
Once you have identified your strengths, figure out how you can best apply them at work and in your life. You can do this by:
Talking with your boss and getting his/her feedback about how you can maximize the use of your strengths.
Where possible, figure out how you can manage around your weaknesses. This could involve possibly outsourcing to someone else on the team. If you must work in an area of weakness frequently, work to be at least proficient. But it might be time to consider a different job that is more in line with your talents.
Purple Squirrel Development Program
Do you like what you're reading? Consider the Purple Squirrel Development program for employees in your organization. It is a great reminder for anyone but in particular can be helpful for:
Employees who could use some development in soft skill areas (which is probably most of us). Honestly, soft skills are the hard skills.
Younger generations in the workplace that need some foundational knowledge on skills/traits needed that will help you to grow and be promotable.
If you are interested in learning more, reach out to leslie@influencehrconsulting.com.
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