Over the years, I’ve noticed that many of us (including myself) have tended to focus on our areas of weakness – the bits of our job that we need to get better at in order to perform better. I’ve also noticed how some of these areas can remain on people’s personal development plans (or just in their heads), often for years.
And that’s because it can feel draining to work on areas that just don’t energise us. It stands to reason – we’re already good at the stuff we find easy and enjoyable – because we find it easy and enjoyable. The areas that don’t energise us are the ones we tend to spend less time on, and therefore we don’t improve as quickly.
The good news is that research shows that by focusing on our strengths, it actually has a greater positive effect on our growth, productivity and engagement [i].
Advocates of positive psychology believe that using our strengths more is a great way for us to be at our best more of the time – both by building on what we’re already good at, and by helping us to develop in other areas.
And how is that different from a skill? The two are very similar but there’s a subtle difference. A skill is a specific activity which you learn over time, such as presenting or giving feedback. It can be something you find easy or it can be something that you’ll always need to work at, but they’re things you need for your role.
A strength is something which energises you – it’s what you find easy and feels natural to you. You’ll have probably noticed throughout your career that the parts where you’ve enjoyed doing something, you’ve felt energised and productive. That’s likely to have been when you were using one or more of your strengths. And you’ll also have noticed times when you’ve had to do something, and you’ve done it to the best of your ability, but it just doesn’t float your boat. For me, an example was when I was a retail buyer, many moons ago. It was a short stint in my career because the amount of data analysis involved just didn’t energise me. I was more interested in the people behind the numbers.
If you’re not sure what your key strengths are, or you haven’t given it much thought before, I’d strongly recommend you spend a little time exploring them. Because once you know what they are, it’s opens up a new way of growing and developing yourself.
One exercise which really helps is to draw a 4-box grid and fill it in using the below headings;
An alternative exercise is to keep a diary of your week and colour code activities green or red based on whether you’ve felt energised or de-energised (ignore activities where you felt neutral). Doing this over a few weeks should help you identify patterns to understand where your strengths lie.
You can also access questionnaires to help you. The CliftonStrengths assessment is an accessible psychometric assessment included in the book Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. If you do buy this book, make sure it’s a new copy, as otherwise somebody else is likely to have already completed the questionnaire!
If you want to take things to the next level, Strengthscope® is a more in-depth psychometric test which a certified practitioner can work through with you to help identify your strengths and work on these in great detail.
Use your strengths to develop the skills you need for your role. For example, giving feedback is a core leadership skill. You can develop this skill in a number of ways through your strengths: if developing others is your passion, giving feedback is a great way to do this; if you are strongly analytical, identifying exactly what someone is doing well and less well should come easily to you; if your strength is being results-focussed, giving feedback will help improve the success of your team.
By tapping into the strengths which come easily and energise us, we can approach our development with new inspiration and motivation. And isn’t that a better way to grow and develop?
Research complied by Strengthscope® including: Seligman, M. E. P. (2003). Authentic Happiness. London, UK: Nicholas Brealey Publishing and Gavin, J. H., & Mason, R. O. (2004). The virtuous organization: the value of happiness in the workplace. Organizational Dynamics, 33(4), 379-392
