“May the force be with you,” or how relying on your strengths can turbo charge your career!
Let's talk about the power of the Force - our strengths! It's always the first thing I work on with each new mentee. (Maybe that’s my Jedi Master syndrome?)
Before we delve deeper, let’s distinguish between two types of leadership - 21st-century leadership and 20th-century leadership.
Way, way back in a galaxy far, far away (called the 20th century), management was "top down." Managers provided development plans for absolutely everything that wasn't going well. They dictated how everyone would handle everything and how everything would or should be done.
21st-century leaders have completely changed the game. They now recruit their teams based on their strengths and what they can bring to a job. They're shown the mountain they need to climb and given a goal to achieve, and above all, they're trusted to figure out how to achieve it.
However, to reach the summit of said mountain, it's essential to understand your strengths. Imagine being given a bunch of tools (ice ax, pick ax, ropes, and lightsaber), which ones would you choose to reach the summit?
I suggest you start by asking yourself the following questions: What does your "sponsor" have in mind? When I say your “sponsor", I mean the person who has the power to promote, recruit and keep you . . . or not. What does your sponsor need? And how can your strengths match with the project they have in mind to help them achieve their goal?
Little Jedi you are, great Jedi you will become (or the story of the leopard that will never be a tiger)
When considering your strengths, the most important thing to understand is that they don't change. A leopard will always remain a leopard, it may become a "better" leopard but will never become a tiger or a panther.
You are who you are and you can’t transform into someone else (no matter how hard you try!). However, you can certainly become a "better" version of yourself. How? By focusing on your strengths, that’s how!
How to deal with your weaknesses
Once we know what our strengths are, we are better able to manage the areas where we are not so strong. And yes, focusing on your strengths does not mean that you can ignore your weaknesses, on the contrary, you need to learn how to deal with them and manage them so that they don’t derail you.
What you can do is surround yourself with people who are better than you in areas where you are less skilled. You can find ways to work "on the margins" of subjects that are more difficult for you so that you can better focus on what you excel at.
At first, this might feel strange (or even totally guilt-inducing) because here in Europe, and in France in particular, this is not our modus operandi.
Remember when you were in middle school and you presented your report card to your parents, they read 87% in French, 90% in English, and 19% in math (or in physics, but you get the idea). What did they say? That's right, "We'll get you a math tutor!"
Yes, their solution is a math tutor!
Instead of being amazed at all the subjects in which you were exceptional, (in France) we still tend to focus our time trying to improve those areas where we don’t perform as well rather than leveraging our strengths!
"I am one with the force, the force is with me" or discovering and controlling your strengths.
Now you're going to tell me, “yeah sure, but how do you discover your strengths”? Fear not, there are a myriad of ways.
My first choice is an online test called "StrengthsFinder” which, as the name suggests, allows you to identify your top 5 strengths. It’s not new but I find it still relevant today and why change something that works well? To interpret your results, I advise you to read StrengthsFinder 2.0 (Discover your CliftonStrengths).
I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that my number one strength is positivity!
On the reverse side, each strength has its pitfall that you also need to pay attention to. For example, if I were on the Titanic as it was sinking, I would be telling you how well the band is playing! All strengths have an opposite, the Titanic example is one of the challenges with positivity. Just be aware of them.
Next comes the energy test.
When you arrive at work first thing in the morning, what is it that excites you? What are the first emails you work on? What is the first task that you tackle when you sit down at your desk? There's a good chance that these things you do very naturally are precisely your strengths too!
The contract that renews every 6 months.
Another interesting exercise: imagine you're on a six-month contract (and not in an endless permanent contract!). Every six months you have to explain to your "sponsor" why they should keep you. It's likely that your strengths are the things that you will leverage to keep your position.
The elevator pitch.
You get on the elevator to go to the top of the tallest building in the world. You're sharing the lift with only one other person who happens to be (ta-daa!) your CEO. What are you going to tell them during those two minutes? (Actually, it will take you exactly 1 minute 22 seconds to reach the 150th floor of the Burj Khalifa, but you get my point!). You have two minutes to explain to them why they should keep you, better yet, offer you the promotion you dream of. Again, it's probably your strengths that you will naturally highlight.
Ask a trusted friend.
Simply ask trusted people around you (your associates, your best friend, people you have previously worked with) what aspects of your job you excel at?
In summary, rather than continuing to bang your head against a wall trying to improve your “weaknesses”, discover the areas that you excel at and focus on them!
That's what I did when I was at Yahoo!
My brute strength is positivity, I'm also a "connector,". I know how to engage with and surround myself with people I trust. I'm an organizer and I make things happen. These are leadership qualities that have proven to be the key to the success in my career to date.
Get to know your strengths. Work with them, leverage them, and watch your career take off!
May the force be with you!