Tag: strengths

Focus on Strengths

jocando Leave a comment
man in front of blackboard showing strong arms clenching muscles

So you’ve done a SWOT analysis and you’ve got a snapshot of where you are now – your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. And that should be giving you ideas of where you want to go and how to get there.

But beware!  We know that the brain has a negativity bias.  I’ve already explained that the brain’s threat response is stronger than the reward response.  We tend to focus on the bad and overlook the good.  (That’s why bad news dominates TV and newspapers – we’re drawn to focus on the negative.)

So when we’re thinking about our own personal development, or we get feedback from others, we often pay more attention to our weaknesses or the gaps in our knowledge, and focus all our energy on fixing them.  (I’m sure you’ve experienced this when doing tests.  When you get the result, you soon forget that you got an amazing 90%, and you focus on the few bits you got wrong.)

But rather than using a deficit approach and trying to fix your weaknesses, you may gain more from discovering and focussing on your strengths. 

Our strengths energise us

Gallup has done a lot of research into this and developed its own character strengths assessment.  They have found that you’ll grow more and be more productive and engaged by focussing on your strengths than by improving your weaknesses.

It’s important to say that a strength is not necessarily the same thing as something you’re good at.  A strength energises you.  You might be good at something (admin, for example) but feel totally drained doing it, so that it is not really a strength for you.

So focussing on strengths with this definition makes sense – you’ll be more positive and energised if you get more opportunity to use your strengths in work and life. 

Marcus Buckingham explains this idea in this video:

That’s not to say if there’s a glaring gap in your knowledge or skills that is holding you back, you shouldn’t do something about it. This is not about ignoring your weaknesses completely. But you will be more inspired to do the work to get to where you want to go if you’re able to use your strengths.

So don’t rush past the ‘strengths’ section of your SWOT analysis. Take the time to dig deep and consider how you can build on your unique strengths.

Resources:

Try a free online questionnaire to discover your strengths:

What a SWOT!

jocando Leave a comment
woman sitting at a train station looking at a map

I mentioned previously that a lot of traditional change management models seem to boil down to how to move from A (where we are now) to B (where we want to be).

diagram showing current state transitioning to new state

In order to know where we want to go, we first have to understand where we are now. What’s our current situation, and how then might we need to change to have a better future?

A well-known tool for getting a better understanding of where you, your team, or your organisation is now, is a SWOT analysis. You’ve probably already heard of this, or completed one in your workplace.  This is where you brainstorm your current Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Your strengths and weaknesses are internal factors A useful starting point is to ask yourself questions for each section.  For example, if you were doing this for your own personal development you could ask:

Strengths – What am I good at?  What do I find easy? What knowledge do I have?  What do people praise me for?

Weaknesses – What do I struggle with? What do I hate doing? Where are gaps in my knowledge?

SWOT questions

Opportunities and threats are external factors I’ve already talked about using PEST to analyse your current environment, and the outcome of your PEST analysis can help you complete the Opportunities and Threats sections of your SWOT analysis.

Beware subjectivity!

We are often unaware of our real strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps because we find something easy, we don’t realise that it’s a strength.  Or we have blind spots and we don’t realise the things we are doing that may be holding us back.

So it’s important to gather data for your SWOT to become more aware of what’s really going on.  What evidence do you already have, and where might you need more data? 

If you’re brave, you can ask friends, family and/or colleagues for feedback to discover how other people view your strengths and weaknesses.  You can also take diagnostic tests or complete questionnaires (eg a personality test) to discover more about what you are like.  This is where a coach can help, and a programme of coaching or personal development often starts with diagnostic tools or exercises to help you discover more about yourself. 

So what?

Like any tool, just completing a SWOT doesn’t give you the answers. But taking the time to think through each of these areas should not only give you a better understanding of your current position (A), it should also start to give you ideas about where you need to go (B).  How you can capitalise on your strengths, overcome some of your weaknesses, make the most of any opportunities, and try and minimise the threats?

Further resources:

CIPD (2020) SWOT Analysis
Mind Tools – SWOT Analysis

References

Bassot, B. (2016) The Reflective Practice Guide: an interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection, London: Routledge