Leadership Tip

How to identify your strengths

Understanding your strengths in the workplace is an important part of being self-aware and taking control of your career. Knowing your strengths and how to improve them can help you find work that you enjoy while also enabling you to hone your skills in the areas most relevant to your career path. Here's a four-step process to identifying what makes you great:

  1. List your strengths. Include skills and knowledge you've acquired through experience and education as well as softer intrinsic strengths, such as insightfulness or empathy.
     
  2. Ask for input. Ask colleagues for honest feedback.
     
  3. Revisit past feedback. Reread old performance reviews and reflect on past mentoring sessions.
     
  4. Modify your list. Adjust your original list to reflect what you've learned. Make sure the strengths are specific so that they are credible and useful.

The above leadership tip...
was sent in response to a question from a participant on our acclaimed 10/10 leadership development and mentoring programme and was adapted from Five Steps to Assess Your Strengths by Bill Barnett. Whether you're a first time manager or an experienced leader, straightforward, practical advice on best practice is hard to find. Until now. To find out how you, your team or your organisation can benefit, please contact us.


Looking for a speaker for your next event?
William Montgomery, our Founder and CEO, is available as a keynote speaker and event host. His experience as a speaker encompasses a wide number of audiences on a diverse array of subjects. He is also a volunteer for Speakers for Schools and Inspiring the Future.

Subscribe

Free weekly email on things you didn't know last week with links to articles on leadership excellence. To view previous editions click here.


Unlock your potential

Whether face to face, or over the telephone, we can develop your leadership skills, support you in making important decisions, and help you reach your potential.

Read More

Leadership Articles

10 weekend habits of purposeful leaders

The most impactful leaders know that success doesn’t come from working around the clock - it comes from working with intention. And that includes how we spend our weekends. While weekdays often revolve around performance, the weekend is a chance to reset... read more

10 actions for effective communication

High-quality communication is an essential element in business and organisational performance. Effective communication relies on engaging with people, having a commitment to building strong and productive relationships and realising that we communicate... read more

10 actions for advancing your career

Standing out at work isn’t about wearing a flashy hat - though, that could help. The more effective way to make an impact is by developing the skills that will get you noticed. Here are 10 strategies for advancing your career: Make skills... read more

Leadership Tips

How to manage a perfectionist

A perfectionist on your team can be both a gift and a drain. They raise standards by default, yet can stall progress by obsessing over minor details. The leadership challenge isn’t to change them, but to channel them. Perfectionists care about quality,... read more

How to make a critical trade-off

Most meaningful leadership decisions involve trade-offs. To do one thing well, you often have to give up something else. The best leaders don’t shy away from these moments — they navigate them with clarity. Next time you’re facing competing priorities,... read more

How to make goals work together

Balancing work and life often feels like a trade-off. But it doesn’t have to. Personal and professional goals can support each other if you connect them. Done well, this approach boosts motivation, eases anxiety, and helps you lead a more integrated life... read more