Hello, my friend. I'm excited to be sharing with you a new series I have created for you all about careers. The first few episodes starting at the beginning. Okay, maybe not that far back for some of us.
However, I wanted to start at the beginning of getting you to think about your future career and ultimately where you see yourself heading. I will be covering a number of episodes, getting you to think about mapping out your career. The second part to the career series is where the fun really begins. We will be exploring various topics central to you navigating your career.
There will be times when you may think you have royally screwed up any chance of promotion or advancement. However, don't worry. I will be your guide right there beside you, holding your hand along the way. I got your back.
I really do believe true growth and advancement in anyone's life and career comes by embracing the difficulties that crop up, by understanding the lesson that has presented itself in front of you. Do you ever feel like you're in a vicious cycle or a virtual loop that you just can't get out of? And you think, why am I always attracting this type of person or this type of difficulty? I'll label it that way.
It's more of the difficulty. It's not the people because the people will change over the years. It's the situation that you find yourself in that you just cannot break free from. That is a true signal and sign, giving you another opportunity to learn that lesson that you need to learn or improve or develop.
Ultimately, we are then going to wrap up the series by looking at your next steps. To get you closer to that vision you have for your life and career. And that's it. Easy?
Well, I'll let you be the judge over the next several weeks. So, if you are ready, let's begin the journey to your career success. Strength versus weakness. The great debate and why it matters.
As a psychologist, I'm fascinated by what makes people tick. Knowing your strengths, or as some people like to call it, your superpower, versus your weaknesses rates high on my list of intrigue. Hello, my friend. In today's episode, I'm going to dive into the great debate of your strengths versus your weaknesses and why it is so important to know what yours are so you can shine at interview when asked these tricky questions.
With human nature, people cannot help themselves when comparing one another. Some do this to create some form of order in their lives, and in their head for that matter, while other individuals use comparison as a way to motivate themselves to become better. Regardless of the reason, it is imperative that you know what your personal strengths and weaknesses are so you can be prepared for when others ask you about them. Think about it this way.
If you were asked in an interview, what is your biggest weakness? And your answer is, I work too hard, or I'm a perfectionist. Do you think the interviewer is really going to believe you? Of course not.
Equally, would the interviewer be impressed with your answer? I think they would be a little apprehensive about your answer. These are what we like to call fluff answers, or strengths disguised as weaknesses. But don't be fooled.
Interviewers can see right through these types of answers. Plus, it comes across as someone who could potentially not be a team player if they are always working and could end up nitpicking other people's work. Sound familiar? The best way to answer this question is to be honest and give a real weakness that you have been working on to improve.
For example, I have a tough time saying no when people ask me for help because I want to be able to help my colleagues. However, I've been learning to set boundaries so that I can make sure I do not drop the ball on my own deadlines. This type of answer shows the interviewer that you are self-aware of your weakness and you're actively working on improving it. When it comes to interviewing, remember that knowledge is power.
The more you know about what your strengths and weaknesses are, the better prepared you will be to answer any questions that come your way. So take the time to do some soul-searching and your research. Research in the form of finding out what you really enjoy doing. What you can spend hours doing and lose complete track of time.
That is your strength, my friend. How do you find your strengths? For starters, do they really need to be found? Well, probably not.
However, it does not hurt to remind yourself what you are good at. Plus, you may discover a few more insights you never realized because you've taken your personal talents for granted. You know, the ones that come second nature to you. In the StrengthsFinder book by Tom Raff, after taking their assessment, they provide you with at least four areas where your strengths lie.
Now, this book does not profess that they have identified your key strengths, but merely suggest areas where you could develop your greatest potential. I would recommend exploring this book to find out what is revealed about your strengths from this assessment. The book has at least 34 areas where several different individuals' strengths lie, so there are quite a number to choose from. It's also a great little resource to find out, okay, well, these are my four strengths that my assessment has identified.
What are all the others, and how could I potentially develop them? It's always a good thing to be actively learning and growing on how to improve ourselves. I'd also like to suggest keeping a log for a couple of weeks. One month is even better.
In this little book of insights that you have created, it doesn't have to be a big book, just something that you can tuck away in a purse or a bag or a pocket or something like that. Just something small and little, just so you can jot down what you did for the day and whether you enjoyed it or not. Success really does leave clues, and this will give you an excellent insight into what you enjoy versus what you might not be so keen about doing. By the way, not being keen on something isn't necessarily a weakness.
For example, not everyone loves numbers or spreadsheets. I get it. It doesn't mean that this is a weakness for them. It just means they're not so keen on it.
However, avoiding something because you're not keen on it could also be an indication that it is a weakness, and you are trying to avoid it at all costs. So it's very worthwhile to develop your skills with knowing your numbers. That's just my personal opinion, especially if your ultimate career goal is to become a CEO of a company. It is imperative that you know your numbers in order to fully understand if the company is thriving, surviving, or barely treading water.
And it also enables you to be better equipped to have meaningful and constructive conversations with your CFO so they are not trying to pull the wool over your eyes when they're talking about numbers to you. Because that's an awful lot of trust to put in somebody's lap about knowing the numbers. So it is very worthwhile to know your numbers. But be mindful of the end goal in your career.
If you know that work you are not that keen on will never be required of your future career. It is safe to say you can spend your time on developing other skills and strengths to move your career forward in a positive way, rather than struggling to develop a skill that you may never need. Okay, so let's wrap up this debate and put a bow on it. It is important to know your strengths and how to answer at an interview what you are doing to develop your weaknesses.
Employers know every one of us has weaknesses. But it is the ones who can actively share and demonstrate that they are looking to improve and develop themselves who will get hired first, as opposed to people who think they are perfect or they can't even answer the question. All right, my friend. I hope you've enjoyed today's topic about strength versus weakness and why it really is so important to be able to answer when somebody is asking you about what your strengths and weaknesses are.
It is something that will enter into your career at some point in one time or another, and to be better prepared about what you're good at versus areas that you're continuing to develop and want to grow in will really set you up for success for the future. All right, my friend. Until next time. Bye for now.