Be More Successful: 8 Steps to
Find and Leverage Your True Strengths
We all hope to improve on
our weaknesses, but sometimes the best approach is to do a lot more of what you
already do best.
If
you're like most people, the answer is, "Probably not." Not because
you're greedy, not because you're an egomaniac, but simply because you have
goals and dreams and work tirelessly to achieve them.
So
here's an approach that will help you do just that.
The following is a guest post from Ryan Robinson, an entrepreneur and
marketer who teaches people how to create meaningful self-employed careers.
Here's Ryan:
If
you want to become a successful entrepreneur, it goes without saying that you
need to be damn good at what you do.
Taking the time to find your strengths and focus on
perfecting the skills that'll help you be the best in your industry becomes a
very crucial decision point in every entrepreneur's journey.
Through my interviews and experiences working
with successful entrepreneurs, I've come to notice many remarkable similarities
they tend to share.
They're often ruthless when it comes to managing their time, which very quickly
becomes their most important resource.
They know the importance of optimizing their lifestyle and doing their most
challenging work at the time of day that best suits them.
They never give up and actively refuse to take no for an
answer.
However,
what I've really found interesting is that while all the entrepreneurs I've had
the opportunity to meet share resilience and drive for success, they are
glaringly different from one another.
Their
approaches to achieving success, and the tools they employ in doing so, varies
greatly.
Often, their most noticeable differences lie
in the core strengths they possess, while, on the other hand, their
similarities emanate from how well they've identified and improved their strengths over time, to
compensate for what they lacked in other skills, talents, and character traits.
The
importance of finding your strengths and leveraging them
Here's
a real-life example.
Early
tech rivals Bill Gates (of Microsoft) and Steve Jobs (of Apple) both introduced
radical innovations in the world of computing, that have had a far-reaching
impact into the lives of nearly everyone on the planet. But, they could not
have been more different when it comes to their entrepreneurial strengths.
While Gates himself was a highly skilled
software engineer who personally wrote code for Microsoft products as
late as 1989, Jobs was an unmatched design thinker who attended calligraphy
classes as an informal student, and never wrote a single line of code for Apple.
These
two entrepreneurs made lasting impacts with very similar product offerings, in
the exact same industry, during the same period of time, with a completely
different set of strengths and skills.
It
was their shared ability to identify and lean on their most useful strengths
& skills, that allowed them to achieve greatness.
Some
entrepreneurs, like Richard Branson and Mark Cuban, thrive on interpersonal
skills, leveraging their people networks to grow their businesses over time.
Others
get their start by leveraging their well-trained technical skills, like Elon
Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Yet
still, others are driven by a mesmerizing creativity, like Leo Burnett and Walt
Disney, that enables them to inspire large numbers of people with their
creations.
In
reality, there are a nearly unlimited number of character traits such as a
strong leadership ability, being a good negotiator, and having a laser-like
focus, that can contribute to your success as an entrepreneur.
The deciding factor in how successful you'll
become in the world of business is really how quickly and effectively you can
find your strengths, build them into valuable assets for your cause, and focus
relentlessly on only doing activities and getting into business ideas that engage your
strengths.
In 2014, Gallup revealed the findings
of a mind-blowing study about
entrepreneurship,
which involved years of research and collaboration with 2,500 entrepreneurs
towards building a better understanding of business creation and growth. Among
other things, the study uncovered two very interesting findings.
There are ten talents that
drive entrepreneurial success.
You have a greater chance
of success if you stick to your core strengths and natural talents.
While
other business icons and researchers may disagree on what the ten talents are
that drive entrepreneurial success, there's undoubtedly an overwhelming
consensus that success is most often achieved by focusing on utilizing your
core strengths and talents.
This
could not be more true for me, and in everything I do with my business.
I'm a huge advocate of never starting a
business in an industry I haven't operated in, and never serving customers I'm
not already very familiar with. It's part of my personal system for launching a successful business. Thus, nurturing my core
strengths and focusing on doing only what I do best (for the people I can best
serve) has become crucial to my success.
Should
you improve on your weaknesses?
I
feel very strongly that unless your weaknesses will truly cripple your business
goals, you should do everything in your power to avoid business opportunities
and roles where you'd be forced to use them at all. Sometimes it's inevitable
that you'll need to do things you're not good at, and that's fine. However, you
should strive to limit that exposure whenever possible.
When
a business of mine requires doing activities that aren't within my core
strengths, I've found it best to either actively turn down that work or
outsource those weaknesses to others who can help complement me.
Here's
my reasoning: to me, time is infinitely more valuable than money.
Would you rather spend your time driving
business growth by using the strengths you're already skilled at, or should you
spend your limited personal time learning a new skill that's currently outside
of your wheelhouse? There are times when taking a pit stop to pick up a new
skill, like learning how to code, can be very worthwhile (or essential), but
only if your goal is to develop that skill into a core strength for the years
to come.
8
steps to discovering your strengths as an entrepreneur
Some
people are good with numbers.
Some
are skilled at coding.
Others
(like me) are great at telling stories and simplifying complex ideas.
How
about you? What are you good at?
We've established that knowing your strengths
and actively playing to them is key to succeeding in any business you start. In
fact, your strengths (talents, skills, passions, character traits) may have
been the spark that drove you to want to start a business in the first place.
However,
before moving on, it's important to first make a clear distinction between soft
skills and hard skills, as they'll combine to make up your entrepreneurial
strengths.
Soft
skills: Personal attributes that enable you to interact effectively and
harmoniously with other people.
Hard
skills: Specific, teachable abilities that can be defined and measured.
Pulled straight from my Skill Assessment for Entrepreneurs, here are my eight steps
to discovering your strengths in business. For a more meaningful experience,
pick up the guide now and follow along with me.
1. Determine your soft skills.
As
we mentioned above, soft skills are your personal attributes that enable you to
interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.
In
short, these are the skills you possess, that you can't necessarily quantify.
This is your EQ (Emotional Intelligence), not your IQ. Here are some examples
of soft skills:
·
Having
a strong sense of self-awareness
·
Being
optimistic
·
Being
resilient
·
Having
patience
·
Being
a good listener
When I started my first business, I pretty
much only possessed soft skills. I had to teach myself how to create a product with absolutely no
past experience. What I lacked in hard skills like coding talent, marketing
chops, and writing abilities at the time, I significantly made up for in
determination, optimism, and people skills that would help me build the
meaningful connections I'd need, to get my business off the ground without
doing everything myself. Later on, I trained myself to become proficient with
the hard skills my business (and future companies) would need, and I
painstakingly learned how to use all the best tools to start an online business.
In
our comparison between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs from above, Jobs clearly
possessed and leaned on his strongest soft skills, in order to champion Apple
through to success. Gates, in the beginning, took the opposite approach and
utilized his hard skills within Microsoft.
My free Skill Assessment Guide walks you
step-by-step through the process of both looking inward and getting outside
feedback to help you discover which soft skills are your strongest assets. This
is an essential step in the process to defining how you'll interact with
others, and which complementary traits you should look for in potential business partners and employees.
2. Break down your biggest wins.
During the week I launched my very first
online course on winning freelance clients, I slept an average of 4-5
hours each night and still made it into work at my day job.
Yet
still, I felt energized every single day of that week.
I
was emailing back & forth with people who were considering buying my
course, answering tons of questions, and giving away some of the content for
free to the motivated people that simply couldn't afford to buy it at the time.
I built so many great relationships that continue to flourish. I absolutely
loved it, even though it was an incredibly difficult week. This was a huge win
for me.
From
the events that transpired that week, I learned so much about myself in terms
of which soft skills of mine continued to bubble up to the surface and help me
become successful.
To
name just a few, I learned that I very naturally fall into the role of becoming
a personal mentor to people, I learned that I was even more open to critical
feedback than I previously believed, and I got to see a direct, positive impact
on how my sense of humor helped me drive clear business results. This launch
experience taught me a lot about which soft skills I'd need to continue
leveraging within my business.
Now,
it's your turn. Think of a time you did a great job on challenging work
project, or a time you felt particularly accomplished with something you worked
on. Ask yourself what exactly were you doing at the time, and which soft skills
you employed to help you achieve your end result.
3. Figure out what comes naturally to you.
Part of determining what your strengths are
as an entrepreneur, is taking an inward look back into the past and figuring
out what you've always been a natural at.
What
have your friends, coaches, teachers, managers, or even your parents always
told you you're a natural at? This can fall into many different categories, so
don't get hung up on thinking of this as a strictly "on the court" or
"in the classroom" type of strength. Start by asking yourself these
questions:
·
Did
you always find yourself being the mediator between your group of friends?
·
Was
it always easier for you to pick up complex physics in class?
·
Were
you often the one making plans and figuring out the logistics of getting from
point A to point B?
·
Are
you a naturally talented athlete?
·
Do
you have the ability to make others smile and laugh?
Focus
on coming up with at least five things you're a natural at, and then breaking
down which soft skills of yours have helped you be such a natural. These are
most likely your strongest soft skills - ones you've possessed since very early
on in your life.
4. Ask others what your strengths are.
Once
you've done some introspection and come up with a handful of strengths that you
believe to be your strongest assets, it's time to turn to the people you know
and trust, to get an outside opinion.
Left
completely to my own devices a few years ago, I would've thought that one of my
most valuable strengths at the time, was my ability to build my own WordPress
website without needing outside development or design assistance.
And
you know what? That is definitely still a strength in my book. However, in the
grand scheme of things, working on website features really isn't the best
utilization of my time and it's not what I'm best at. I decided that in order
to be as successful as possible with my business, I need to be only doing what
I'm absolutely best at, and leveraging my strongest skills in the process.
It
was my close group of friends and business mentors that helped guide me to a
place where I could identify the fact that I'm much better suited at spending
my time writing (one of my greatest strengths) and connecting directly with the
people in my community, as opposed to getting deep in the woods of working on
website features. Without that clarity, I would've been wasting some of my
talents.
So, let's reach out to three to five people
who know you very well, trust you, and would give you honest feedback. You can
pick up the template for this reach out message in my Skill Assessment Guide.
You're
going to ask them to share with you, what they believe to be three of your
biggest strengths, and if they can include any examples of when you
demonstrated those abilities, that's a major plus. Your goal is to get a
consensus back from those who know you best, about what they perceive to be
your strengths. The responses could completely surprise you, or validate what
you already believe to be true about yourself.
5. Run through a hypothetical scenario.
Imagine
your boss, coach, or teacher gives you a group project that needs to be
completed by the end of the week.
Your
success at your job, on the court, or in the classroom depends solely upon
completing this activity well, and it's a great opportunity to show what you're
made of.
Seriously,
think of an example in your head. Create a hypothetical situation that's
relevant to your life and where you're at right now, in which you have three
team members joining you on this project.
Now,
ask yourself which role you naturally assume within your group. Do you become
the organizer, leader, creative, a moderator, take a back seat, or something
else entirely?
Is
there a specific part of the project you're more naturally inclined to take on?
Do you like the overall planning phase, or do you prefer getting straight down
to business and doing the actual legwork during the project? Do you take the
initiative to assign responsibilities, or do you prefer to be given your role
within the group? Do you interject if someone else starts to take over the role
you want within the group?
Answering
all of these questions for yourself will tell you a great deal about how you
work in teams, and which strengths you'll naturally play to. From there, you
can take a look back at which soft skills help you through the process of
working on a group project.
6. What are some of your hard skills?
Hard
skills are your well-defined, easily measured strengths and abilities. These
are what most people think of when it comes to "skills," but they
aren't in my opinion, what are most important when it comes to becoming a
successful entrepreneur. They can always be learned over time, whereas a soft
skill like being a strong leader, isn't acquired by attending an online class
on nights & weekends.
Nevertheless,
acknowledging, understanding, and focusing on using your hard skills is
essential to maximizing your success potential. Here are a few examples of
common hard skills that entrepreneurs possess:
·
Coding:
Writing HTML, CSS, Ruby, Javascript, etc.
·
Design:
Proficiency with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.
·
Writing:
Being able to take complex ideas, break them down into digestible bits, and
craft them into compelling stories
·
Analysis:
Advanced financial modeling abilities in Microsoft Excel, complex statistical
analysis, data mining
·
Marketing:
Search Engine Optimization, SEM, proficiency with social media platforms
For me, my most prominent hard skills are my
writing ability, an advanced working knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite, and
a deep understanding of SEO. The combination of these three hard skills is what
helps me create high quality blog content, downloadable guides, and visually
appealing content for my online courses.
7. What do you love to do?
How
would you spend your time if you didn't have to go into work every day?
Look
first to the things you already do in your limited free hours around work and
spending time with friends & family.
Do
you like helping your friends talk through difficult situations at work or in
their personal lives? Do you spend your free time writing about life lessons
you've learned through your travels? Do you go on outdoor adventures every
weekend?
If you're anything like me, then you love to do the things you're already
good at.
It's human nature. Trying new things and risking failure can be uncomfortable
at first.
At this point in my life, I have a true love
sharing my experiences in business through my writing, and pushing myself to my
personal limits with long-distance running. If I could do the two of those
things completely full-time, I would (and that's the plan). I'm using my Launch While Working Formula to scale my side
business into eventually becoming my full-time muse.
By
my own measure, I'm already good at both writing and running.
However,
when I think back to how painful it was, as I was just beginning to sharpen my
abilities at both, there were many times I contemplated giving up. Once I got
my first handful of breakthroughs, I had the momentum and confidence to keep
pushing, and slowly I began to love them both.
Taking
a look at the things you truly love doing, and identifying which soft skills
you employ most when doing these activities will help you further narrow down
your core strengths as an entrepreneur.
8. Decide what comes next.
Once
you've gone through the process of identifying all of your core soft and hard
skills, the real question is, what will you do with this knowledge?
By now, if you've gone through my Skill Assessment Guide side-by-side with
this post, you'll have landed on (and ranked) your top 5 soft skills that are
going to get you the furthest in business. You'll have also settled on the hard
skills that'll be most instrumental in starting your next side business.
What you decide to do with this knowledge is
completely up to you. The easiest thing to do is to stay content with what
you're doing at your day job, even if your work is meaningless.
I
challenge you to start looking for a more meaningful job where you can focus on
building your core skills, engaging your strengths, and continue discovering
what you're truly passionate about in life.
Personally, I've found that starting a side business can often be one of
the most rewarding experiences you'll ever have. Mine (this website) has been
an instrument by which I've gotten to have a connection, however small, with
hundreds of thousands of people over the past couple of years. Now that's
motivating.
The
power of finding your strengths as an entrepreneur
The
next step toward finding a way to launch into a meaningful self-employed
career, is to combine your soft and hard skills, to come up with profitable
business ideas that'll engage your strengths and areas of interest.
If
you're passionate about cooking, naturally step into a role of mentoring
others, and have a knack for writing & speaking, I'd be willing to bet that
you'd stand a strong chance of success in creating a food blog, or offering
one-on-one cooking classes in your area.
Naturally,
you'll need to pick up some more skills and learn a bit about digital marketing
along the way, but by starting in a place where you're engaging your interests
and strengths, you'll be motivated to push forward.
BY JEFF
HADEN
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/be-incredibly-successful-8-steps-to-find-and-leverage-your-true-strengths.html?cid=em01014week11a
No comments:
Post a Comment