4 Ways to Discover Your Strengths
Using these four tips, you can learn
to recognize your core strengths.
Here's how:
1.Watch for signs of excitement.
When you engage in an activity you
are truly good at, your excitement is visible. Your pupils dilate, your chest
is broader, your speech is fast and fluid, and your arms spread wider.
"You can see someone feels alive and motivated when they're using a core
strength," Kashdan says.
Ask a close mentor when you appear
most animated or observe yourself for a day. When do you feel most engaged?
Most energized? "When people are using their strengths, they pop out of
the backdrop," Kashdan says.
2. Break away from job titles.
To uncover your gifts, you need to
explore new roles. "Think of your company as a laboratory," Kashdan
says. Encourage flexible roles and see how it goes. "If people are excited
about trying something else and you have some evidence that they could be good,
then experiment with it," he says.
For example, one executive wanted a
more creative, innovative workplace but wasn't the man to do it himself.
Kashdan helped him identify a maverick on his staff -- someone creative and
unconcerned with others' opinions -- then put that person in charge of
innovation. By assigning roles based on strengths, rather than job titles, they
were able to create a stronger team.
3. Notice what you do differently
than everyone else.
In a situation where you are truly
using your strengths, you will stand out from a crowd. Your approach will be
unique. To name your strengths, you want to identify those moments and
articulate how you are different.
Kashdan recalls one executive at an
early morning meeting who told an animated story about letting his kids run
free at a crowded aquarium. "His focus was not on safety but on
promotion," Kashdan says, highlighting a support for autonomy that would
help him manage independent workers.
4. Describe your strengths
creatively. When naming your strengths, avoid
what Kashdan calls "wastebasket terms," meaning overused words like
'passionate' or 'dedicated.' Instead, come up with a unique term that captures
your specific strength.
"By coming up with an exciting
word, you avoid all the typical connotations," Kashdan says. He uses terms
like storyteller, autonomy supporter, investigator, energy incubator, and
battery. That specificity helps leaders apply their gifts. "Once you can
put a word to your strengths, it becomes much more embedded in your everyday
life," he says.
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