Personal Strengths

As someone with the PERSONAL STRENGTHS motive, you thrive when you can focus on what you do best. The desire to use your strengths doesn’t mean that you aren’t willing to learn something new or challenge your weaknesses, but you are liable to become demotivated if you’re habitually required to complete tasks that are outside of your dominant skillset. You prefer to invest in known growth areas and in your natural talents. In the long term, you may enjoy work that pushes you towards being a master or an expert rather than a jack-of-all-trades. PERSONAL STRENGTHS is in the Success Domain, and being able to maximize your talents is critical to your sense and definition of success. It also plays a critical role in your experience of professional wellbeing, both practically and emotionally. When you’re allowed to lead with your strengths, not only are you much more content, but you capitalize on those strengths to the benefit of everyone who works with you.

 You feel this motive being met when…

+ Your job allows you to excel through a focus on your strengths and expertise.

+ Your workplace culture orients towards maximizing people’s strengths rather than focusing on their shortcomings.

+ On an average day, you generally feel at ease and confident at work, as well as competent and successful.

 This motive is at risk when…

– You’re frequently reminded of your shortcomings at work as opposed to being appreciated for your skills.

– You feel mismatched for the position you currently hold.

– You possess strengths that matter to you that are underutilized or overlooked in your current role.

A Work Wellness Check-In for PERSONAL STRENGTHS

1. What do I feel my top 5-10 strengths and skills are? How many of these do I currently use at work? How can I incorporate more of these into the work I do?
2. Am I aware of what my PERSONAL STRENGTHS are overall? Do I overlook my assets, downplay them, or allow others to do so? If I’m not confident in where my natural abilities are, can I take steps to explore and discover them?
3. Do I seek out opportunities to use my strengths? Do I speak up if I believe I have expertise that’s unnoticed or unutilized?
4. Are there things I believe could potentially be a strength of  mine if I received the right guidance, training or education? Is this something worth pursuing?
5. When I think about an ordinary workday, where am I most competent? What activities make the hours melt away? How often do I experience working where I’m most effective? With this motive in mind can I lean in more towards this type of work?
6. What’s my favorite talent, skill, or quality? Is that quality neglected or engaged when I’m at work? Do I take initiative with others to make my strengths as engaged as possible?
7. What percentage of my time do I spend engaged in work that I feel is a weakness? Would reducing time spent here be part of an easy fix to strengthen this motive? Can any of this work be delegated to others? 

8. What would my work peers list as my strongest assets? The tasks I perform best? If I don’t know would it be helpful to ask? If given the opportunity, what discipline or skill of mine would they compliment? Where do I receive positive feedback?
9. Do I have skills or qualities that I feel are neglected or underutilized? If so, how important are those underutilized strengths to me? Put another way, am I okay with seeing those strengths sidelined for a season, or do I feel like neglecting them neglects the best of what I have to offer?

10. How often do I feel underqualified (or overqualified) for something I’m asked to do at work?
11. Looking at a job description for my current position, would I say the needs and responsibilities match what I see as my skills, goals, and personality? 
12. If I work with a close team of people, can we reflect collectively to identify how each person’s strengths could be best utilized? 
13. How often does my job raise my awareness of my shortcomings? Does that awareness help me grow or wear me down?
14. Do I generally feel capable and successful in my current role? If not, are there knowledge gaps I can overcome or do areas I’m lacking in feel far out of my natural skill set?