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Appreciate Your Own Best Strengths

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: Lately, some of my clients have been a little down on themselves, and I'm finding that it's often because they're forgetting to play to their strengths. If you find yourself spending too much time doing stuff you don't like, and aren't good at, try to balance that work with projects you know you can do well....

Appreciate Your Own Best Strengths

Inspirational Leaders Aren't Perfect, But They Stay Strong You can usually tell when a person is down. He doesn't do his best work. Whether running a business, spending time with customers, or just getting simple chores done, a person needs a reservoir of emotional strength to do the job well.

Lately, some of my clients have been a little down on themselves, and I'm finding that it's often because they're forgetting to play to their strengths. If you find yourself spending too much time doing stuff you don't like, and aren't good at, try to balance that work with projects you know you can do well.

Good inspirational leaders can pull off just about anything. The introvert can deliver a dynamite presentation in front of a hundred people; the analytical-type can dream up a money-making Big Idea to move the business forward. But when you get a steady diet of the the kind of work that's a stretch for you, it runs down your emotional battery. You need to take personal responsibility to recharge by taking a few swings at the pitches you know you can knock out of the park. Without a tankful of emotional energy to work with, you can't bring passion to your work, and you can't be inspiring to others.

Even if your business currently has you stuck doing the un-fun stuff, taking the time to appreciate what you've accomplished, as well as what you're good at, can help charge up your emotional battery. So take a few minutes today to make a brief inventory. You don't have to make it public (no one likes a braggart), but the private reflection will help pick you up when you're down.

First, think back over the last thirty to ninety days, and write down at least three things you accomplished that were relatively tough for you. These should be things that are not in your typical "wheel house" - accomplishments that required you to work outside your normal comfort zone of strength. As you reflect on those achievements, realize that getting those things done AT ALL was good work on your part. If you managed to do them well, you should celebrate that, too.

Don't just look at the accomplishments that go on your performance report. Did you smooth-over a relationship that'd become strained, even though that interpersonal stuff is not your strong suit? Did you change the way you think about something, even though you like to rely on your experience and training? Is there a personal accomplishment - something at home, or with your family - that was tough to do but got done anyway?

Finally, take a fresh look at your strengths. It helps to actually write things down - so make a list of the things you know you do well. Try to edit down the list to your top 3-5 key strengths. Then, as you reflect on the last month or two, consider whether you've been able to use those top strengths to your full advantage. Where can you bring those strong attributes of yourself back into your work? In what ways can you get back to leveraging those strengths to accomplish great things, or even to compensate for your weaknesses?

No one is at their happy best every day of the year. Everyone gets down. But as my clients have learned over the years, the superior inspirational leaders are the ones who know how to minimize their "down time," and how to get back on top emotionally. Times are tough, and getting tougher... people need inspiration. Don't let a bad emotional patch stand in the way of giving inspiration to those around you who need it most.

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Article Tags: entrepreneurship, health wealth and happiness, inspirational leadership, personal responsibility



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