Unlocking Your Business Potential: The Importance of Knowing Your Strengths
Play to your strengths they say. Why do interviews for jobs ask “What are your greatest weaknesses?” and “How do you deal with them?” What have you been taught? It’s always an awkward answer no matter how you look at it. What if I told you, only focus on your strengths, don’t worry about your weaknesses?
This all changed for me once I took the Clifton Strengths test (aka Strengths Finder test) twice! The first time I took it was after hearing some friends talk about 8 years ago. The couple was surprised by their outcomes. Knowing their strengths encouraged them to feel like they had more leverage at their work and business and know themselves better.
I was so ready to take the test after hearing all of that. Taking the test only took about 45 min and once I completed it - sure enough, I had my results - I was surprised by some of the outcomes.
One of the strengths of “INPUT” made me giggle. It said that I collect information for me and others and love to share it. I totally have done this since as long as I can remember. One piece of advice the test results gave me was to be sure to have reliable, consistent place to store said advice - aha yes, this is something that I have been challenged with (imagine binders of info as well as digital notes scattered around on computers.) Evernote has been instrumental in me organizing my info! Knowing that one piece of insight has helped me really focus and learn to manage all of that info in a way I can easily find it now.
Another strength that I learned that helped me become a marketing coach is “INDIVIDUALIZATION”. I am able to see people’s strengths, enjoy teaching, and help share stories to connect people. When I first read that, I was amped up. I wasn’t really applying any of that in my work but I so desperately wanted to. Knowing this encouraged me to start teaching website classes 6 years ago and branch off from there. It gave me the momentum to teach at the Small Business Development Center on web marketing and material related to marketing. That was a big leap for me, I hadn’t considered teaching and was moved when I got in front of the classroom. I loved it and have taught close to 200 students and shown them how to avoid the pitfalls of your first website as well as how to be prepared and set up for success.
Have you taken the Clifton Strengths test? You can get the first 5 strengths for $20, it’s not a crazy investment and I guarantee that you'll know yourself better and it will help you in your business. Take it from me - I’ve taken the test 2x and had the same results each time.