How to Play to Your Strengths

Your strengths are traits that people compliment you on, and they’re traits that make you feel good when you’ve executed them. We likely all have that one story of a mentor or a role model complimenting you on a talent that you might not have known you had. It feels great hearing it from other people, but there’s a way to know those strengths without having to wait for someone to randomly tell you.

Learning Your True Strengths

Instead of doing what you think is your strength, do what you love and work on that. Your strength to your co-workers may make you feel overwhelmed and stressed out, so do what you enjoy and it will work in your favor. 

Know and Embrace Your Weaknesses

Here, self-awareness is key. The advantage of being part of a team is to know your weaknesses and try to mitigate them by leaning into the strengths of others. Your weakness will be another's strength, so take the time to know your and your team’s behaviors and characteristics through group activities or projects. 

Challenge Yourself 

Get a coach or mentor, ask people for feedback, and keep track of what they say. Start out with a plan of how you’ll use their ideas. This might be through daily goals, in a new project, or in a group collaboration effort. Like always, start out small and don’t be overwhelmed. Everyone has weaknesses and strengths they can improve upon. 

Step Up to the Next Level

Once you know how to perform a certain task and it doesn’t challenge you anymore, try out something new that you think is necessary and relevant to your work goals.

Don’t Overuse That Strength

To be an asset to a team, you need to use each of your strengths to a moderate level, rather than taking one to the extreme. It actually then becomes a weakness. Some may say you can never be too confident or ambitious, but there is a limit in many aspects of the world, and those limits are there to help you in the future. 

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