Identifying Your Strengths and Weaknesses

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Now that we have learned more about what personal effectiveness looks like and how it is demonstrated, let's turn our attention to identifying those personally effective qualities and attributes that you already have. One way to do that is to go through a skills inventory. Here is how you can do your own skills inventory. One— write down a list of the personally effective traits: risk tolerance, adaptability, willingness to learn, listening ability, collaboration and influence, determination, positive attitude, and balance and organization. Then, put the list aside for the moment. Two, take an activity that you engage in regularly, such as grocery shopping or going to the gym. Give yourself about 15 minutes of quiet time to reflect upon your behaviors during that activity. Three, after engaging in the activity, take out your list and review it in the context of what you did earlier. Identify the desirable qualities and attributes you demonstrated while engaged in that activity. Make note of those qualities, especially the ones that might surprise you a little bit. This exercise can clue you in to what is already working for you. Here's another approach you can use on a daily basis. It involves staying mindful and self-aware of your normal thoughts and reactions. This approach involves keeping four simple questions in mind. What do I regularly do that I'm passionate about? The qualities and attributes required for you to perform the activities you are passionate about will usually be the ones you are pretty strong in. Two— how do I define myself and what I do? Try to let go of your job title and think more in terms of how you are doing it. For example, if you are doing user support for an IT department, how much of that work involves coaching others on how to do something, and, doesn't that coaching involve at least a couple of the desirable traits, such as listening ability and determination, in order to keep things running smoothly? Three— other than for payment, why do what I'm doing? Our strengths often lead us to our career choices. Thinking about this in the context of our user support tech, it could be reasonable to acknowledge willingness to learn, as the knowledge base required for that field is constantly evolving. Four— what makes me unique? This could be a bit of a tough one, especially for those who perform similar jobs. Given a little bit of thought, however, it's very possible that our user support tech comes to work with an unusually positive attitude or a great degree of adaptability.