Craft Your Career Around Your Strengths – Not Your Passions

Several years ago, I had a eureka moment.   

For decades I had been following my life-long passion to address critical global environmental issues.  I loved what I was doing but increasingly over the years the day-to-day work drained me. I was finding that many parts of my job, which I could aptly do, were draining for me, rather than nourishing me. It wasn’t enough that I could capably do things; I needed to focus on those things that were innately my true strengths!

Somewhere along the way I had an opportunity to take the Clifton Strengths Assessment by Gallup corporation and my eyes were opened.

After looking at the assessment results with my strengths profile, I realized that while I had passion for the environmental work (still do) I wasn’t fully utilizing my strengths. In other words, my day-to-day didn’t actually call upon me to use my strengths very often.

As I eventually transitioned my career to my new role as a coach, I saw how I was more and more in a position to put my talents to work and work in a strengths zone. 

What was my learning?  For a fulfilling career, pursuing passion wasn’t enough. 

This strengths assessment from Gallup turned everything I had thought about having a fulfilling job on its head. For a successful and fulfilling career, the key is not to focus on putting your skills and knowledge to work or even your passion: The key to a successful and fulfilling career is to tap into and activate your strengths. 

 In fact, your biggest room for growth lies within your strengths. Your strengths are your key differentiator. They are talents you have honed, and that you enjoy using. This is a learning I have seen successfully applied with my clients again and again.

What is strength?  And why does it matter?

Fundamentally, a strength is a well-developed talent. A talent is a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.  It is your raw capacity.  You were born with your talents.

A strength is the ability to consistently produce a positive outcome through near-perfect performance in a specific task.  To finish with strength, start with talent.

The Clifton Strengths Assessment identified 34 different talent themes in four general areas:  1) how you take action; 2) how you influence people; 3) how you relate with others, and; 4) how you think. 

To give you a taste of what a strength might look like, here are some examples drawn partly from the Gallup assessment.

·      An ”intuitive” empathic person can truly read and understand others.

·      An “activator” can catapult a plan and put it into motion.

·      A “connector” brings people together and leads teams.

·      An “analytical” person is strong at uncovering patterns when looking at data.

·      A “learner” is quickly able to digest information and understand new concepts.

·      A “strategist” can develop effective pathways for impact.

·      A “problem-solver” can gracefully resolve challenging situations.

·      An “achiever” who can bring projects to closure. 

Strengths Breeds Success

People who know their strengths and have the opportunity to use them at work are six times more likely to be engaged on the job.

They are three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life.

Put strengths to work is key to fulfillment.  But also, strengths are key to profiling yourself and setting yourself apart from others.

Why aren’t we focusing on our strengths?

The problem is that we tend to ignore our strengths because we’re so focused on our weaknesses. That isn’t surprising given how we still operate in our society.

Schools and organizations continue to follow an old model. That model says, “Fix your weaknesses and maintain strengths.” If someone gives us a low grade in class or a low rating at work, we tend to focus on those areas first and foremost.

But what positive psychology has taught us (whether you are educating a child, building a sports team, or seeking to grow in your career) is that a strengths-based approach will create the greatest chance of success.

A strengths-based approach invests in strengths while managing weaknesses.

How can you put strengths to work in your career?

Today, I am a Gallup-trained strengths coach helping others uncover and activate their strengths.  You might think you already know your strengths and chances are you have an instinct for what they might be.  After all, you likely know yourself pretty well. 

The challenge though is that many in the workforce aren’t quite sure how much of their day-to-day work actually puts their strengths to work.  Too often, a job description or a workplan will not be written in such a way that explicitly calls upon an employee to activate their strengths. 

Crafting your job around your strengths begins with a strong understanding of what kinds of activities will actually put your strengths to work.  With that knowledge, employees with the support of their managers will want to craft workplans that explicitly outlines those activities which call on an employee to activate their strengths.  This is the first step to a strength-based workplan.

In sum, strengths can wither if you don’t exercise them.  Strengths are a source of power. Take that first step and craft your job around your strengths and watch your success and fulfillment grow. You have a dynamic power to unlock and it’s a part of you right now.

Interested in learning more about how to put your strengths to work in your career, contact me at danielle@droitsch.com.