How to unlock your strengths and reach your professional potential
Each of us could spend a lifetime getting to know ourselves. We are all so full of clues, quirks, and contradictions that we can learn something new about ourselves every, single, day. Identifying the specific things we do that either come naturally or that make us stand out from the crowd is an underrated hack when it comes to advancing in our careers.
Lately, in 1-1 coaching sessions I’ve been using a profiling tool that clients have been raving about.
This is a 12 page personalised report on their unique strengths, some untapped opportunities for growth, as well as the tasks which drain their energy, or are simply a weakness. Armed with this self-knowledge, clients have been able to make all important decisions and put language around what makes them tick, as well as what leaves them cold.
In one session, it answered a question for someone who was stuck choosing between the people management vs. individual contributor path, a question that had been on their mind for years. Their answer landed them a new role and a big jump in salary within just a month.
The exercise in question is called the Entrepreneurial Talent Profile and I’ve made it available in a one-off 45 minute consultation next month for you too, on a first come first serve basis.
Strengths are just one aspect of self-knowledge, but entirely essential, when it comes to choosing a career path, tackling new projects or smashing that next professional ceiling. So whichever stage you’re at on your professional path: figuring out WHAT your path is, taking bold action towards the next big thing or even sitting comfortably, your strengths can guide you.
This post shares the three secrets behind unlocking your strengths, and therefore your potential.
Keep reading for the three secrets from me, career change coach and ex-headhunter for top startup talent on how to use your weaknesses as your strengths, use your strengths to make career decisions, and to open doors for you
Let your strengths dictate your direction & provide a filter for decisions
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again ....
Having too many options for your career is overwhelming and leads to analysis paralysis. Then, stuck in your state of indecision, you can’t move forward or unlock your potential.
So my advice to my clients and here to you today, is to use your strengths as a source of clarity.
With clarity, comes action, and from action, you’ll build unwavering self confidence as you see yourself doing the thing you are meant to do on this earth.
If you know exactly what you bring to the table in the first place, you can zone in on the opportunities and paths that are meant for YOU. Thus ignoring activities which do not sit in your absolute zone of genius.
Of course, the more smart and talented you are, the more things you can, in theory, do well.
If you want to be successful in your career you must continually narrow down your professional sweet spot.
What is something that you can do extremely well that is not the case for many (or any) others?
As the Japanese concept of Ikigai tells us, the intersection of your Passion & Profession is ‘that which you are good at’.
Mapping your career paths to what you are excellent at (rather than what you wish you were good at) alongside areas of interest can pay dividends in developing your career with greater focus and confidence.
Historically, career counsellors would use tools like the Strong Interest Inventory and the Holland Codes system to help someone identify these things. My challenge with these methods (and core to the reason I have the mission I do) is that they are quickly outdated and unable to keep pace with the modern careers landscape and technological changes. I won’t get into AI and jobs right now, promise.
To find yours, you can mine through the archives of your professional experience and your chosen passions to identify what activities sit squarely in there for you. Best case scenario is being able to find a combination of strengths and traits that feel super unique to you. This is something I do with 1-1 coaching clients through various guises as it relates to their particular career or business goals, e.g. a current client has recently discarded some options they previously thought viable, because of the clarity we’ve created about his top strengths. The result? We refocused on two paths to explore fully (rather than ten!).
For myself, such exercises point me towards externally facing activities like content creation and workshops. These modalities give me the opportunity to share the lessons I am learning in 1-1 sessions with a wider audience, and thus leverage my strengths in communication in a way that feeds my energy levels, and provides value back to the business all at once.
For you, the aim of the game here is to use the information you gather to actually create a path forward, and ignore the other available paths. Not because they aren’t viable for you, many will be and that's the challenge, but because they do not represent the fullest expression of your strengths and ergo… your true potential.
If that isn’t a compelling enough reason alone, there is real evidence of our cognitive peak happening around the age of 40, so whilst you should have time to explore multiple paths in life, you would only ‘peak’ once so why not make it the one you are best suited to, and give yourself ample time to get there.
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Use your strengths as a business card – open doors and forge connections.
With clarity about which strengths you want to build your reputation around, it’s time to spread the word.
Finding the language to describe your core essence is so powerful when done right.
It’s why we buy from some brands and not others. You are more than a brand, and you are a human and not a product, but that doesn’t mean that describing yourself in clear and compelling terms won’t be to your advantage. People buy from people and the way they show up in the world
The ones who truly succeed in their careers or businesses and who build the lives of their dreams embrace their weaknesses and turn them to their advantage. Maybe we could add some pressure of the risk of NOT doing this, or that coaching clients are required to go on this journey to achieve their goals.
It’s time to ditch associations such as talking about yourself in the third person on your LinkedIn and describing yourself in generic terms like ‘proactive’ and ‘proven track record’ or ‘team player’. Whilst all valid strengths, they won’t stand you out from the crowd online or in a pile of others contending for the same opportunities as you are.
You want to find the language to identify your unique value proposition, which is, your strengths combined with a combination of skills that are mutually reinforcing to one another. For example if you are highly empathetic AND have a history of experiences in personal and social services, these support one another. Being highly analytical and having experiences that demonstrate the depth of your number crunching, is great too.
If you can also tell stories around these experiences you’ll make yourself more memorable and demonstrate real life examples of the value you can bring to others, should they decide to hire you, invest in you or collaborate with you.
Much of what goes into unlocking your career potential is talking about the thing, not just doing it. In a session this week, a client who has long shied away from personal branding, lamented not getting more attention to her work (which is by the way incredible). Self promotion is part of the work and so spending time or money on clarifying the story of ‘you’ can bring back returns in many forms.
We are drawn to the people who communicate value and confidence and conviction in their professional abilities, and whilst testimonials and social proof are useful, so is hearing it from the horses’ mouth.
My own recent example of doing the work I love doing like this BBC workshop has reminded me of the power of sharing career highs.
So have a go at writing or filming yourself explaining what you do, why you do it, how you do it, and what is unique about you or your approach and don’t be surprised if opportunities start to come your way.
But if you are worrying about putting too much emphasis on personal branding, you’d be right to be concerned. I do see real challenges with over-doing this at the expense of doing the work, and wrote an essay about this which went semi viral in 2021, much of which still rings true today.
Embrace the constraint — Turn your weaknesses into your biggest asset
When it comes to reaching your professional potential, not only should you unleash your strengths but also attend to your weaknesses.
That’s because some of your best strengths are found within your very weaknesses themselves.
As Marcus Aurelies said,
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Looking back I can see how my impatience became my virtue in early career years — I felt the need to leave a comfortable and secure path behind because it was not giving me the level of responsibility I craved. I was too impatient to wait for my turn on the proverbial ladder.
Instead, I opted for a career pivot into the unknown (and a cut in salary) in the hope of speeding up my professional development in a new path altogether. Whilst there were questions from those around me about my choices, this impatient streak resulted in a string of career opportunities for me, which I wrote about here.
Embracing your constraints means reframing your weaknesses in order to identify opportunities that could only be available to you. In turning your weaknesses into strengths, you aren’t just answering some cliché question in a job interview, but identifying a true path for your own version of success.
Extreme introverts preferring solitude can seek out (and enjoy) extreme periods of focus, deep work and flow unlike those seeking more regular stimulation
Neurodivergent people often experience scattered thinking, but will experience highly creative insights and cross-pollination of ideas as a result of these varied thoughts and experiences
Having no ‘filter’ or being extremely honest might put some people off, but like marmite, you’ll attract a pledge of people who really love your authenticity
Consider for yourself, what traits can you reframe to a positive, and then leverage as an asset?
I know for many of my clients, these constraints have made decisions and paths clearer, because the combination of their strengths and weaknesses is what positions them extremely well to take on certain responsibilities over others.
The client choosing partnerships over pure sales roles due to lacking competitive drive (but bringing bags of cooperation), or the data-scientist who avoided business ideas with overly complex levels of data and information, upon realising they are drained by detail and energised by big picture ideas. Or the drained client leaving a long career in executive leadership, in exchange for more uncertainty but ultimately more freedom.
Leveraging weaknesses is your competitive advantage. And the same is true for businesses, too. Strategy is as much about what you don’t do as you do.
A Beautiful Constraint by Adam Morgan describes how now that we live in an era of abundance (and there are products and solutions to almost every problem) it does not mean we are living without constraints.
For example, we want both cars that are fast but also use less fuel, fast food that is also healthy and lives full of freedom and creativity but we live with less economic security and higher bills to pay, too. NB: I have this article from Tiago Forte to thank for bringing this book to my attention.
In the context of your career, don’t ignore your weaknesses and hope no one else sees them either. Instead have the courage to embrace them as an essential part of your being, and proactively map out some ways in which you could use them to your advantage or part of your personal brand.
Why not complete this sentence, repeated for as many as you can think of:
My [flaw/restraint/weakness] of [doing/being/saying] [thing you do] provides me with the opportunity of [insert how this is an opportunity]
No one is perfect so not only can acknowledging your weaknesses be a strength it can also help you to build trust and rapport with others. Self awareness of our short falls is endearing.
A client with a cult-like online following writes stories in a self deprecating way — which in turn, is drawing readers in in their droves.
Share your ‘constraints’ with your peers… and be prepared to be surprised by what happens.
Your strengths hold the key to your potential
Whether it’s accepting and embracing your weakness, using your strengths to find focus and run after your most suitable opportunities or creating demand for your work… skip past this exercise at your peril. If you’re fed up of watching others succeed whilst you seem to stay still and watch the months or years pass by you and little has changed then consider if you are truly working in line with your strengths.
Some people take a lifetime to identify their core strengths and unique advantages and others might never get there, but if you do the work sooner than later, you can quickly begin to filter your decisions and spend more time every single day doing the work that aligns to your highest potential.
To kick start this process and get bespoke answers sooner, you can spend an hour with me – you’ll do the assessment yourself (takes around 15 mins) and we’ll jump on a zoom call for 45 minutes to assess your results and identify opportunities for career growth. The Ask’s Entrepreneurial Talent Profile and consultation are yours for less than £100 (for a limited time only this April) so grab yourself one whilst they last.
Otherwise, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you’ve enjoyed thinking about your strengths – or weaknesses(!) – and what you could be doing more or less of, so that you can reach the next level.
