In consulting with people over thousands of hours, I have found that many people do not recognize their strengths. Instead, they focus on their weaknesses. There is typically a disparity in the attention and obsession of attending to the latter rather than building on their strengths.
Strengths tend to elude us. Too often, we don’t value what we master. We buy the myth that we can be good at everything if we work hard enough. This is not true. We are mediocre at best at many things because they are our weaknesses. What comes natural is where we can capitalize.
Success Comes From Your Strengths
Successful people that are able to recognize and fully develop their strengths discover a multiplier effect. It is what they influence others with. For example, the cognitive score in your strengths test will reveal how you think. How you think will be a strength for the kind of work which is best suited for you and the roles you will excel in. You can game your life with this knowledge. You will have greater influence by being in the right context and capacity.
Watching people who have figured out how to live fully into their natural strengths reveals their multiplier effects. They rely on a team or a network to compensate for their blind spots while they shine and work effortlessly in their sweet spots. Look at successful entrepreneurs, leaders, engineers, craftsman or any other professional excellent at their trade. They work in their strengths area without friction. They allow others to buttress them in the areas of their weaknesses.
The blind spot is to pursue too many fronts which is both elusive and unrealistic. Weaknesses have a subtractive effect on your life.
What have you discovered about trying to make your weaknesses better? Feel free to comment below.