Can you name your five top strengths? How applicable are these strengths to your current position (or the job you are looking for)? Do they describe a skill or strength?

For example:

• Are you listing your top strength in a programming language or an analysis technique? Those are skills; not strengths.


• Are you listing your top strength in broader terms that define the kind of work you perform best? For example, do any of these words describe you? Achiever, Analytical, Consistency, Discipline, Includer, Maximizer, Strategic, Woo? If so, these are strengths!

Ah, that's the key. Skills fall under strengths. We all can teach each other skills. We can practice and perfect them if we have the desire to do so. The skills we excel at tend to use our strengths. For example, a great project manager will be someone that has a natural skill as an "Includer" and "Consistency" (as well as many others. The best project managers have great people skills. This may include the ability to be an "Includer" to stretch the circle of the team to include people (multiple business groups) and make them feel part of the project team. This may include the ability to treat people the same ("Consistency"), no matter what the person's skill or station in life.

What's interesting is these two strengths, Includer and Consistency, can apply to business analysis, a journalist, or a party planner. What skills you learn that fall within the skills for your strengths indicate which career is right for you...and how good you will be at it. If you choose a job that doesn't play to your strengths or natural talents, chances are, your skills may be mediocre and your interest in your job minimal and your career success not that successful.

All this comes from a WSJ recommended book titled Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Gallup introduced an online assessment to help people like you to uncover their strengths. Achiever, Analytical, Consistency, Discipline, Includer, Maximizer, Strategic, Woo are just a sampling of the 34 most common natural ability strengths or "themes."

Why is this so important? Life is too short to be miserable for any length of time. You want to be useful and productive to your family, coworkers, and business. You want to be appreciated for your efforts. You are appreciated more if you find positions and companies that believe in your strengths.

This is a two-way street. If you are a manager, you want to help your team use its strengths. Some people are detailed oriented and others big-pictured. Sure, each individual may be able to perform the other activity but why would you want to make things difficult? People that works within their strengths are happier, motivated, and complete related tasks quickly with better accuracy. Using one's natural strengths increases the desire to perform better. Why would you not want to align the task at hand with the person with that strength? Why would you want to spend precious time fixing the employee's (or your) weaknesses! Play to your (or your staff's) strengths!

Think positive! Think Strengths! There is more potential for growth when a person invests energy in developing his/her strengths instead of correcting one's deficiencies. You minimize the frustration one feels on a project. Concentrating on your weaknesses is like hitting your head against the wall. The pain stops when you stop! If you find opportunities to work using your strengths, you are move motivated.

We've all taken the corporate "opinion" survey. How do you answer the age-old question, "At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day." OK, stop laughing. It's no laughing matter when you realize that people that use their strengths daily are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and are more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general.

Don't blame the corporation! Your career is in your hands! First, you need to know your strengths. That will help you focus on the right job. You can interview the companies to see if the company philosophy (and actions) appreciates the strengths you offer. You can tell if your manager will support your strengths or drill you on your weaknesses (and get out of Dodge FAST).

This isn't a magic bullet. Your character and personality as well as your learned behavior from your upbringing will affect your ability to adjust to using your strengths. Knowing your strengths is only a piece of the complex human puzzle. Yet, it is better to know and align your career to your strengths than get frustrated and a continual headache attempting to improve your weaknesses.

What's in it for you?

Well, it is the New Year and a new decade. It's the time to think about what you really want to do with your life. Should you make a career change or just change positions or company? Do you need to change at all? Are you focusing and wasting valuable time on tasks that don't correlate to your strengths? Maybe it's time to invest in someone (hire) that has the strength to do the task of a weaker strength for you?

My results confirmed that I'm in the right place, doing what I do best (funny, positivity was #5).

     5. Positivity: Enthusiasm that is contagious. Upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do. I personally play to this strength as a writer, speaker and consultant to motivate others to take action.

     4. Responsibility: Ownership of what they say they will do. Values include honesty and loyalty. I play to this strength in all my consulting assignments. Clients know that I will be true to the project; even if it means I need to sacrifice myself. Clients need to only ask once. I'll tell them what I can do (even if it involves work done by others) and get it done.

     3. Learner: Great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. Interested in the process of learning. Look at my book recommendations. The recommendations are in the area of business, not technology. I don't plan on changing careers to be a full-time marketer or sales person...but I do want to learn these skills.

     2. Activiator: Makes things happen by turning thoughts into action. My sister gave me a great card of encouragement. It had a picture of someone on a bicycle while holding a long pole with many different animals on it. Outside saying: You have some crazy ideas. Inside saying: And you make them happen! Having this strength is the reason why I was able to start multiple companies, learn speaker skills, and get this ezine out the virtual door every other month.

And my #1 Natural Strength...

     1. Futuristic: Inspired by the future and what could be. Inspire others with their vision of the future. I always see potential in everyone. I see potential for a business as well. I can articulate what I see to senior management and adjust the vision to what is achievable given the reality of the situation.

The overall theme for the combination of these five strengths was to be a strategic architect, entrepreneur, coach, and consultant. I was surprised by this yet pleased. These five strengths describe how I am different from so many others. That is why I am the best at what I do. That's my Purple Cow. It is what people (and clients) notice, remark about, and spread the word to others.

Enough about me ... what about you?

The only way to be "The Best" and be a "Purple Cow" among all the other candidates is to energize your strengths.

SBDi speaks both Business and IT languages. Bring SBDi in to help communication between both organizations. Let us help you find the right flexible solution that will help business increase revenue.

Pat Ferdinandi, Chief Thought Translator