Knowing your strengths and weaknesses boosts career progression
We all have unique strengths and weaknesses. We look at why it’s important for your career to know what they are.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help you understand who you are and how you function. Taking the time to identify them can be a powerful tool and can be done through self-assessment or by asking for feedback from others.
Career progression
According to Stuart Cadger, Consultant at iMultiply, closing the gap between your strengths and weaknesses is the key to career progression. “Those with the ability to clearly articulate and address this gap invariably achieve the steepest career trajectories,” he said.
Georgina Millyard, CFO Services at Rutherford Cross, added: “It is important to know both your strengths and weaknesses in order to self-evaluate. Without being able to analyse your skill set it is difficult to develop and grow professionally.”
Having this knowledge about yourself will also help you narrow down your job search to specific jobs based on what you’re good at, and it will make employers’ decision to hire you easier.
“It is important to know your strengths and weaknesses, as it means you are able to manage potential employers’ expectations well. If you are able to do this from day one, they will be aware of the gaps in your skill set and therefore qualify their decision to employ you,” Jack Ramage, Consultant at iMultiply added.
Leveraging your strengths
Your strengths are the skills you can leverage and use to push yourself further to achieve your goals.
Your biggest personal strengths are usually something that come naturally to you. Knowing what you excel in can help you grow and aim higher.
Maybe you’re good at keeping calm during tense and stressful situations or you’re very good at building relationships with people you meet. Whatever your strengths are you should take some time to figure them out and use that knowledge to your advantage.
Developing your skills
Your weaknesses are by no means necessarily your downfall. They are areas you need to improve on and by knowing them you can work to develop them into strengths.
Knowing your weaknesses can also help you understand what may be holding you back and allow you to find ways to work around them.
Jack Ramage of iMultiply added: “It is important as without knowing your current weaknesses, you can’t make them your future strengths.”
Georgina Millyard of Rutherford Cross agreed: “In order to advance your career, you cannot stay stagnant. Having a strong self-awareness and ability to highlight your areas of weakness enables you to proactively work on these, such as taking courses, seeking additional exposure to a task you are less comfortable with, or working with a mentor to address a weakness. This process of self-assessment will ultimately strengthen your skill set so that you can overcome any limitations.”
Knowing what skills to hire
“It is important to understand (if you are in a leadership role) your weaknesses as it means you know what skill set you need to hire in your team to ensure all bases are covered,” Jack Ramage explained.
If you work in a management position, knowing your strengths and weaknesses will help you hire the right skills and build a diverse team that can help you, and your organisation, to achieve your goals.
We have a wide range of tools, resources and opportunities to help you develop your skills and career.
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