I recently underwent a series of personality and leadership exercises and testing. I have big ideas and dreams, and these tools help frame whether I am doing what I should be doing or want to be doing.
Reading through a summary of who you are can be daunting. It is easy when we agree with the results, but our ego gets in the way when we don’t, causing us to doubt, question or get defensive.
There are some excellent tools on the internet or in training opportunities to help puzzle out accurate and insightful notes about what you do well and what you don’t. The interesting thing about strengths is that they can be used to serve you or hurt you.
Maybe my strengths say I am patient. I can be so patient with my clients but risk not having boundaries to manage my own self-care.
Maybe my strengths inventory identifies how strategic I can be in terms of problem-solving. Of course, I can be so strategic, but if I don’t balance that with considering others’ opinions and ideas, it doesn’t build the collaborative culture I value.
It’s a balancing act.
But it starts with awareness. Do you know your strengths? Here are some simple ways to begin to build an objective understanding of your strengths. You may or may not find some great samplings or inventories to help you get started, but you can gain many insights from those who know you and work with you.
Ask others to give you feedback about your strengths.
✨Ask your partner or family members
These are the people who love you and see all the good, bad and ugly. Ask them following a chaotic day what were the attributes they admired or didn’t. Children are incredibly insightful, so if they say you are constantly stressed, rather than dismissing them, ask them what you do that makes them say that.
✨Ask your team
These are the people who see the behind-the-scenes of your business and watch you with clients and how you handle the many ping pong balls in the air every day. It doesn’t have to be a formal meeting, but seize opportunities to ask for honest feedback on the strengths you bring to the work environment and what you can foster to improve on.
✨Ask your clients
We try so hard to be the best version of ourselves with our clients. We try to make it all about them and serve to help them achieve their beautification goals. Once you have a trusted relationship with a client, you can further boost your relationship by inquiring why they continue to come back, what fuels their loyalty, and what strengths they value as a client. They will happily tell you!
✨Ask your medical director
The role of your medical director is to support and train you. Still, a genuine medical directorship includes natural care for the growth of every team member. This person can offer psychological safety while offering feedback about the strengths that are so valued and development opportunities as well. And if you are not getting any identified strengths to empower your growth, you are with the wrong person! Everyone deserves to be reminded of their skills, their value and strengths.
Put your fears aside and find out what you bring to the table that others value. After my survey completion, my top five leadership style themes emerged from the Clifton Report. They were:
1. Strategic – I try to find issues and find alternative ways to solve and proceed.
2. Ideation – I am fascinated by ideas.
3. Connectedness – I believe that every event happens for a reason, and there are few coincidences.
4. Learner – I have a great desire to learn and improve continuously. The learning process is exciting.
5. Activator – I want to turn my thoughts and ideas into action.
The funny thing is that what this really shows me is the things I value. These are the pillars of what I am so committed to in the world of aesthetics.
Everyone brings strengths to the table, and it is essential to build our awareness of what they are. Knowing your strengths will drive you to build on them and develop others in the beautiful puzzle of life and business. So let’s build on the conversation to help each other learn, define and build on their strengths.
It’s not about what you can’t do. It is about what you can do.
