Go With Your Strengths
by Peter McLaughlin and Peter McLaughlin, Jr.

One of the best salespeople I know told me that when he started selling insurance to major companies, he tried to adopt the formal style that he saw in many other producers. This ran counter to his natural talents – being an open person with an incredible ability to turn everyday situations into fun experiences. After a short while, he decided to drop the serious approach, and instead to use his talent at meeting key business leaders, growing his network, and .

Of course, he has to know his business (property and casualty and risk management), and expertly advise the CFOs who are his clients about how he can help them manage risks in a cost effective way. But once he made the commitment to go with his strengths, he really began to catapult his business forward.

Recent performance research has backed it up more convincingly than ever: identifying your core strengths and putting them to use as often as possible is a surefire way to boost your productivity – and to enhance your sense of fulfillment.

So how do you classify your personal “strengths?” And conversely, how can you identify your weaknesses or limitations? A strength is a pattern of thinking or behavior, such as a preference for working with strict budgets and timelines, or a talent in math and logic, or the capacity to understand others’ feelings. Partly genetic, partly learned, strengths represent a deeply ingrained orientation to the world. You learn quickly when the subject matter involves your strength. You feel a sense of “this is the real me” when using your strengths. You focus more intently, and feel a sense of excitement in your work.

One of the best psychological assessments on this subject is called Emergenetics, which I have used for years with my clients. The Emergenetics assessment identifies seven attributes – four thinking preferences and three behavioral styles. As you read the brief descriptions below, think about whether you consider them your strengths or weaknesses.

Analytical - Clear thinker, logical problem solver, enjoys math, rational, learns by mental analysis.

Structural - Practical thinker, likes guidelines, cautious of new ideas, predictable, learns by doing.

Social – Intuitive about people, socially aware, sympathetic, learns from others.

Conceptual – Imaginative, visionary, enjoys the unusual, learns by experimenting.

Expressiveness – People low in expressive are quiet and reserved; people high in expressiveness are gregarious performers.

Assertiveness – People low in assertiveness are amiable peacekeepers, people high in assertiveness tend to drive and tell.

Flexibility – People low in flexibility like control and defined situations; people high in flexibility are comfortable with ambiguity and put others’ needs before their own.

Everyone has a unique combination of these attributes. And none is better or worse than any other. When used in an enlightened way, they become

Why is going with your strengths so important? While you can get a little better by improving your weakness, the only real way to accomplish great things (whatever that may be in your position and business) is by playing to your strengths.

There are other critical reasons for going with your strengths. Exercising a strength is usually an energizing experience. Working in one of your areas of weakness leaves you exhausted. For example, an analytical individual tends to enjoy research. He or she may positively savor the idea of spending weeks reading books and searching websites for information about products, markets, or trends. Someone low in analytical (say someone higher in social awareness) probably despises such work. They crave interaction with people, and would go crazy without conversing and working with others. Even if they could competently perform the research task, it would make them drained and unpleasant, rather than fired up and ready for more.

Can you change your strengths? Yes, you can, but it takes considerable planning and effort. The reality is that most people do not change these deep-seated attributes very much. The value you’d create by overcoming a weakness (say, preparing impeccable budgets) would be far less than the impact you’d have by exercising your strengths (say, creating a marketing campaign that draws in thousands of clients.) And anyway, most people are usually happy with their unique profile. My advice is to take a hard look at your role at work and the value you create, and ask yourself: how can I do more of what I’m best at? How can I rethink my approach or reshape my job so I can go with my strengths?

It’s not always easy to make this transition. Most people work in roles (whether it’s a customer service representative or CEO) that demand many different talents and skills, some of which may not draw on your natural strengths. To some extent, that’s the nature of any business. But don’t wallow in mediocrity because you’re shackled with low-value activities that don’t bring out your best. Try these practical tips for improving your situation:

1. Have a conversation with your boss and/or team, and tell them how you can contribute greater results by using more of your strengths.
2. Delegate tasks to assistants, or partner with others who have strengths that complement yours.
   Get a little better at your weaknesses.
3. Pick one or two activities that cause you grief, and drop them. See what happens. You may be surprised that they didn’t really matter.
4. If you can’t get out of performing activities that you aren’t good at, then sacrifice for the short term, and plan your way to a future where you are able to use your strengths more often.
5. If you don’t get a chance to use your strengths at work, pursue activities outside the office that allow you to exercise your talents.

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