Motivational

Rule 27: Know your strengths and weakness

August 10, 2016

Borno Billionaire, Mohammed Indimi

If
you are going to be a Rules Player you have to be
incredibly objective about yourself. A
lot of people can’t do this, they can’t turn the spotlight on themselves
objectively enough or brightly enough to see themselves as others see them. And it’s not just how others see us; it’s also
how we see ourselves. We all carry a
mental image of ourselves – what we look like and sound like, what makes us
tick; how we work – but how realistic is this image? I think I work creatively and eccentrically,
others think I am messy and unorganized.
Which is true? Which is the
reality?

To
know your strengths and weakness you first have to understand your role – the
way you work. I might see being creative
as strength – lots of lovely ideas, no attention to detail, generating new
projects rather than seeing them through or actually working on them – surely
all these are strengths? Not if I am a
Completer or Implementer they’re not, then they are weaknesses. Instead my strengths would be perseverance,
diligence, stick ability, predictability, conformity, steadfastness, and
orderliness–yuk, surely these are weakness?
You have to know your role first before you can make subjective judgments
about strengths and weakness.

If
in doubt make lists. That’s what I always say.
Write down what you think are your strengths and weaknesses. Show this list to a close friend who you do
not work with. Ask for their objective
evaluation. Now show it to someone you
can trust who you do work with. Is there
a difference in their evaluation of how close to the truth you are? Bet there
is a quite a difference. This is because
the special skills you bring to friendships are quite different from the ones
you bring to a work relationship.

“This rule is about
knowing your strengths and weaknesses, it isn’t necessarily about improving
them, eliminating them, working on them, changing them in any way. What we are is what we are and it is what we
have to work with”

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This
rule is about knowing your strengths and weaknesses, it isn’t necessarily about
improving them, eliminating them, working on them, changing them in any
way. What we are is what we are and it
is what we have to work with. You may
well be disorganized, erratic, and unpredictable – is this good or bad? It all depends on your role. You may need to change your role to suit your
strengths and weaknesses better.

A
lot of people think that identifying their strengths and weaknesses means they
get to lose the bad stuff and only work with the good stuff. Not true.
This isn’t therapy. This is the
real world. We all have weaknesses. The secret trick is learning to work with
them rather than trying to be perfect, which is unrealistic and unproductive.

You
might be able to find better uses for your weaknesses – but then they would become
strengths, wouldn’t they? Think about
it.

(Excerpts from THE
RULES OF WORK by Richard Templer Read “How to identify Key Times & Events” from The Rules tomorrow on Asabeafrika)

Rule-to-Work Series