How to Showcase Your Talents Starting Today

Admit it. If you’re like most of us, you probably focus more on your weaknesses than what you do well.

If we have 100 interactions in a day and 98 of those go well, we often seem to have a tendency to fixate on the two that don’t. We ask how we could have done better. What should we do differently next time? How badly did those mess-ups hurt us?

In most cases, however, it’s likely that those small things you didn’t do well each day are not really that critical. In fact, they probably mean more to you than to the people around you. In most cases, other people may not even be aware that something went awry—unless you tell them.

That’s why it’s so important to focus on what you do well. Make a list of those things you’re good at. For example, this might be working effectively under tight deadlines, handling tough customer situations, or closing new customers.

Take a moment to appreciate the great work you do and how you add value to your organization. Just a quick “Hey, I did that well!” aside to yourself when completing a task is a great place to start.

Find places to showcase your strengths. Look for opportunities to take on new assignments in areas where you excel. Be sure to claim credit where credit is due.

One note. Sometimes there are things we do really well that we also really dislike doing. You might be a whiz at creating fantastic spreadsheets, but if you hate working with Excel, that’s not something you’ll want to be doing any more than absolutely necessary.

So look for those opportunities where your strengths intersect with your passions. Ideally, these will be in areas that your organization thinks are valuable, too.

At the end of each day, take a moment to reflect on what you did well that day. And give yourself a pat on the back for the great work. Focus on owning your strengths.

-Linda Popky, President, Leverage2Market Associates