Self-Awareness is essential to managing your career. In my work in Columbia University’s High Impact Leadership program, executives frequently tell me that they make a lot of money but do not enjoy their work. Also, my graduate and undergraduate students often tell me that they chose their major without much real understanding of what they should do after they graduate. We can do better on both fronts but it requires some deeper thinking about our social context and ourselves.
Reid Hoffman the founder of LinkedIn said – “The best career has you pursuing worthy aspirations, using your assets, while navigating the market realities.”
For Hoffman, the starting point is not deep introspection but rather finding out what the world needs and designing an offer that provides it. This is a very entrepreneurial approach to one’s career. There are two problems with this approach 1) being an entrepreneur is very challenging and most people end up working for someone else 2) while marketplaces evolve, each of us has unique assets that will be stable over a lifetime and the best careers will leverage those assets. So, while I agree with Hoffman, in general, I would change the sequence: discern clearly your unique assets (and liabilities) then find or create a job that maximizes your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses.
The first task of discernment requires a deep systematic exploration of who you are: motive profile, values, beliefs, signature strengths, and personality. When exploring your personality it is most helpful to examine your bright side (your preferences in neutral situations) and the dark side (your preferences under stress). Insights on the dark side help you avoid career-limiting moves. For example, knowing that you can be too bold or dramatic or that your elevated fear of failure makes you too slow and indecisive in certain situations. It will also help you figure out which organization cultures fit your profile. For example, if you score high on excitability and colorful you do not want to go to work for a rigid bureaucratic organization that will grate against your profile.
At DiscernU we facilitate deep explorations using the model below to unpack people’s unique assets. This provides a firm basis to navigate their careers to jobs, industries, and environments where they can achieve what Martin Seligman called authentic happiness – using your signature strengths to achieve gratification.
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17 May 2020Like!! I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.
Zijian
7 Jul 2020Could a person change his unique assets?
admin
9 Jul 2020yes through personal development. We can add to the talents we are born with
qiwei
7 Jul 2020I will try my best to find my strength, and learn how to use them. I believe this is something comes along with me throughout my whole life, and I can count on it.
Margaret
8 Jul 2020It’s interesting that there is a bright side and a dark side to consider here – and it’s interesting to think about how we can act/react/think differently based on the environment or the situation in which we find ourselves.. Specifically, I would like to discuss how we can take our bright side (preferences in neutral situations) and be able to uphold them and maintain them in stressful situations (dark side.) I think this could be a powerful way we would be able to perceive of and exert control in times we feel we are losing control.
admin
9 Jul 2020let’s talk about this
Cristian
8 Jul 2020It is very insightful the proposition to understand ourselves so we aim to find opportunities where we can highlight our strengths and minimize our weaknesses thus becoming more productive in what we do because we will be leveraging more those assets in our day-to-day. Often we find ourselves looking at our weaknesses and trying to improve on them and we forget to play on our strengths.
admin
9 Jul 2020agreed
Marissa
9 Jul 2020I appreciated the distinction between Hoffman’s philosophy and yours. It seems more solution oriented to start with your strengths and then find an application rather than to notice an opportunity and hope that your skills are a match. Even if the opportunity is aligned with your values and motives, these posts make it clear that individuals are happiest and most successful when they also align their strengths to the opportunity they find worthwhile.
admin
9 Jul 2020Here is a link to Hoffman’s advice
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-career-advice-for-college-grads-from-linkedins-billionaire-founder-2013-5
Paul
9 Jul 2020I appreciate the distinction between the bright side and the dark side. I act very differently in those situations. I’m sure many feel the same.
Hayley
9 Jul 2020I agree that self-awareness is a big factor when managing your career path. It’s easier to succeed in a job that allows you to maximize your strengths. From my personal experience, when I was thinking about what to major in college, I thought through my skill set and my passions. By selecting a major that aligned with my skill sets, it allowed me to follow through in finding a job that maximizes my strengths.
admin
9 Jul 2020smart approach…wonder how many 19-year-olds do this when they are asked to choose a major
Anonymous
9 Jul 2020I feel that it’s difficult to completely disregard Hoffman’s idea that you should find a scarcity in the workplace and execute a career there. Part of having a career is being successful and that success will drive happiness. If you are at the forefront of an industry and one of few who can perform certain duties, I think that you might be able to derive a bit of happiness through that strictly based on the fact that you will excel at it.
admin
9 Jul 2020true and a source of self esteem
Lauren
9 Jul 2020I think that part of what makes managing your weaknesses difficult sometimes is that often weaknesses are interconnected and exist as defense mechanisms against something. For example, fear of failure can cause someone to develop many weaknesses such as being a perfectionist (typically a weakness), being a micromanager (typically a weakness), and being risk-averse (typically a weakness), etc. However, being able to find a safe environment (perhaps a certain job) where risk-taking is encouraged and failure is not derided could allow one to slowly overcome their “dark side” and let their strengths shine through
admin
9 Jul 2020very interesting point of view on the connection. Would make for an interesting research project
Jay
9 Jul 2020I agree that its best to start from the inside and work out when examining your strengths and determining how they fit into the greater markets.
Melissa
9 Jul 2020CEOs, EVPs and Managers come and go, and when that happens the company culture, values and goals might change and no longer align with what you value most. I feel like the challenge is not only finding a job that leverages your strengths and mitigates you weaknesses, but also finding a company that is aligned with your values if you are not fortunate enough to work for yourself.
admin
10 Jul 2020very true, need to find a fit with your company’s culture…
Alexandra
9 Jul 2020I agree with many others about the weakness aspects of this blog/video. I found it interesting that it’s important to discern your “liabilities.” Whenever I have spoken with career coaches or guidance counselors in high school and college, the focus is always on identifying your strengths. But i agree, that it’s equally important to understand and be aware of your liabilities or weaknesses.
Holly
10 Jul 2020How do you get yourself into the self-aware stage to where it no longer feels uncomfortable to do or act in a certain way? For instance, say you recognize a part of your personality (bright side vs. dark side) and you want to make one of the areas on the “dark side” part of the “bright side,” what is the best way to do that?
admin
10 Jul 2020When you have mastered self-management this is a natural outcome. But mastering self-management takes deliberate practice and time