Utilizing Strengths & Weaknesses
Think about the qualities/attributes that you possess. These strengths likely influence others in your life, personally and professionally, and support you in the work that you do. For you, what strengths come to mind, and what makes them strengths? Maybe it’s something that you do well, have utilized for some time, or gained a lot of knowledge about. Perhaps you are aware of abilities/areas that you would like to make stronger or actually consider to be weaknesses and would like to make strengths. What about qualities/attributes that you consider both strengths and weaknesses? Sometimes the challenges that we face can be viewed as weaknesses but in overcoming them, due to what was learned/overcome, we are able to utilize them as strengths and are in a better position to navigate similar challenges in the future, even in our work with others. Can you think of areas like this in your own life and work?
One example that comes to mind is related to one’s own experiences with emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, and/or financial challenges. These are challenges that often face individuals receiving services in various helping fields. The term wounded healer, created by psychologist Carl Jung, states that someone in a helping position is compelled to help because of their personal experiences with being wounded. Coming to a place of wholeness, transformation, and/or growth in one’s own life presents opportunities to support others who may be experiencing similar challenges and continue to develop personal and professional strengths.
The reality is life itself presents a number of challenges that we all face with varying degrees of impact (everyone may experience things differently). It’s how we utilize our strengths and weaknesses that make a difference. It’s also important to pay attention to the challenges that can present a weakness to our detriment or the detriment of others, particularly those that you seek to help or serve.
In considering your strengths and weaknesses, are you aware of the areas that you would benefit from continuing to grow in? I believe this is extremely important for professionals in helping fields or professionals in other fields who serve in a position in support of other members of a team. We want to be our best selves and give our best to the people we serve. Healthy Messages™ is interested in influences on work and leadership in helping fields and committed to personal, professional, and organizational growth, including skills in communication and organizational change/development. I’d love your feedback on a related survey or by commenting on this blog. Also consider support in mentoring, training, and development.
I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share a comment or reach out if you’d like to connect, have questions, or are interested in partnering.
Healthy Messages™ helps professionals, leaders, and business owners in human services improve, craft, and implement communication within and across systems.
Learn more about Healthy Messages™ mission, vision, and outcomes.
Setting Up for Success
What contributes to success in your work? Doing what you love or are skilled in? Values of the company being consistent with your own? A supportive leadership and team? Flexibility in your work schedule? Having a good understanding of what’s expected of you? A positive work environment? Additional training? In considering this question, it’s important to think about the various factors that positively influence your ability to do your best work. When I think about organizations as a whole, I found the following areas especially helpful to keep in mind:
Expectations - are you clear about what is expected of you in your role/position and the methods/strategies necessary for accomplishing particular tasks?
Resources - do you have the tools needed to fulfill your responsibilities? This may vary based on the task at hand.
Support - do you have the support of those in leadership, such as a direct manager/supervisor, and other members of your team? Are you able to receive mentorship and coaching if needed?
Systems/structures - are policies/protocols in place to support your work? Are systems organized, clear, and consistent? Is your work environment conducive for the tasks that you need to complete?
Professional development/promotion - are you equipped with the necessary skills/tools to perform duties? Are there opportunities for you to utilize your strengths/abilities, grow, and advance?
Work/life challenges - are there challenges personally and/or professionally that hinder your ability to do your work? What support is needed in order to address these issues?
Does the organization where you work have a good handle on these and other areas important for you to be successful? Or would you advocate for improvements? If you answered yes to the second question it’s likely that you are not operating at your fullest potential. If you are a business owner, leader, HR professional, or other professional who influences members in your organization, how are you helping to set others up for success? It’s a huge benefit to the organization to ensure that members of your team feel set up for success.Unfortunately, the factors that can contribute to success within organizations are often given less attention than they deserve, ignored, or taken for granted.
As you ponder what contributes to your success and the success of others, it is my hope that there will be opportunities for growth individually and corporately. The success of the individuals of an organization contributes to the success of the whole organization.
I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share a comment or reach out if you’d like to connect, have questions, or are interested in partnering.
Healthy Messages™ helps professionals, leaders, and business owners in human services improve, craft, and implement communication within and across systems.
Learn more about Healthy Messages™ mission, vision, and outcomes.
Clear Messages
When something is clear, it means it is ‘not subject to misinterpretation or more than one interpretation’ (Merriam-Webster). I really appreciate the wording of this definition. It speaks to the importance of clarity and consistency in messaging, whether the communication is written, verbal, or nonverbal behavior. This is especially relevant in leadership and organizational and professional development, and I believe a greater focus on improving messaging in these areas would contribute greatly to organizational health and success.
Can you think of a time when you were expected to fulfill a task or assignment but were left with questions about what you should do? What about discrepancies between an organization’s vision/mission, services, and outcomes? Or a leader whose values were not matched by their words and actions? I imagine you have experienced these and/or other instances when messaging was not clear or was contrary to what was intended.
Leaders have a wonderful responsibility and opportunity to cast vision, establish expectations, give instruction and guidance, share strategy, teach, mentor, and model values and behaviors. The messages that leaders convey are extremely important. And not just for leaders in the formal or traditional sense, but for you who influences the lives of people around you every day. Thus, it is important to also consider areas for continuous growth and improvement.
Healthy Messages helps professionals:
Create clear, consistent messaging.
Grow personally and professionally.
Implement practices and systems that support organizational health and success.
Develop tools for evaluating performance and measuring success.
Achieve their unique vision for services or their business.
There are a few questions I would like you to consider:
What do you want to communicate to those who you want to help, lead, or support?
What is your vision or mission?
What goals do you want to accomplish?
What messages do you want to convey in words and actions?
How do you want to grow personally and professionally?
In reviewing these questions consider how a focus on improving messaging can contribute to the bigger picture - organizational health and success.
I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to share a comment or reach out if you’d like to connect, have questions, or are interested in partnering.
Healthy Messages™ helps professionals, leaders, and business owners in human services improve, craft, and implement communication within and across systems.
Learn more about Healthy Messages™ mission, vision, and outcomes.