Using Your Strengths & Knowing Your Weaknesses

Being a leader takes a lot more than simply telling others what to do. You need to be able to inspire those listening to you, communicate your intentions effectively, and, when it comes to business, you need to be able to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses.

Photo by Alora Griffiths

A lot of people struggle with this, often resulting in work slowing down as they try to take on jobs which they simply can’t handle. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the different ways to recognize a weakness, while also giving you the chance to use your strengths.

Finding Your Weaknesses

Some people find it easy to recognize the things they’re not so good at, while others will have a far harder time of a job like this. You will probably have some idea of the subjects and the type of work you generally struggle with, as most people will pick up on this while they are at school. You need to go further than this, though, and it can take a long time to build a proper understanding of your weaknesses.

One of the best ways to figure out which jobs should be left to someone else is by trying them out for yourself, while monitoring your results and working hard to learn as much as possible. If it feels like it’s taking too long, it may be time to consider passing the job to someone else, as it could take a very long time to pick something up if you’re not very good at it from the beginning. This can save an awful lot of time.

Along with assessing yourself, it could be worth talking to those around you about what they see as your key skills. Even as a leader, it’s crucial that you listen to those around you, or you will be wasting a precious resource. You should encourage honesty when approaching this, as this will ensure that the opinions you hear will be useful, giving you the chance to address the areas which you need to improve.

Passing On A Task

A lot of small business owners fall into the trap of thinking that they have to do more work than anyone else. It can be all too easy to take on too much, and this will hurt the company as time goes on. Learning to pass tasks to others can be a challenge. Founding your company, for example, involves a lot of paperwork which not many people know how to fill out. A service like Your Company Formation can take this job right out of your hands. While this will give you less control over the process, it will ensure that the right people are doing the job, and this is far better than struggling with it on your own.

Using Your Strengths

Alongside weaknesses, everyone has strengths, though it isn’t always easy to see what you’re good at. There are a range of skills which can make someone into a good leader. If you are a strong communicator, you will be able to use your words to push your team forwards. Those that are good at delegation and administration will be able to lead in different ways, and this trend can be seen in a lot of different skills.

Of course, though, if you’re going to take advantage of this, you first need to establish the leadership style which is best going to suit you and your team. If you are timid, for example, aiming to rely on being firm will be a real challenge, and it would be worth looking to gain respect using other techniques. You will need to talk to those closest to you to get a good idea of what you’ll be best at. This will help you to build a clear picture of your skills, without having to spend a long time assessing yourself, and will present a much clearer picture than you’ve ever had before.

A lot of people struggle to lead when they start a business for the first time. It’s rare to find a company which was founded so that someone could boss their employees around, and it often takes people by surprise when they have to start taking control. As time goes on, you should start to find this easier and easier, though it will be worth thinking about what you need to learn at every stage. It takes years to become a solid leader, and it’s worth starting as soon as you can.