174 / KNOWING YOURSELF
Analyzing your strengths
and limitations
Describing your capabilities
When you ask yourself what you
are really good at, your answer
should encompass three important
areas—your basic technical
ability, your innate personal
or soft, skills, and the knowledge
and experience that you have
acquired throughout your career.
Most people have a preference
for what they like to do. Some people
are good at working with numbers,
while others excel at languages.
These skills are the building blocks
of your job—they are sometimes
called your basic technical ability.
Gaining skills and experience
“Soft” skills are less tangible than basic
technical ability. You may be a good
listener or a powerful communicator,
or have the ability to influence people or
negotiate well, or you may command
respect, have great presence, and be
highly motivated. You need to achieve
a certain level of skill in all these areas,
but that level will depend on your precise
role in the organization.
The third dimension of your personal
strengths and limitations is your
knowledge and experience, both of the
sector and the role in which you work.
For example, if you work in Human
Resources, do you have sufficient
knowledge of employment law? Reflect
on your skills and knowledge: they may
be good enough for your current role,
but will they suffice in the future? Try
to identify the role that best fits with
your ambitions, and ask yourself what
skills you will need to fit that role.
Published job descriptions and job
advertisements provide a good guide
to current industry standards and
what employers are looking for. Set
about gaining those skills through
additional training, or by realigning
your role with your current employer.
To achieve high performance in your workplace, you need to understand
and play to your strengths. You also need to recognize what you are less
good at doing, so that you can develop appropriate skills and acquire the
necessary knowledge and experience.
REVIEW YOUR SKILLS
Even if you plan to stay in
the same job, look closely at
what’s happening around you.
Your work environment is in
flux and you should constantly
be learning and adapting, to
cope and thrive with the new
circumstances your workplace
presents to you.
Tip
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ANALYZING YOUR STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS / 175
STRENGTHS
Experience in training
Presentation skills
Good communicator
Good knowledge of employment law
OPPORTUNITIES
Set up my own training business
Broaden my role to include recruitment
WEAKNESSES
Poor understanding of recruitment systems
No experience of disciplinary meetings
Don’t like conflict
THREATS
Company may outsource training
Company may want all-round HR skills in the future
S
W
O
T
SWOT analysis for a Human Resources executive
Carrying out a SWOT analysis
A simple way to assess yourself is to
carry out a SWOT analysis. List your
strengths and weaknesses, and the
opportunities open and threats to you
in your current role, as in the example
above. This SWOT analysis provides
a picture of the development you need
to excel in your present situation, and
the skills, knowledge, and experience
you will need to acquire to succeed
in your next professional role.
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