Thrive or Survive?

Using Your Strengths!

Have you ever wondered why some leaders succeed and others seem to spend a lot of time struggling? Why is it that some people can thrive in nearly every situation and yet others just struggle to merely survive the day?

If you become an observer of human interactions, you may very well see that leaders who are thriving have found a way to harness their strengths in their setting (whether that is in the home, work, school, or community!). Simply put, a personal strength is a talent – a strong talent. How do you know what your strengths are? One simple way to figure out your strengths is to look at what you do or how you do things. When you are using your strengths you almost always reach the goal you set. You have the ability hit the target dead-on, like an arrow going into the center of a bull’s eye. The motivation and energy are flowing, and you feel happy and successful with what you have accomplished. You might feel tired when you are finished using your strength, but it is a tiredness coming from doing well; and by golly – you would be willing to do it again at another time!

Another more formal way to discover your strengths is to take strengths assessment. I recently took a Strenghtsfinder 2.0 assessment and discovered my top five strengths to be: intellection, focus, learner, significance, and input. For me this means that I am at my best when I can: use my intellect (storehouse of knowledge!), set aside blocks of time to thoroughly complete what I want to do, satisfy my need to learn about new stuff, make a real difference in the world with my efforts, and provide input into developing people or processes. Whew, that is a lot – but not all strengths are used at the same time! I might only use one of those strengths at a time. However, I am at the top of my game when I can use one or more of my strengths as a basis for leadership.

What do you suppose your strengths might be? What would life be like if you could identify your strengths and really thrive – not survive? You have a whole brand new year to move toward a life of living and leading from your strenghts – go for it!