TAG: strengths

Networking for Musicians: How to Get Started

So now you get it:  networking is the way to go if you want to expand your reach and create opportunities that can lead you to career success based on a mutual exchange of information, resources and contacts. You understand that networking is about connecting with, sharing and being relevant to others.  You have your Elevator Speech.  You are eager …

Input: When does it all come together so that you can figure out your career path?

There is a strength called Input.  It comes from the Gallup Strengths Assessment called StrengthsFinder 2.0.

Input is the way someone learns and uses knowledge and information. People who are strong in input collect information and call it up when they need it.  Input people enjoy learning in order to use the information.  They will read enough to get the idea and store it away, as opposed to learners who are fascinated with the process of learning and will delve into things deeply.

Input is a strength because input people tend to make interesting and novel connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information.

I know this strength well because it is one of my top strengths.   I find that a lot of my clients have this strength as well.

Play to Your Strengths–Literally–to Feel Self-Mastery and Fulfillment

I advocate playing to your strengths instead of compensating for weaknesses as a way of creating self-mastery and empowerment in your life.  Helping my clients to recognize and use their strengths is one of the hallmarks of my coaching and my teaching. Recently, I had this very experience in a domain that is near and dear to my heart-my piano playing.  See how I learned the different between playing to my strengths and struggling to overcome my weaknesses.

Play to Your Strengths: How to Find and Use Your Strengths to Create Success

Our culture is rampant with negativity.  From report cards to annual reviews at work to billboard advertising, we tend to hear what’s wrong with us, where we are weak and what we need to do in order to improve.  Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a society where everyone’s talents were recognized, validated, encouraged and admired? That’s why strengths are such a positive factor in creating success:  they tell you what is right with you.
Strengths are the tendencies and skills at which you naturally excel.  Strengths can be developed, deepened and even resuscitated after lying dormant for many years. 

My message to clients is to play to your strengths.  It is one of the keys to creating success in your life.