I recognize that a lot of my classmates did not complete this assignment, but the thing that I learned the most from was the “How to Play to Your Strengths” final graduate assignment. To provide context, the graduate students were required to reach out to 5 individuals in our life and ask them to tell us what they perceived as our greatest strengths were. After completion, we then analyzed the data and compiled it into a job description. However, for the purpose of what I found most important, the second half was just supplementary.
Despite the fact that I hated asking for others to in essence tell me what they liked about me when I received my responses it made my day. The main reason why is because some aspects about myself that I did not necessarily view as a strength others saw as one of my best strengths. Even though I recognize how important knowing the laws and regulation are to be aware of and structure interviews around, I have taken other courses that have covered the implications of improper recruitment strategies, but I have yet to take a class that asked me to gather information from those around me about myself.
By flipping the script on how one analyzes what their strengths are it allows a more holistic understanding of how to play to your strengths. I also appreciated how we were not asked what our weaknesses were (as this would be what I would focus primarily on). If you have not read this article and participated in the exercise, I would highly recommend you to do so because it has given me a new confidence that I did not have before.
Lastly, this information that you gather about yourself can be utilized in many different ways throughout the job process and once you start working in a company. My perspective is that it will really be essential post-hire as you are able then to shine in the tasks that you do on a daily basis at the organization. For instance, one of the aspects that was highlighted about myself was that I am very optimistic. This trait can really be of use to my advancement in a company as I am able to leverage my perspective, especially in a difficult situation to how that will be a benefit to the team I am working with.
If you have a moment this Summer I would really recommend reading over and doing the activity that this article instructs.
Have a lovely Summer everyone!
Link: https://hbr.org/2005/01/how-to-play-to-your-strengths
3 replies on “Most Important Lesson”
This was a really interesting activity that you did, “playing to your strengths.” I think personally, I do not always do this but rather think more on what my weaknesses are. I think I tend to get caught up and distracted by what I do not do well and what I am lacking, rather than dwelling on the things that I am good at and that I can really highlight during a job search/interview/application process. In the future, we can take away from this class and this idea that there are things that we can chnge, and things that we cannot. It is better to think about the good things and work on changing the things that we can.
It was unnatural for me to ask peers, supervisors, and friends for what they like about me as well. It felt as if I was fishing for complements. I’ve always been a fan of the idea that everyone has strengths, and in order to fully succeed in life, people need to play to those strengths in a way that brings value to themselves, the company, and the world. I’m glad to hear you’ve been able to find a few strengths you may not have thought of as strengths – and will be able to use those in the future! Have a fantastic summer!
This is something that I thought was super cool in which you did, and thus admire you for It! To me It sounds like you really got a lot of good and pertinent information out of the class, that will surely be of benefit to you throughout your life. I hope you liked the class, and I am glad you seemed to have gotten so much from It. Hope you have a really good summer!