I'm working through these posts as I'm working through this book on women's leadership. I usually don't get into self-help books (though this is less one about self-help than about the breadth of women's leadership), but this one has resonated, and not at all because it's commissioned and organized by my current employer.
The latest chapter was about recognizing my own strengths.
Too often as women we focus on development and not our strengths.
The common strengths listed (organized in buckets and only for brainstorming purposes):
- Wisdom: curiosity, love of learning, judgment, ingenuity, emotional intelligence, perspective
- Courage: valor, perseverance, and integrity
- Humanity: kindness and loving
- Justice: citizenship, fairness, and leadership
- Temperance: self-control, prudence, and humility
- Transcendence: appreciate of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, spirituality, forgiveness, humor, and zest.
Of course, I'm so drawn to just glibly say what are certainly NOT my strengths (temperance), but it takes a lot to really try to identify what are. It's even easier to say what I value than to recognize what my personal strengths are. Is this a gendered thing? Perhaps, perhaps not. I think it's also part of my personality that I am working on development instead of celebrating or capitalizing on my strengths. Maybe this is the time for a change of perspective.
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