"It was all luck . . . and nothing else."
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David Lees | Digital Vision | Getty Images |
You've probably had the same thought, perhaps not about Mario Cuomo, but about yourself.
There's charm to downplaying your success. But if you truly regard your accomplishments as lucky, that's dangerous.
It means you don't know how you did whatever you did. Therefore, you can't repeat it. Or teach others.
Also, not knowing your strengths and skills, you feel like a fraud.
Do you know your strengths? You certainly know your weaknesses—not all of them, but at least the ones other people have been telling you about for years.
Take me:
1) I have no sense of direction. If you ever get lost in a car with me and I advise you to turn right, don't.
2) Filing. I'm awful at it. Every few months, I resolve to de-clutter. Then I re-clutter. That's been going on for years.
3) I can't swim three lengths of a pool in a flight suit and tennis shoes. This one doesn't come up much. But it might, according to NASA, if I decided to become an astronaut, which I won't.
You can't build a career around repairing your weaknesses.
Strengths are more solid. Unfortunately, your strengths are often invisible, at least to you.
Strengths come so naturally that we take them for granted, like a fish that never needed swimming lessons.
How do you identify your strengths?
1) Self-assess. One useful book: "Strengths Finder 2.0," by Tom Rath. It identifies 34 strengths. Skim the book in 10 minutes to find a few of yours.
Some have strange names, like "woo" (acronym for Winning Others Over).
"All my taxi drivers," said one woman, quoted for woo, "propose to me."
I've been in a lot of taxis, both as a passenger and, years ago, as a driver (hopelessly lost). Nothing like that ever happened to me.
Obviously, I need more woo.
Another good resource: Richard Bolles' "What Color is Your Parachute Workbook," based on his best-selling "Parachute" book (disclaimer: I'm briefly mentioned in that book).,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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