Your Career Well-being Demands Strength Strategies

Overview

The Awakening: Understanding Strength Through Adversity
The Importance of Self-Awareness: Unlock Your Inner Potential
The Tool to Use: Embrace the Dynamics of Your Strengths
The Learning Journey: Maximize and Refine Your Strengths Usage
The Art of Self-Management: Build a Career of Confidence and Well-being

Introduction

In the bustling tapestry of life, every interaction, challenge, and opportunity serves as a canvas for personal and professional growth and fulfillment. We invite you to embark on a journey of self-discovery in which you will unravel the mysteries of your strengths, thereby empowering you to craft an energizing and resilient narrative for both your career and personal well-being.

The Awakening: Understanding Strength

Through Adversity

Little did I know that it would take a formidable adversary like cancer to catalyze a profound change in my perspective on both career and life success.

There I was—a young mother in my late 30s, deftly juggling the demands of a newborn, a kindergartener, and a first grader while thriving in a high-powered executive role at an acclaimed Boston advertising agency. I was energized by the creative atmosphere, the challenge of maximizing my time, and the opportunity to serve my loving family and impressive colleagues. Life seemed, on the surface, great—or so I thought.

An unexpected and shocking diagnosis of stage 3 breast cancer abruptly halted my well-crafted method of thriving. Questions swirled in my mind ... how this could happen to me? I was a health-conscious, good girl who exercised regularly and ate a Mediterranean diet. I had no warning signs. Why was this happening to me?

As a fortunate survivor, I've spent decades pondering the vulnerability that led to my battle with cancer. Reflecting on my narrative, I had the startling revelation that certain aspects of my leadership role were fueled by draining strengths, silently compromising my immune system. Even though I excelled at outwardly managing the role's demands, the stress took an unseen toll on my well-being.

Surviving that challenging period sparked an epiphany that led me to a meaningful career shift into Executive Coaching. Fast forward 25 years, and as a modern elder, this transformation has made me wiser and allowed me to assist others in becoming reflective and intentional about their time and strengths. My definition of happiness transformed, emphasizing the "how" of unleashing one's authentic self over the conventional climb up the corporate ladder. I now work around my draining strengths and thoughtfully leverage my most energizing strengths to help my clients problem-solve, feel enabled, and build their self-belief. I have shed most of the job responsibilities that were de-energizing ... and my work is simply delightful.

The Importance of Self-Awareness: Unlock Your Inner Potential

Every day unfolds with challenges and opportunities in the intricate tapestry of life, and I consider it a privilege to engage with individuals navigating their unique paths forward.

While offering perspectives, advice, or creative ideas can be expected as part of my coaching support, I've come to understand that the most impactful assistance lies in empowering individuals to authentically leverage their strengths. The challenge, however, is that many are unfamiliar with their toolkit. Asking about personal strengths most often elicits a modest, sheepish list. Isn’t it ironic that the tools we use daily to manage our lives are the ones we struggle to recognize and appreciate?

The discrepancy stems from the glaring absence of a commonly taught class on self-awareness. Despite the surge in literature on happiness and positive living, formal education lacks a systematic approach to understanding our core being. Surveys and frameworks exist, yet their use is minimal compared to the extensive education we receive about how to understand the way other people think.

Understanding oneself is paramount to living life to its fullest and even enhancing daily

experiences. You must enter the domain of your inner mentor—this is the voice in your head that can identify the strengths that boost your confidence, enhance your relationships, shape your worldviews, and drive your actions. However, this journey to self-awareness is blatantly unobvious, prompting the question: How do you learn your strengths, and once known, how can you strategically deploy them?

The Tool to Use: Embrace the Dynamics of Your Strengths

Over the years, I have had thousands of conversations with leaders at Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academic institutions, and nonprofits – around the globe. Over and over, I hear these high-performing professionals say that their colleague has become “unbearable,” or their responsibilities are “exhausting,” or their work-life balance has become “out of control, in shambles.” Why? Because they are working too often from the strengths that drain their energy. This is a solvable challenge.

Crafting a job devoid of drains may be impossible. Still, intelligent self-reflection fueled by questions like, "Does this task energize me?" and “Which of my energizing strengths can be used to make this more task engaging?” can revolutionize your work dynamic and open the door to less stress and more happiness.

I highly recommend the Strengths Profile assessment to fuel your thinking and self-awareness. This tool comprehensively breaks your strengths into energizing vs. draining, used vs. underutilized, and strong performance vs. weaker effectiveness. Deepening the awareness of your strengths becomes a compass, guiding you toward your authentic self and empowering you to make strategic choices aligned with your unique strengths.

The Learning Journey: Maximize and Refine Your Strengths Usage

Your professional path unfolds like a winding road, marked by unexpected turns, formidable obstacles, and exhilarating milestones. Amidst this journey, the use of your strengths must adapt to the evolving landscape. For example, leveraging your competitive strength may bring intense satisfaction when your chosen portfolio stocks are performing well yet prove to be very draining when market factors do not enable you to “win” during market downturns. Or, your moral compass strength can invigorate you when upholding high standards with your team but may drain you when confronted with senior management directives that conflict with your values. Therefore, it’s imperative to periodically, if not daily, assess your approach and your strengths at play. Nurture your inner mentor with a deep understanding of what is most useful at any given turn.

Your most significant roadblock often arises from your most energizing strengths. Because using these tools makes you feel authentic, competent, and resilient, you constantly risk overplaying your strengths. In your enthusiasm, you may inadvertently stir conflict or overlook cues because you might have an unwavering focus on employing our strengths. It’s important to stay alert and recognize that alternative, equally empowering strengths might better navigate the terrain ahead.

The Art of Self-Management: Build a Career of Confidence and Well-being

The essence of strategically maximizing your potential lies in understanding that one shouldn’t need a health scare, like mine, to grasp the significance of creating your unique strength-focused approach. It's about weaving together a tapestry of strategies — from self-awareness to intentional job evolution to wise time management. This nuanced game plan not only ushers in fulfilling and productive work but also — when strategically wielded — empowers individuals to navigate the unpredictable journey of professional challenge and opportunity ... feeling resilient and confident.

As you develop an in-depth understanding about the complexities of your strengths, the pursuit of self-awareness and strategic strength deployment emerges as a beacon.

Embrace this reflective, growth-oriented journey and watch your inner potential unfold, paving the way for a more fulfilling, purpose-driven existence and a satisfying sense of well-being.

Author's Bio

Colleen Boselli focuses her energies on empowering and inspiring professionals to recognize their authenticity and strategically maximize their strengths. She is a highly regarded senior professional with 30+ years of noteworthy experience as a corporate leader, consultant, and

business coach.

Colleen’s broad experience and emotional intelligence enable her to be effective and valuable with a client base that spans cultures and continents, enabling her to deliver customized learning opportunities to clients in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Recognized as an intelligent thinker and entrepreneur, Colleen co-founded Strength Catalyst Partners in 2007. As an Executive Coach and Corporate Trainer, Colleen has worked globally, nationally, and locally with executives who are employed with global companies and non-profits including Alphabet/Google, The Red Sox, Pfizer, Apple, Bloomberg, Fidelity Investments, LinkedIn, and the March of Dimes. A noteworthy, prior background in marketing and advertising equipped Colleen with strong skills in situational analysis, logical reasoning, and personal branding.

Colleen also serves on Oceanside Perspective's advisory board as Strengths Coach.