The Skills SweetSpot for your career is where:

  1. What is valuable to employers,

  2. What you enjoy doing and

  3. What you are good at

All overlap because in this way you can get paid for what you enjoy doing.

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Finding out what is valuable to employers:

It’s great to develop skills for your own motivations like improving your self confidence. But some skills are just more valuable to the people who pay your salary. Improving your skills isn’t just about the money but if you want to maximise your financial payback then find out what employers want. Here are 3 suggestions:

  1. In your one on one meetings with your boss, ask your boss two questions:

    • What skills should I develop to do my job better?

    • What skills should I develop to support my career progression?

  2. Another great source is your last few performance reviews or of course your job description.

  3. Is there a job that you want to do? Find a job description on the internet and look at the skills requirements

Warning: When you ask your boss what skills you should develop, your boss is going to tell you where your weaknesses are. This is because it’s easier to see what’s wrong, instead of what’s right. So be prepared for some critical feedback. But it is a good way to get candid feedback. Remember that you don’t always want to fix your weaknesses, unless they cause a blockage. You will have more success when you focus on your strengths.

What you are good at and what you enjoy doing:

These are often the same skills because:

  • We like doing what we are good at and

  • We become good at what we like doing.

To identify these have a look at your resume for responsibilities that you enjoyed or where you think you have done well. If you’re struggling to come up with enough then also consider non-work experience such as volunteering, hobbies and activities. Ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do you have training or a certificate to support working in this area?

  2. Can you get better, faster or more specialised in this discipline?

  3. What skills do you have that are languishing at work?

Other paths to self awareness:

  • Have you ever taken a behaviour profile (what is colloquially known as a “personality” test)? The DISC assessment is a good profile for the work environment.

  • Asking people who know you well

Next Steps: Self-Leadership: Developing Yourself

Developing your strengths is a key factor in self-leadership. To be a better self-leader start with improving your self-leadership skills with self-leadership training. Self-Leadership: Developing Yourself is a quick, online training course that you can use to kick-start your self-development.

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