Whether you realize it or not, you have natural strengths
that are the key to your relaunch success. But, you may have been
trained to think in terms of weaknesses – whether it is feedback from
past performance reviews, your health or how you look - the question is
usually “what needs to be fixed?”
I challenge you to look at what is working well, not what needs to be
fixed. When you are stuck and don’t know how to move forward, ask:
“What do I do best?”
To answer this, take 20 minutes to brainstorm your strengths – write
down everything you know you do well, regardless of whether it relates
to your relaunch. To help, try the on-line assessment, Discover Your CliftonStrengths, by Don Clifton.
Once you know your strengths, own them. Set an intention to use them every day in your daily activities.
With respect to your relaunch, your strengths are an essential tool to success at each stage:
Determining your Career Path
Consider your strengths and how they can be combined with your skills, experience and professional values for your next role.
If you are a great learner and were a teacher, how about corporate training, non-profit advocacy, research, analysis and reporting?
If you are highly strategic and were a banker, how about product management, corporate strategy, or policy development?
- Case in point: Jane, a former practicing psychologist,
utilized her excellent writing and empathy skills to relaunch in
education advocacy for families of children with special needs.
Analyze your past roles and current activities to determine what
strengths contributed to your success and then research roles that
employ those strengths. And, use the specific language of your
strengths as you speak with others to make it easy for them to help you
with ideas and connections.
Build Confidence
The best way to build your confidence is to take small risks daily,
using your strengths. Eventually, you will feel secure in your efforts
as they are based on what you do well.
Are you a good writer? Write out paragraphs about your skills
or past work experiences – when the time is right, this can be turned
into a LinkedIn profile or a CV.
Are you an athlete? Start your networking with your exercise
group – if you excel at something, use the confidence you have from that
activity to speak about your relaunch.
Are you a good connector? Start telling people you are
relaunching – begin with your immediate circle and then branch out at
any function you attend, relying on your ability to connect with others
to be confident in what you are saying.
- Case in Point: Pamela relaunched, after many attempts at
online applications (do not spend all of your time online!), by getting
up the courage to raise the topic with the spouse of a friend, while out
for dinner one night. It wasn’t easy to speak about her relaunch, but
she relied on her ability to connect, and jumped in headfirst by asking
him outright if he needed help with his business. It turns out he did,
and she is working with him full time now.
Prepare for Interviews
Do what you do best in every stage of the interview process. Tie your
strengths to the specific requirements of the role and you will instill
confidence that you can perform the functions without as much worry
about experience or skill gaps.
For interview preparation, great speakers practice their pitch and overcome any weaknesses through articulate messaging. Competitive relaunchers map out the process as a game and see each meeting as an opportunity to get better and challenge themselves.
For interview content, analyzers are prepared to demonstrate their ability to organize, sort data, and research. A compassionate relauncher can focus on inclusiveness, team participation, and relationship building.
- Case in Point: John, who is very creative and who can worry
that he may go off point during interviews because of his creative mind,
prepared a visual presentation for an interview. It guided the
interviewers, demonstrated his creativity, acted as a visual aid for
him, and highlighted his technical skills after a multiple year career
break.
When you focus on your strengths, you can achieve your relaunch goals, change your status quo,
and push past your fears. The more you rely on your strengths, the
easier it is to be confident, to sell yourself, and to speak about what
you want. That’s a great formula for success!
