Want to Level Up Professionally? Start by Knowing Your Strengths

by Denise Harris | Jun 23, 2019 | New

“There’s no greater gift than to honor your lifes calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive.” – Oprah

It’s one thing to know you’re doing a good job, but you won’t succeed if you’re not clear on the value you bring to your organization.

Knowing your strengths will put you over the top.

Can you name 5 of your top talents off the top of your head? Do you know the 3 most valuable traits you bring to your company?

Let me let you in on a secret.

Most people don’t know what they’re good at or they may have an idea but have a difficult time articulating it.
It’s much easier to focus on what we’re not good at and try to fix it.

Being unclear on what our strengths are, is part of the reason, why so many smart professional women find it challenging to advocate for themselves, ask for higher compensation or pursue top level opportunities.

When we are intentional about knowing our values and strengths, we create an awareness of who we are which helps us to become more confident in ourselves and appreciate what we bring to the table.

Last year, a client of mine, who is a high achiever and an effective leader for a multinational corporation, told me about how she had taken the Strengthfinder assessment, during a particularly volatile time in her organization.

When we began our coaching work together, her goals included creating an inspiring & bold agenda for the work she wanted to do and being deliberate about moving outside her comfort zone.
What followed for her was a sequence of epiphanies that led to motivation, action and momentum in her life.

Knowing her strengths and leveraging what she was good at, opened her up to consider key possibilities and think about a different approach to her leadership opportunities. Since then, the organization has created a new role, positioning her as a sought after global leader.

Despite the major changes that were going on in her organization, she remained steadfast in her belief that if she continued doing more of the things she excelled at, she would stay engaged, be passionate about her work, and continue to reinvent her career.

So what about you?

Whether you’re an executive looking to advance your career, own your own business or are reinventing what you do professionally, I invite you to learn more about what you do RIGHT. Taking the assessment will help you identify your own natural strengths and talents.

Here are 3 reasons why knowing your strengths will help you level up professionally.

1. You will know how you stand out competitively.

2. Your confidence will increase with the clarity that comes from a greater appreciation of the value you bring to your organization.

3. You’ll have the language to communicate with others about what you do well, your projects, goals and the impact you’re making, which will make it less difficult for you to advocate for yourself.

If you want to take the Strengthfinders assessment, and learn how to leverage your strengths to advance professionally, schedule a call with me today, at yourcorporateally 

Three Ways to Build Influence

by Denise Harris | Jun 6, 2019 | New

Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.
-John C. Maxwell

Good leaders can get people to achieve, but influential leaders get people to want to achieve.

Last week, I had the pleasure of facilitating a workshop with a super group of talented women who traveled from all over the country to learn more about influencing strategies, so they could effectively develop their program, communicate more confidently with their clients and establish themselves as experts in their space.

These women are high achievers and are part of a learning community. They openly shared with me their challenges with getting their messages across when clients showed up with a blend of attitudes and views.

Here are 3 influence strategies that I shared with this leadership team, and that I think you will find to be very effective.

#1. Empowerment – Making others feel valued by involving them in decision making and giving them recognition.
When we respect someone, we are more inclined to cooperate and more willing to be influenced by them.
Look for solutions that will benefit everyone involved.

#2. Having a common vision – Presenting ideas by linking them to an aspiring vision of what is possible and show people how their work is important to the broader goals of the organization.
Use meetings and other gatherings to build a sense of pride and ownership in the team.

#3. Relationship building – Taking the time to connect with others and getting to know them personally. You want to cultivate relationships so that others will be inclined to support your ideas in the future.
And that starts with you being present and being able to build rapport.

Additionally, a growing body of research suggests that the way to influence—and to lead—is to begin with warmth.

Warmth is the conduit of influence: It facilitates trust and the communication and absorption of ideas.

We can all think back to someone who had a big influence on us in our lives, and for me, it was my father. As far back as I can remember, he enforced the idea that I should think for myself and never do something just because others were doing it.

Every organization has unique dynamics and having the ability to know how to influence others is a golden key.

We all need to know how to use influence, when we’re in an interview and we want to nail the opportunity, or when we want to shift someone’s perspective or we’re looking to win others over.

Which one of these 3 strategies have you found to be most effective for you?