The Truth About You – Your Strengths Matter
We cross paths with many young people that are new college and graduate school graduates who look around and don’t know what to do with their lives. Their professors have prepared them to expect large salaries, company cars and corporate health plans. At the same time, these new contributors to the workforce want to do something that is fun and that “doesn’t suck.” Many ask for our advice. One suggestion we offer (to those with experience) is to take an inventory of their strengths and weaknesses, as defined by The Marcus Buckingham Company. A strength is an activity that you are good at AND that fulfills you. The previous definition of an activity that you are good at isn’t wrong, just incomplete. On the flip side, a weakness is an activity that leaves you bored, drained or flat out weak – even if you are great at it! Now that you have a basic understanding, why not help those students in your life? Pick up a copy of The Truth About You by Marcus Buckingham for them. It will help them determine what their strengths and weaknesses are, learn how to talk about them and then, how to build their lives around them. Whose next 40, 50 or 60 years can you shape today?
