I was working as an Account Manager for some time in US. My client asked for a DBA resource. I didn’t had one. I had some Java profile. I was trying to tell my client manager how good this Java person is and I told him he can do DBA work also, blah, blah. I was just trying to sell this profile to DBA position. Then that manager jokingly said ” Kishore, don’t try to fit Circles into Squares and Squares into Circles“.
Since then I remember this phrase very well. This is very apt phrase when it comes to career selection and growth. If your career or specific role is not matching with your core strengths then it will be a drag and you won’t fit. Can you imagine how much drag? Just imagine an unfit (for this role) person leading a country or an organization how it will negatively impact. At the same time imagine the opposite- right people in the right roles. Progressive returns. 10X plus. How many such examples have you seen – both types?
But how one can find out their real talents/strengths?. Most often it is based on gut feel and you kind of get what you are good at. The main issue with this is very often people will get confused with skills vs talents. Skills comes with practice. Talents are inherent and with minimal effort you get highest return. And you want do more and more – sign of a talent.
Fortunately, now there are many scientific assessment tools available to know your core talents. You would have heard tools like DISC, MBTI and Gallup’s StrengthFinder. You can explore any tool you like. My personal favorite is StrenghtFinder. It has really helped me a lot to really understand my core talents. Even some of the large organizations are moving to “Strength based organizations”.
It does not matter whether you are entry level into career or senior level, it will be huge benefit to know your core talents. This is really the foundation basic building block.
Strength based Individuals -> Strength based Organizations -> Strength based Nation
YK