How To Turn a Perceived Career Weakness Into a Super Power

Recently I was coaching one of my Purpose Driven Career clients, and we were diving into her strengths and weaknesses.

She loves to solve problems and create solutions, and if there is no problem to solve, she becomes unmotivated. She saw this as a weakness that she needed to overcome for the longest time.

As her coach, I could see this as a leadership skill. I saw her with a CEO mindset and suggested that this isn’t a problem but a superpower. A CEO's job is to provide leadership for all aspects of the company's operations with an emphasis on long-term goals, growth, profit, and return on investment and to be looking at things from the top down to identify problems and create solutions. She was blown away by this realization, and I could see her excitement about this newfound clarity.

The other challenge is that she wants to offer the solution when she identifies a problem. Unfortunately, when she has done this to colleagues and upper management, her passion is perceived as anger. She admits that she does go into these meetings in fight mode, fists up (a childhood pattern we had uncovered).

The good news is that she can work on this aspect of herself and doesn't have to live with it for the rest of her life. I suggested she sign up for either a public speaking course or try a Toastmasters class to get support and feedback to work on her presentation skills and how she can come across with passion rather than with anger.

Working on this challenge now will set her up for success in the future.

How can you turn one of your perceived career weaknesses into a superpower?

P.S. And, whenever you’re ready… here are four ways we can help you get unstuck and grow your purpose-driven career: