As you know, I got a new job.
Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Twitter are familiar with how much I have been gushing about working here. I can’t help it. It’s a great place to work; I feel valued in ways I never thought would ever be possible (thanks to demoralizing jobs I have had in the past), and I get to use my skills and talents every single day.
The company is going through some restructuring (actual restructuring, not job cuts), and they are using this time as a way to look at who they are and where they want to go. They have hired a marketing consultant from New York City, and she has been hear all wekk on a whirlwind mission to gather data and explore passion among Truehopers.
I have had the opportunity to sit in on two meetings so far. One was an initial meeting with the executive on Monday exploring what defines us and who we are. The other was today where we conducted several exercises exploring our individual strengths.
The consultant had us fill out a 30-minute survey that determines what our 5 strengths are. Here are mine:
- Input
- Strategic
- Communication
- Adaptability
- Connectedness
Some of these are similar to the results of some career counselling I did about 6 years ago. What I found interesting this time around, however, is that my new job is built to allow me to use these five strengths every single day. No one knew when I was hired that these were my five strengths. but it is great how it worked out.
Even more interesting is she had us each write down a strength for every person in the room. Here is what everyone else saw as strengths in me:
- Efficient
- Organized
- Effective communicator
- Great communicator
- Fantastic sense of humour
- Creative thinker
- Facebook posts
- Calm, with vision
- Very detailed
- Focused
- Creative writing
- Gratitude
- Creative
- Very good with words
- Very good with educating others
- Technical achiever
- Excellent ethic
I was surprised. Mostly because I have been here only two months, and I didn’t think most people in the room had a chance to get to know me well or even see my strengths. It is interesting how it still manages to show through.
When I was fired from the university almost two years ago, I used that as an opportunity to change how I branded myself. It looks like it worked.
Nowhere in there is anything related to my 9 years in the IT sector, which is precisely how I want it. In fact, there is only 1 (maybe 2) strengths listed by others that even focus on my technical abilities.
It is so empowering to finally be recognized for my soft skills, my real strengths.
