How to Harness Your Strengths to Guide Your Career Transition 

A person’s strengths are their superpower, their unique power and path to success. That’s why strengths can be a powerful resource to guide anyone through a successful career transition. 

What does it actually mean, though, to use your strengths to guide your career transition? Here are six steps to ensure the next step in your career brings out your best and lands you in an environment where you can thrive. 

What are strengths? 

According to Gallup, a strength is the “ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific task” and that is achieved when a person invests time practicing how they apply their natural talents until they can do so. We are all born with natural talents and with time and practice, those talents can become strengths that unlock an exponential level of success and satisfaction. 

Your strengths are most evident when you are doing something that energizes you, comes naturally, with little thought or effort. You may even find that you lose track of time when you are using your strengths. Gallup’s research supports that when people have the opportunity to use their strengths, they are significantly more likely to be engaged at work and report having an excellent quality of life.  

Strengths can be identified using the CliftonStrengths assessment or through self-reflection (or a combination of both).  

How are strengths different from skills or expertise? 

Strengths are broader and more intrinsic qualities than skills or expertise. They are the natural abilities or traits that energize you and that you can often rely on without much effort, like adaptability, empathy, or analytical thinking. These qualities are often part of who you are and influence how you approach tasks or solve problems, making them transferable across various roles. 

Skills and expertise, on the other hand, are learned abilities that come from education, training, or experience. Skills are specific, like project management or data analysis, and expertise is a higher level of proficiency in these areas, typically acquired over time. 

While strengths provide a foundation for success, coupling them with necessary skills and expertise allows you to be successful in different professional environments. 

How do strengths relate to career transitions? 

Like values, you will be most engaged and successful if you are able to use your strengths regularly (think daily) in your career. Knowing your strengths will allow you to focus your career transition efforts on roles, organizations and environments that will bring out your best. 

Tips for harnessing your strengths to guide your career transition 

Women looking strong in front of a wall with images painted on it
Knowing and applying your strengths in your career can unlock your potential.

1 | Reflect on your strengths. 

The best place to start is by reflecting on what your strengths are. Use whatever method you prefer! Try these prompts: 

  • What are examples of things you love doing? These are things that you lose track of time and find yourself excited and energized when doing them.  
    • For each item you identify, what is it about activities or interactions that you find particularly energizing? Try to be as specific as possible. 
  • Now, what are examples of things you don’t love doing? These are things that you procrastinate, avoid, or find draining and inefficient.  
    • For each item you identify, what is it about those activities or interactions you find draining or unenjoyable? 
  • What do other people seek you out for? Why might that be? 

Now, look at everything you captured and summarize – what are your strengths? How do they help you be successful? 

2 | Ask others about your strengths. 

Because your strengths come so naturally to you, it may be difficult to see them in action. You may not realize that others do not have access to those strengths. So, it can be valuable to ask those who know you well about your strengths.  

What do they see as your strengths? And, what specific examples can they provide where they have seen them in action? 

After talking to a few people, revisit your notes from step 1 above to incorporate new insights. 

3 | Complete the CliftonStrengths assessment. 

Assessments, like CliftonStrengths, can be a helpful tool to access deeper insights about yourself and provide language for you to name your strengths. The online assessment takes just 30-45 minutes to complete, and you receive your reports immediately. 

Take action: Contact me to learn more about the strengths assessment and coaching options. 

While the reports are valuable on their own, clients consistently share with me that one-on-one coaching to make meaning of their CliftonStrengths is transformational for them. Through coaching, clients are able to identify how their strengths show up uniquely in their life and work as well as ideas on how to use them to be even more successful. 

Pro Tip: If you’ve taken the CliftonStrengths assessment before, there’s no need to take it again! Just login to your Gallup account using the email address from when you originally completed the assessment as your username. If you no longer have access to that email address, contact Gallup Support for assistance. 

4 | Connect your strengths to your career vision. 

Your strengths and values are critical components of your career funnel, helping ensure that the options you explore for your career transition will lead you to where you ultimately want to be – your career vision. Now it’s time to identify connections between what you’ve learned about your strengths and how you can use them to achieve your career vision. 

For example, one of my strengths is Relator, which means that I excel and am energized by one-on-one interactions that create lasting relationships. In my field, it is common for roles to involve large group facilitation and instruction. This insight about my strengths allowed me to focus specifically on roles that would primarily involve one-on-one interactions and where I could develop deep relationships with clients over time.  

Take time to consider the following: 

  • How can you leverage your strengths to achieve your career vision? Try to be specific. 
  • In what ways can your strengths help clarify your career vision?  

5 | Apply your strengths to the career transition process. 

Your strengths don’t just apply to your career, they also apply to the career transition process – so use them! What does that mean? Here are a few examples: 

  • If you are at your best when you have routines established, create routines that will help shift your career such as schedule certain blocks of time to research options, apply for roles, arrange networking appointments. 
  • If you are at your best when you can analyze data, create a spreadsheet or other place to store data about your career transition to help you make decisions about what’s next. 
  • If you are at your best when you are in a room of new people and making connections, invest time in networking and social events related to your career transition. 
  • If you are at your best when you can talk through ideas, fears, and options with those close to you, set aside time to talk about your career transition with people you trust. 

6 | Use your strengths as a filter. 

Gallup’s research about strengths indicate that no specific strengths (in the CliftonStrengths assessment) are correlated with success in certain careers. However, from my experience as a Strengths coach, knowing your strengths can inform the type of organization and environment you will thrive in.  

For instance, if competition is not a strength of yours, you may find it difficult to be successful in a highly competitive work environment. Conversely, if belief (strong sense of purpose or core values) is a strength of yours, working within a mission-driven organization might be important to you. 

What if my career isn’t in alignment with my strengths? 

There are several clues to help you identify if your career isn’t in alignment with your strengths. These include: 

  • Regularly feeling drained or exhausted after work 
  • Feeling like your best effort is still inefficient and effortful 
  • Procrastinating a number of your core duties or responsibilities 
  • Knowing you are regularly not at your best at work 

Ready to harness the power of your strengths? 

Your strengths are your superpower, so why wouldn’t you use them to guide you to what’s next in your career? Knowing your strengths and how to apply them are an essential component of a successful career transition. 

Need help integrating your strengths into your career transition plan? Unearth Coaching & Consulting offers four career transition coaching packages, which all include the CliftonStrengths assessment and a strengths-based approach.  

Not ready to dive into a full coaching package? The strengths assessment and one-on-one debrief is available as a standalone offer. Contact me today to learn more and get started! 

Susan Gleissner

Susan Gleissner believes that life is better with adventure, including our careers. Her journey from being an engineering leader to an HR professional, combined with her passion for helping others reach their potential positions her to offer practical, individualized career transition and leadership coaching to those looking to take their career to the next level. Susan is a credentialed coach through the International Coaching Federation and Gallup. In her spare time she shares adventure travel inspiration on her travel blog, This Big Wild World.

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