We’ve all got those jobs we love to hate and the tasks that we know we’re not great at. It’s human nature to avoid focusing on things we are not good at – pushing them to the back of our minds and the back of our “to do” list. But it’s also empowering to tackle our weaknesses head on and commit to improving them. It’s never too late to make the decision to identify and improve areas of our life where we know we could do better. After all we’ve all got those niggly spaces!
Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and upskill or improve to do your job well or to take that next step in your career. Or, you might be seeking improvement in a sporting field. It doesn’t matter what it relates to, the techniques for improving weak areas are pretty much the same across the board.
You’ve probably already taken that first step in improvement by recognising that you have a weakness and that you want to improve it. Just by reading this blog you’re demonstrating a willingness or a desire to understand how to make change and that’s a great beginning!
Next up, take some time to identify the specific skill or area of expertise that you feel is lacking – it might be how to deal with conflict, or it might be public speaking. By defining the weakness, you can best understand the training or development you need to fill the gap.
Correspondingly, after evaluation, you may realise that you don’t need to upskill and address the specific weakness but rather develop your complementary strengths further. For example, if you really dislike public speaking and can’t avoid it, then you can make sure you are very well prepared to cope with anything that’s thrown at you from your audience. Do your research, understand your listeners, anticipate their questions and prepare robust responses, have all your answers to tricky questions close at hand. In other words, use your research, investigation and preparation strengths to negate your presentation weakness. While this might not help with the public speaking it will give you the confidence that you can cope with it.
Maybe by identifying your weakness you determine that you can request another team member to take on that specific responsibility. Be up front and honest and let them know why you are asking them to be involved. Honesty in the workplace is seen as a great leadership skill and the focus will be on your openness to admit your weak area and ask for help.
Sometimes a simple thing like undertaking additional training or completing a course can help shift you into a new space. eCampus NZ offers a comprehensive range of training and courses that could be perfect to help address that area of weakness and give you the skills to overcome it. Let’s make 2019 the year we go head to head with areas of weakness and turn them around – you never know you might find out an area you thought was a weakness is actually a hidden strength.