One of the 4 questions we ask the people we work with, at YellowBox Careers is “what makes you amazing?”
I find it interesting that people find it difficult to articulate their strengths, who they are and what they are great at. I find it interesting that my questioning would often result in a blank look and a shrug of the shoulders or a response that went something like “I don’t really know”.
In fact, I would say that most of the time, people find that question “what makes you amazing?” extraordinarily difficult to answer. Generally, people gravitate back to the task elements of what they do, or make broad statements about competency, without being able to clearly enunciate the true gifts that make them an inherently great at what they do.
It seems that many people struggle with a real sense of identity, diminishing their skills, gifts or talents and replacing them with version which reflects a diluted self-concept.
We often gravitate to a description of competency when we are attempting to articulate what our value proposition might be for a new employer or a new role. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, it’s just that, it’s not what your value proposition pitch should entail.
A competency is defined as “the ability to do something successfully or efficiently”, however what people are looking for is something much more powerful, compelling or impactful. What we need to be talking about are our gifts, those things “that are part of our natural ability or talent”, those things which might be innate to us and we bring with us into different environments.
We need to strip the competency back and look underneath to understand what gifts reside within them.
Can you describe your gifts rather than just defining a set of competencies? What impact are you having in the workspace, when these gifts are being used?
I challenge you to find and name your gifts. Remember these are your competitive advantage and your point of difference. When someone asks you to tell them about yourself, help them understand exactly how amazing you are and do it with confidence and a little bit of colour.
Chat with James@yellowboxcareers.com.au to explore more.
Note – illustration by David Blumenstein.
