This episode is sponsored by Petra Kolb
Cultivate a deep understanding of yourself - not only what your strengths and weaknesses are but also how you learn, how you work with others, what your values are, and where you can make the greatest contribution. Because only when you operate from strengths can you achieve true excellence. Peter Drucker
Hello again folks and thanks for, in the words of one of my favourite productivity guys Paul Minors, spending your valuable time here with me. I try not to steal Paul’s content when doing these shows although for sure I’ve covered some of the same content, I have found myself more than once saying these words which always remind me of him. But thanks, I give you and thanks sincerely for checking in with this show once again.
In last week’s show I looked at the Jim Rohn quote that we become the sum of the 5 people we spend the most time with. It’s an interesting productivity observation which when identified could be the solution to your problems. Please check it out to find
Today I’m looking at another form of high-level thinking as I ask you to assess yourself by listing your weaknesses. This whole episode is kind of a single great CALL TO ACTION so let’s get into it. What are your Weaknesses?
It’s a question that is the staple of many a job interview because it allows your potential employer to highlight your problem-solving strengths and self-awareness. Employers will appreciate your honesty and integrity. If you try to avoid the question the interview may end before you get a second chance.
Taking this as a productivity exercise however, this is just a way of building your self awareness, on one level, but once you have identified your weaknesses you can then start thinking on how to make improvements.
I know that as a filmmaker I have weakness in editing techniques like grading and sound mixing. I don’t have to do an exercise to identify those weaknesses but are there others that I haven’t thought about? Here are a bunch of examples from indeed.com that you may not have considered. Here are a few.
· I have a hard time letting go of a project. 'My greatest weakness is that I sometimes have a hard time letting go of a project. I'm the biggest critic of my work, and I can always find something that needs to be improved or changed. To help myself improve in this area, I give myself deadlines for revisions and try to avoid making too many last-minute changes.'
· I have trouble saying no. 'My greatest weakness is that I sometimes have trouble saying no to requests and end up taking on more than I can handle. I now use a project management app so I can see how much work I have at any moment and understand when I have time to help others.'
· I sometimes struggle to keep a healthy work/life balance. 'Because I truly love my work and I am very ambitious, I sometimes find it difficult to set boundaries between my work and personal life. I have seen a negative impact on my motivation and focus when I ignore my personal needs. To overcome this weakness, I now try to emphasise creating time in my schedule to spend with my family. Small changes, such as putting my phone on silent, have made a huge difference. Having more balance in my life between work and leisure makes me more productive at work.'
· I sometimes lack confidence. 'My greatest weakness is that I sometimes lack confidence, which is why I have difficulty speaking up in groups. Even if I have great ideas, I have difficulty sharing them with others. For this reason, I decided that it was time to take speaking and acting classes. These classes helped me learn to separate my shy self from my professional self.'
Mystrengthsandweaknesses.com offers a whole host of possible weaknesses.
Not taking criticism well
Impatient
Lazy
Easily bored
Procrastinate
Persistent
Takes things personally
Strong willed
Passive
Does not like conflict
Shy
Lethargic
Long-term planning
Strict
Short-sighted
Selfish
Focusing on small details
Takes blame for others
Being straight forward
Greedy
Delegating tasks
Needs to be right
Stubborn
Multitasking
Allows emotions to show
Blunt
Presenting
Impulsive
Bossy
Takes on to much
Follow-ups
Aggressive
Likes to take risks
Critical of others
Passive
Works to much
Perfectionist
Fearful
Self critic
Trouble with teams
Close-minded
Unorganized
Does not like pressure
In most cases, strengths and weaknesses are two sides of the same coin. A strength in one situation is a weakness in another, yet often the person can't switch gears. It's a very subtle thing to talk about strengths and weaknesses because almost always they're the same thing. Steve Jobs
Now I’m not going to cover it fully here, but you would be served well to also create a list of your strengths. These may be derived from your personal skills, such as ambition, honesty, integrity, creativity etc. Your transferable skills things like being a team player, good communications, writing skills or being well organised, or your knowledge based skills, as I mentioned before, editing would be one but also things like accounting, marketing or photography. Your top 3 are most likely your bread and butter. They are strengths you have no matter what the job environment is.
But let me come back to the listing of your weaknesses. This is an excercise in self-assessment that you may never have done before but analysing your weaknesses and developing your awareness of them will allow you to act upon improving upon them, or on building upon your strengths in order to counter them.
Paramahansa Yogananda explains that Millions of people never analyze themselves. Mentally they are mechanical products of the factory of their environment, preoccupied with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, working and sleeping, and going here and there to be entertained. They don't know what or why they are seeking, nor why they never realize complete happiness and lasting satisfaction. By evading self-analysis, people go on being robots, conditioned by their environment. True self-analysis is the greatest art of progress.
Before I sum up on this all this, I need to say that like all things productivity related, there is no point in identifying your weaknesses if you do not put your solutions into action, whatever plans you have decided upon to counteract them. It me brings me back to yet another quote from Peter Drucker who said
The problem in my life and other people's lives is not the absence of knowing what to do but the absence of doing it.
Choose 3 of the weaknesses you have listed and think about how you can counteract them using your strengths, or if they are knowledge based weaknesses what you can do to beat them.
I am using video learning and test shoots to learn about editing, grading and sound mixing, and I am taking a leaf out of last weeks book too and associating myself with people who know more about those topics than I do, and who are very talented in those fields. I have already dealt with many weaknesses since starting this show, perhaps most successfully in my ability now to say no to things I don’t want to do, that wont further my career or my dreams and also get over my fear of discussing financial matters openly with employers who are very often trying to play the old we don’t have much money routine. Believe you me, my days of subsidizing mainstream tv with greatly reduced rates are well behind me.
These may sound like small things but by identifying them and putting into action plans for countering them, you will set yourself directly back onto a path of success.
It is great to be introspective, self analysis can be useful, but only if it results in action. Joe Sacco
In next week’s show I’ll be offering up 10 of my thoughts on the internet, social media and social media marketing from a productivity perspective.
In the mean time I’ll end with some words from Peter Drucker who said
We can't make people better by trying to eliminate their weaknesses, but we can help then perform better by building on their strengths.
Now take control of your own destiny, keep on shootin’ and join me next time on FILM PRO PRODUCTIVITY AND SUCCESS!
• The music you can hear right now is Adventures by A Himitsu and the exec producer this season is Christopher McPhillips from Artos Digital
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Season 10 Executive Producer: Christopher McPhillips from Artos Digital
2-time winners of 'Social Media Agency of the Year' at the Prestige Awards; Artos Digital specialise in marketing communications, coaching and personal branding. Owner Christopher McPhillips launched the business from his home in Bathgate and now works alongside his wife, Electra, for specialised event-management and fundraising. Enjoying a broad portfolio of clients over the years, ranging from established enterprises to start-up's - a good fit for Artos Digital given their adaptable and agile approach. Christopher and Electra have combined their talents for three significant clients this past year: Reconnect, a SCIO who run the Regal Theatre in Bathgate; Pro2 Wrestling in Ayr; and Puppet Animation Scotland in Edinburgh.
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/artos.digital
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/artosdigital
Instagram - www.instagram.com/artos.digital
References:
Thanks: A Himitsu Music: Adventures by A Himitsu
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Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE
Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8 –––