Find me onstage in 2025

As I started to scale my business this fall,  I felt overwhelmed by all the potential options and felt pretty “meh” about most. 

I decided to go back to basics - I defined my Operating Principles to set guardrails on what was important to me in leading my business. 

And the next natural step was to look at my Strengths. 

(This is part of my ‘building-in-public’ mini-series  taking you deep into how I’m using the same tools I use with clients to shape my business to show you how you can apply them to your own career.)

Defining my Strengths was a huge breakthrough for me when I started working with my career coach in 2018. 

For the first time (ever??) I had clear language to describe what I naturally and authentically good at, and what drained me or I had to force. 

(Note: I am a big fan of the Clifton StrengthsFinder test as it is an efficient way to distill your strengths. These questions are another great and free option.)

I’m deeply familiar with my Strengths at this point in my career, so I challenged myself to take a fresh look at them to see what hints or nudges they might give me. 

I scanned my top Strengths – Maximizer (taking people and things from ‘good to great’), Relator (developing deep long-term relationships) and Individualization (seeing people at a deep, personal level and adapting approaches to them). 

Well, no surprise here. 

These are what make me a great 1x1 coach - as I take all of you amazing women from good to great! - and drive my passion for it. This was confirmation that 1x1 coaching will always be at the core of my business. 

So what other natural Strengths could I use to drive my business? 

I started going down the list: 

Positivity: infuse optimism, light-hearted energy and praise in all situations

>> This makes me a great champion of my clients, but is not necessarily a business driver 

Achiever: work extremely hard and values productivity as ‘every day starts at zero’

>> I’m certainly using this to build the next phase of my business, but I’ve toned this down in recent years in favor of better work-life integration 

Arranger: able to coordinate and track a lot of moving pieces

>> Hm, ok we’re on to something. The same strength that made a great Chief of Staff gives me confidence that I’ll be able to manage a business with a different business lines and complexity 

Significance: likes to be seen as credible, doing work of importance and in the public eye

>> Yep, this one resonates. It’s what has made me comfortable writing this newsletter and sharing on LinkedIn. How can I use this more? 

Input: good at collecting and archiving information

>> Eh, this is what fuels my reading and continuous learning, but I don’t see how I’m going to (or want to) create a business line out of it…

Communication: effective at using verbal and written communication to explain and captivate

>> Aha! Another data point for public speaking and scaled communication. This feels like a tangible strength I can use more (and I enjoy). 

I wrapped up my scan feeling extremely excited about using my Significance and Communication Strengths more. They're a throw-back to what made me an effective facilitator and presenter as a consultant and I love organizing and sharing information thoughtfully. 

I’ve been using these skills to drive my marketing, but what if I used them in my coaching work? 

I’m using my communication skills to share my most impactful career coaching frameworks with you in a way that will be fun, inspiring and engaging (I promise!). 

This is how you can use your Strengths to shape your career: 

The most obvious and important way to do this is to do more of what you’re naturally good at and less of what you have to force. In other words, align your core day-to-day work with your Strengths. 

This is one of the most transformational things you can do for your career (and life). 

Refer back to my guide on how to do this. 

But the magic grows as you continuously use your Strengths - especially those which might not be tied to your core function - to shape and grow your career. 

For example, use your Relationship Building Strengths to build deep, authentic relationships that will champion your promotion or bring you exciting new growth opportunities. 

If you’re like me and spike on Communication and Significance, use those to build a personal brand that amplifies your career. 

Or if you’re great at delivering high-quality work on time (Maximizer, Responsibility, Focus), set those expectations for your team to cultivate a high-performance culture.

For those who spike on Ideation, Futuristic or Learning, use those to establish yourself as a thought leader. 

The options are endless! 

The more you use your unique magic, the more you’ll soar.