What do you believe you do best? Why do you believe as you do? What are your key strengths, and what leads you to believe that they are strengths?

As a person who identifies as a female who has anxiety and lives in a world that implies I am “never enough,” it is challenging to jump into listing “What I do Best” and my “Key Strengths”. My background had taught me to be humble and never satisfied with myself. I avoided this blog because I want to prevent any perception of bragging or unearned pride, so here we go.

In work, what I do best is to listen to others, ask them curious questions, and create a space for them to move forward. I’m successful at this because my questions come from a place of support and curiosity rather than from “I know better than you”. I feel empowered when I get to collaborate with others who are excited to do some creative thinking and find a way to make work better. I feel a state of calm energy and achievement during this work. Others seek me out for this type of work and ask me to be thought partners with them. I receive praise for the calm, safe environment that I create and people frequently tell me they wish they were one of my employees.

The strengths that I pull on to do my work include empathy, acceptance, creativity, listening and phycological safety. I know that I will get the best out of my employees and clients when they are in an environment that encourages their strengths and recognizes their contributions. I make equitable decisions giving each participant what they need at the moment. To do this I listen to verbal, non-verbal, context, and emotions cues of others. I ask questions to make sure I’m getting the full picture. And finally, I care that the other party gets a result that is beneficial to them. I know these are my strengths because they are the items I use when I’m doing my best and when I feel the most connected to work. These are the strengths that I use in the majority of my social interactions and help me to make meaningful connections in the world.