Searching for opportunities
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 4:51PM I've had an exciting week. It's not just because the holidays are coming either. I've been working on setting up my own business, a project that will allow me to use my strengths and to focus on the stuff that I excel at. I have Tom Rath to thank for this. After reading his book last year (Strengths Finder 2.0) I've been dogged by the fact that I've historically been in jobs that haven't allowed me to be who I am. The jobs where I've been able to explore my strengths have meant that I've failed at performing some of the key tasks and functions of my role. This knowledge lead me to choose voluntary redundancy last February - probably one of the most important decision of my life.
Instead of jumping into another job I decided to sit it out for a while. I scanned the horizon for jobs that would suit me but didn't find very many job descriptions that catered to my strengths. After a failed attempt at enrolling into a PhD program here in New Zealand, I was offered an opportunity to teach. Teaching is something I've longed to do, but because of my lack of teaching experience I wasn't able to apply for most of the advertised jobs. Someone was willing to take a punt on me and this opened some exciting doors.
I started teaching leadership in May at the International College of Auckland. This role has allowed me to use many of my strengths which include: Input, Connectedness, Adaptability, Ideation, and Intellection. If you aren't sure what these are I would encourage you to check out Strengths Finder for yourself. I have excelled in this capacity and have even had the opportunity to travel to India to represent the school.
I'll continue to teach in the new year, hopefully as a contractor working for myself under my new business name (you'll have to wait for it). But I'm also looking out for opportunities to use my strengths in other places. If you think I can help you - lets talk.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.
Reader Comments (2)
Your courage and vision encourages the rest of us. And working from your strengths is the sure way to keep moving and growing. May all good things come with 2011.
Being taught by you was quite motivational. Thanks for the all the great time we had in class. Thanks for helping in everything. Happy New Year.