Being able to look within and identify your strengths and weaknesses, is something that everyone should do on a regular basis. It's funny how at times we're our own roadblocks. That said, with the start of 2017 I decided that one of my personal goals is to improve upon those weaknesses and if I only accomplish these tasks alone this year... I will have considered it a success.

The first step on this journey, was to work my way through Alex Vermeer's 8,760 Hours guide, which crafts a guideline on ways you can get the most out of the year. I then started reading more. Those currently in progress or on radar include:

Most recently, I've started to attend a Leadership Course at the local library, which is what actually prompted my first ever LinkedIn post. Some key points discussed thus far are The Ten Behaviors of Strong Personal Leadership. These include: self reflection, self awareness, self care, continuous learning, listening, operating rhythm, gear shifting, focus, clarity of purpose, and gratitude. We discussed "ethos", defined as ethics + emotional intelligence - ego. We delved into the five top characteristics of superior leaders: honest, forward-looking, inspiring, competent and fair-minded. Most personally impactful was the activity on Emotionally Intelligent Leadership. Here, you took inventory of your leadership role in both formal and informal situations and the score received was plotted along a chart which gauged you on consciousness of self, consciousness of others, and consciousness of context on a scale of 1-21.

Personal weaknesses were on developing relationships (13), demonstrating citizenship (14) and managing conflict (14). Strengths were in emotional self-perception (18), authenticity (18), and achievement (18). I'll describe these further here:

STRENGTHS

Emotional Self-Perception: Identifying emotions and their impact on behavior. Emotionally intelligent leaders are aware of how situations influence emotions and how emotions affect interactions with others.

Authenticity: Being transparent and trustworthy. Emotionally intelligent leaders live their values and present themselves and their motives in an open and honest manner.

Achievement: Striving for excellence. Emotionally intelligent leaders strive to improve and are motivated by an internal drive to succeed.

WEAKNESSES

Developing Relationships: Build a network of trusting relationships. Emotionally intelligent leaders encourage opportunities for relationships to grow and develop.

Demonstrating Citizenship: Fulfilling responsibilities to the group. Emotionally intelligent leaders meet their ethical and moral obligations for the benefit of others and the larger purpose.

Managing Conflict: Identifying and resolving conflict. Emotionally intelligent leaders skillfully and confidently address conflicts to find the best solution.

So the question is where to go from here? Knowing one's weaknesses, how to go about improving? Some ideas include:

Locate and meet with a mentor who has mastered the capacity.

Read an article or book on the capacity you hope to develop.

Blog or journal about the process of developing the capacity (I've chosen this route).

Search the web for resources and tools that may help you develop the capacity.

Seek out work opportunities that will require you to use and practice the capacity you wish to develop.

So, I ask you. What are some areas that you'd like to improve upon? How would you go about finding a mentor to help you grow? What similar challenges have you come across and how did you overcome?