How to Lead with your Strengths (YGT📧45)

Hello and happy Sunday,

Welcome to another YOU GOT THIS! newsletter. 

Do you already know my favorite quote: "Energy flows where attention goes"?How can this quote help you? 🤩

Especially if you want to make positive changes to yourself, your job, and your life, it's important not to focus on what you don't (yet) have and what is difficult. This can lead to worrying and doubting yourself instead of actually changing something.

So, you should focus your attention on the possibilities and opportunities you see and get into action!

Ask yourself: Where and how should I start? and then: action!

Don't panic 😊 I've got you covered!

In today’s edition, I´ll write about these three topics:

👉 My learning: networking as an introvert!

👉 Career Inspiration: strengths have their sunny and dark sides

👉 Female Leadership: The Sandwich position

Have a wonderful week

Best Regards, Katharina

👉 My learning: networking as an introvert!

During my career, I made a mistake, especially at the beginning.

- I read dozens of non-fiction books and invested a lot of energy in my personal development.

- I was proactive at work and always went the extra mile.

But there was one thing I underestimated:

Proactively approaching strangers.

As an introvert, I failed because of my comfort zone. I stayed only with colleagues, fellow students, or friends—in short, with people I knew.

Approaching strangers was not an option for me.

But then I heard about a simple rule of thumb that changed everything for me:

Have 1x conversation a week with someone smarter than you – who is ahead of you in at least one area of life.

- Career: Have a conversation with someone who is a few steps ahead of you.

- Fitness: Talk to the fittest person at the gym.

- Learning: Talk to someone who has already mastered it.

Approaching new people and learning from them is an untapped potential for many (especially if you’re more introverted).

It definitely takes some effort – but it gets easier with practice.

Looking back, it was – and still is - the best and quickest way for me to grow personally.

Just this week, I was invited to a mindful, high-performance dinner and met so many interesting people, which gave me lots of new impulses.

So, again, try it out!!!

👉 Career Inspiration: Strengths have their sunny and dark sides

The April weather does what it wants (at least in Germany). And just like the weather, your strengths have their sunny and dark sides.

What does that mean?

What you do best can also be your greatest weakness. Sounds paradoxical? But it's not if we take a closer look:

Everyone has natural talents, which are initially present in their raw form. By becoming aware of them and investing in them, we develop them into strengths— in other words, into the ability to always be almost perfect. That is the sunny side.

However, every strength also has its dark side. When it becomes too strong, it becomes an obstacle instead of a success factor. How can you recognize and prevent this?

The best way to start is as follows: Take 10 minutes today and ask yourself the two typical questions for a job interview:

1. What are my three greatest strengths?

2. What are my three biggest weaknesses?

Then, think about how these might be related.

For example:

💃Are you good at getting things done? Then you probably also have a certain impatience.

💃Do you like to think deeply? Then it's possible that you sometimes don't get around to doing anything because you're so busy thinking.

💃Are you very empathetic? Then, you can probably recognize feelings and moods instinctively - which can be very unpleasant for you in negative situations.

💃Do you love gathering information and resources? Then it's probably already happened to you that you've put together a great collection, but the presentation for tomorrow isn't ready yet.

💃Are you very disciplined? Then, you may be less flexible or spontaneous because you need time to reschedule.

💃Do you like people and are sociable? If so, you may have neglected an old friendship because the new people in your life were so exciting.

Now, observe yourself over the next few days.

Whenever you feel annoyed or notice that things aren't going well between people, ask yourself:

💡Which top strength could get in my way?

➡️Can I reduce its intensity to resolve the situation?

Have fun, and good luck with your experiment!

👉 Female Leadership: The Sandwich Position

As a manager, you often find yourself in the infamous sandwich position - caught between the expectations of your superiors or customers and the needs of your employees.

The pressure is real and can be massive, which can negatively impact our performance and health.

But there is a way out of this dilemma: role clarity.

👉 By clearly defining and understanding our roles, including their requirements and boundaries, we can find a clear path through the chaos. It's important to realize that it's not about pleasing everyone but about finding the balance and prioritizing.

If you need help implementing this concept, I'm happy to help. Simply book a free appointment 👉here, and together, we'll find ways to face the sandwich pressure easily.

💃Change starts with you

Nothing will change unless you change something! It's up to you!

The alternative: Keep doing what you're doing....

For now, I wish you a great week; enjoy life, and remember to SHOW UP!

If you say what you want, you increase the chance of being heard! 👂

Have a great day, and remember, it is the one who gives up who does not reach success.

And now I wish you all the best and talk soon!

Best Regards, Katharina

💃How you can work with me:

Leadership Training: In my course MOVE UP! you can recognize and strengthen your leadership. Join the course 👉here.

Amazing Career Coaching: Join the 16-week 1:1 AMAZING CAREER coaching program with an Easter special. The doors open twice a year. Reply to this mail that you want to join and book a call with me 👉 here to learn more.

Not getting anywhere on your own? Then why not book a free virtual coffee break ☕️ with me and we'll find out together whether and how I can help you further. 👉🏼 Here is a link to book a discovery session with me

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PS: This newsletter is written by a human. English is not my native language. So, I'll make mistakes. And tech bugs 🪲 crawl in once in a while. So, if you see any of these, please let me know. I´m always happy to improve!