We all have a set of skills that we’re good at. Some of us are better at them than others, and some are naturally gifted in certain areas. The problem is that many people don’t realise their strengths, and even if they do, they don’t know how to leverage them for success. But you’ll be more confident and successful if you know what you’re good at and where your strengths lie.
Here’s a replay of our chat with Adriana Kosovska, a career coach at Zero to Dream Job, a career coaching company. Before this role, Adriana worked as a manager in an Accounts Payables department, a job she loved until things didn’t click, and she started hating it. Realising that leadership wasn’t for her, she resigned and set out to rediscover her talents. She took Gallup’s Talent Assessment Test in 2015, which helped her identify her strengths, and she later became a career coach.
Join us as she covers all topics: What is talent? How can you discover it through assessment, or how can you find it through observing yourself, your work, or your personal life? How can it help you in your career? Adriana also explains why now is the right time to inquire, get curious, and discover for yourself what your combination of talents is and how you can make the most out of it.
Key Highlights
[01:20] Who’s Adriana, and what’s her role at Zero to Dream?
[02:35] Why she suddenly hated her job
[04:06] What led Adriana into career coaching?
[08:08] The process of identifying one’s talents
[11:25] Key takeaways from the episode
[13:54] Gallup’s definition of talent
[16:13] It’s about managing your energy
[18:08] How to recognise talents
[25:44] How talent assessment can be helpful
[30:58] How do you manage roles that lie within your weaker talents?
[33:55] What next after taking the Gallup talent assessment?
[38:02] Should you invest your time into knowing your talents?
[40:42] Where to do the Gallup talent test
[42:15] Some valuable books on how to develop talents
[43:08] How to connect with Adriana
Notable Quotes
- After two and a half years of being promoted to manager in Accounts Payable, I realised that maybe this isn’t, for me, perhaps leadership is not my way forward.
- It wasn’t me who came up with the idea of career coaching; it was actually a colleague of mine who worked in that role with me.
- Talents helped me discover my storytelling talent and helped me not be afraid of publishing and writing.
- Once you find your genius zone, you know which task to delegate.
- It’s not about how you manage your time in those eight hours but how you manage your energy to produce the best results.
- Working with your talents helps you to remove the busyness from your life, and it will help you find different avenues, improving your productivity and enjoyment of work.
- One of the common myths interpretation of talent is that people consider talent as a strength, and this isn’t entirely the truth.
- We often spend too much time on activities that don’t produce results or are not as good at. We should focus on something that’s in alignment with our talent.
- When you experience failure, it doesn’t mean that you cannot be successful or that you’re not talented. You’ve got to learn how to apply those talents better.
- If you ever find yourself stuck at work, feeling burned out, or that there is something you cannot do, go back to these three simple signs and try to think and reflect on what can help you overcome that obstacle.
- You actually get more energised by doing what you love. And overall, when you enjoy what you do and when you are very good at it, of course, it naturally leads to improved earning potential.
Resources
Take Gallup’s Talent Assessment Test here.
Connect with Adriana on LinkedIn.
Mentioned Book: Strengths-Based Selling
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