Blog | Personal development

Know Your Strengths and Continue to Enhance Them

“Self-awareness of strengths will assist you in becoming a better entrepreneur and leader.”

This skill has led me to become a social entrepreneur, investor, international speaker and the co-author of the Rich Dad Advisor book, The Social Capitalist.

Despite this list of accomplishments, I am humble about the lessons I’ve learned along the way as a police officer, wife of a recovering addict, a speaker, and co-Founder of Warriors Heart.

I credit many mentors and coaches in my success. All successful leaders and entrepreneurs have mentors/coaches for different areas. I had four that really opened my eyes: “Rich Dad” duo Robert and Kim Kiyosaki, Chris Spencer (who encouraged Josh to open his own treatment centre) and Blair Singer for sales and leadership.

Even with their wise words, there are so many things I wish I knew before beginning my journey as an entrepreneur.

Hopefully these six tips will help you:

Taking on personal development not only made me a better leader, but also assisted me in handling the emotions that arise. Find seminars, courses and experiential trainings to attend.

The more you increase your emotional intelligence, the easier it is to handle business, relationships and life. We can’t control others, but we can control who we are and how we lead.

In the beginning, it may just be you doing all the work. You want a team that is aligned with the same mission and values, since it makes doing business a lot easier.

Not all team members are employees or contractors. Team members include your CPA, attorney, consultants, staff and everyone who assists you.

There is this great free survey that helps you find your character strengths -- The Happiness Advantage. When Josh and I started our first facility, we were both doing everything. It took a while for us to figure out what we were naturally good at doing, and then we played on each other’s strengths.

While it is good to work on our weaknesses, it’s better to play on our strengths. For example, my follow-through is not strong. I am a quick start and have staff that are strong in follow-through. They are the ones to make sure certain things get done or implement something that we want to establish.

I have to have strong deadlines for projects, otherwise I can procrastinate on them. This is definitely a strength when under pressure of a deadline.

1. Mistakes Offer Great Lessons — A lot of great lessons come by trial and error. One of the best ways we learn is from mistakes, hopefully not painful ones.

2. We are taught in school that mistakes are bad so we can become fearful of not doing things right. I was afraid to speak out because an answer or idea would be wrong. But it is like learning to ride a bicycle or ski. When we make mistakes, we get back up and learn what didn’t work and try it again. In business, there can be some costly mistakes, and this is where mentors and coaches come in. It’s important to learn from others’ mistakes, but don’t be afraid to make them too.

3. Take Time for Personal Development —Being an entrepreneur is a roller coaster ride. From income loss to handling employees to upset customers, they can cause a wide range of emotions moment to moment. Being able to manage them is key.
4. Build a Strong Team — You don’t have to know all the answers, or be the expert in everything, but you want to know who to ask.
5. Know Your Strengths and Continue to Enhance Them — As I said earlier, self-awareness of strengths will assist you in becoming a better entrepreneur and leader.
6. Know Your Weaknesses — When you know your weaknesses, you can find team members who are strong in this area. I was taught that we want to enhance our strengths.
7. Get a Bookkeeper Right Away — Knowing your financials is key. The better you have your financial books in order, the easier it is to make decisions.

Business plans and projections are great, but they are also fluid, always moving. Having a knowledgeable bookkeeper who can be honest with you, tell you where you are then project and budget accordingly is a big part of startup.

Meet with them at least once a week and have your numbers as “real time” as possible. With online everything in today’s world, this tracking is easier. Know your numbers.

P.S. While I love my mentors, I would still love to have private lunch with Sir Richard Branson. He is a brilliant entrepreneur and philanthropist, who has fun while doing it all.