Personal brand diagnosis 9: Analyzing weaknesses

In the 8 previous chapters of the series Iceberg we have worked the diagnosis of our personal brand we have focused on perceived identity, in its own, in digital identity by name in search engines, on social media and by keywords.

In this chapter we enter the SDFO (Swot, Swot...) of our personal brand, analyzing the "D" of "Weaknesses", and focusing on how to manage them. I am especially excited to have in this post the art of my friend and colleague Elena Arnaiz, Talent and Action, that as a psychologist, coach and personal brand management expert gives us some gold keys (like her hair) how to masterfully manage our weaknesses. A luxury.

If you're short on time, I invite you to watch this video-summary:

About the SSO

SDOO is an acronym for Weaknesses, Threats, Strengths, Opportunities. It is also known as FODA in America and as SWOT in English. Regardless of the order in which the four axes are placed, there is an internal view of the SSO (weaknesses and strengths) and another that belongs to the context, external vision (threats and opportunities).

This is often a diagnostic method for companies, But in the last 10 there have been two significant "mutations" with respect to SSDS:

1. Its application to people, The Personal SDSO, the one we'll deal with here.
2. Its transformation from diagnostic method to action plan.

Despite some problems involved in its use, the personal SFF remains an important strategic tool to list a person's strengths and weaknesses, and register those strengths and translate them into Value.

The STEFO methodology distills the strengths and weaknesses in core competencies and fundamental problems. These core competencies and fundamental problems are then linked in an action plan aimed at preserving and leveraging the basic competencies of the person, defending it at the same time from exposure to central problems.

Why it's important to know our weaknesses

Imagine you have a good friend. You know that person well.. a lot, you know the dedillo his Weaknesses, and you arm yourself in front of them. But, by modesty, out of fear, for whatever reason, you don't see yourself able to communicate those weaknesses to that good friend. You know you're doing wrong., but your head prevents you from getting into conflicts with someone you appreciate.

Houston, your friend has a problem. He doesn't know his weaknesses.. But their surroundings do know them. And it acts on them. Your friend is in a clear disadvantage position. He doesn't know his own weaknesses; And maybe that's closing some doors for you.

It's time to act. And that's why it's important to know our weaknesses. It is possible that, after meeting them, let's keep acting as usual. But at least we'll be aware of a part of the footprint, of the personal brand that we're leaving.

Elena Arnaiz: Don't turn your weaknesses into obsessions

In the knowledge of your weaknesses you will find one of your main strengths

Do you have to invest all your energy in getting “pa out” the bad? No. Your energy, your time and all your resources have to be put in to boost your strengths. I don't know anyone who shines in all their splendour, basing their entire strategy on polishing their flaws.

Rather, on the contrary, people who achieve their goals often have in common this way of dealing with weaknesses:

• They understand that it is a priority to look at each other courageously enough to Identify, recognize and modify those weaknesses that prevent me from moving forward in the implementation of my action plan. Admitting our miseries, our envy and all that has to do with the most varied mechanisms to safeguard our ego is an exercise of so much maturity that to achieve it is to succeed. To get started, with having them identified we're doing well.
• Knowing how it's affecting me in my actions and modulate its impact until I keep the positive part that all weakness has within it. Is excess perfectionism a weakness? Of the most unproductive and destructive I know. Identifies, modulates and stay with the nice part that gives you to take care of the detail. Know how to stop it, and use it to your advantage, will bring you closer and closer to your results.
• Reconcile with those weaknesses you can't solve. It's impossible for you to have the time and energy to modify each and every one of your weaknesses. In the Acceptance our weaknesses are also our differential value. Your despistes, your "border", that point a little innocent, the suffocists you get because you keep sending your earrings the night before (like I'm doing with the lines you're reading now), is part of you.
• And always remember that no one buys your value proposition for being perfect. That no one wants you exhausted, who want you humble. That no one wants the most complete and polished version, but in a position for continuous improvement.

There's the key, Question, Identifies, assess what to do with each of them, acts and enjoys. At the end nobody gives you that much importance as you do..

Types of weaknesses

On the one hand, I distinguish non-limiting weaknesses, they're the big group, and Limiting, less but with a more damaging effect on our personal brand and our career.

On the other hand, there are weaknesses from diverse backgrounds: Labour, Personal, limiting beliefs, impossible competitions, Resources, personality, reputation, digital presence.

You define which ones are limiting, because that depends on your value proposition and the activities you do to carry it out.

• For example, a degree of blindness may be relevant to an aviation pilot, but not for a wine taster, an administrative, a musician or a radio announcer.
• Not knowing the English language can be limiting if your scope of work is global, and it's not limiting if the scope is local.
• On the other hand, personality weaknesses are only such if they prevent the development of a particular employment position. For example, if a person is shallow can devote himself to many things, but not to analyze data, to investigate...

Here's a list - very expandable- of the main weaknesses. In order to complete it, it's interesting to resort to 8 previous post exercises on personal brand diagnosis, you'll find in the category Iceberg from this blog. Here you can download in Excel the box with The Types of Weaknesses.

Weaknesses	Non-limiting	Limiting
Bad work habits	Disorganization, lack of punctuality, not knowing how to delegate, take too many risks, Indecision, lack of leadership, lack of ideas, bad presence, difficulty expressing yourself…
Bad personal habits	wrath, Envy, Cranky, Impatience, Pride, Greed, Lust, Laziness…
Limiting beliefs	Political beliefs or phobias, Religious, Sexual, Affiliations (Sports…)
Competitions we dodge for fear of not dominating	Languages, digital capabilities, Certificates, Licenses, Studies
Lack of resources	Financial, Educational, Affective…
Other limitations	Ignorance of other languages, physical limitations, Psychological, lack of experience, over-experience…
Personality (Feedback, DISC, Mbti, Crystal…)	Negativity, Intolerance, Arrogance, Aggressiveness, Cynicism, lack of empathy, Irresponsibility, Selfishness, Impulsivity, close, Cynicism, Despotism, Greed, Temerity, Passivity, Distrust, Superficiality, Shyness, Procrastination…
Digital reputation	Damaged reputation, fake news, confused reputation (someone else, same name)…
Online situation	Not found, it's ubiquitous, confusion with another person, not association with keywords, Not good digital selling index, bad social selling index, insufficient communities, Communities “Fake”, bad digital habits (Netiquette), lack of authenticity, fishing, Cyberstalking…

A cumbersome but interesting job: Validate our weaknesses

No one likes to manage their own negativity. It's awkward, very uncomfortable. You want it to happen fast., like pain, or as an unwelcome ad on your favorite radio show.

The validation phase allows us to, on the side, that our environment validates weaknesses, and for another, that can detect some that have gone unnoticed.

One tip here may be to create a picture like the one above, but putting a scale of 1 To 5 so that it is the others who place the degree of relevance of our weaknesses based on their relationship stakeholders with us. You can even do it with a Google form, adapting the configuration as an evaluation questionnaire.

And now comes the good: the action plan

To move from diagnostic method to operability, now comes the time to manage our weaknesses in an action plan.

The action plan is very simple: It consists of three phases:

1. Minimize
2. Manage
3. Mentoring

1. Minimize the impact of our weaknesses by avoiding tackling projects that require skills that we don't master. Or better, find a way to delegate to another teammate so you can leverage your strengths. This second option is interesting, avoiding a weakness of its own while reinforcing a stronghold of others. For example, if you ask me for a collaboration on digital humanism, better deego in Joan Clotet, Truth?
2. Manage. Focus only on resolving those weaknesses that can stand in the way of achieving our goals. In a nutshell, limiting weaknesses. If I can't speak English and look for a global job, it's time to immerse yourself in the study of the language.
3. Mentoring. To make the most of the opportunities that "weakening" our weaknesses will give us, we could consider the help of mentors. Psychologists, Guiding, coaches… Están ahí para eso, no son un gasto, son una inversión.

Stock Photos from Blackboard1965 / Shutterstock

 

Postscript

Beyond the Value Proposition

If you are IESE alumni or current student don’t miss my online keynote “Beyond the Value Proposition: How can your Personal Brand survive this Crisis“. May, 20, 18 – 18:45h CEST on Zoom.

Covid19 has changed the way we persuade in business. It’s not time to sell yourself, but let the others do it. Activating your value proposition means designing a unique value proposition for each stakeholder. Once you have done it, it’s time to implement a double strategy: On the one hand, an inbound plan of value content to position ourselves as experts. And on the other hand, just think that selling oneself is less effective than getting quality referrals to do it. You need a plan with your key partners.

Registration here.