Per Sjofors

Well, the first step is to know the true strengths. There is no need to "balance them." Once you know, you will naturally use them to reach your short- and long-term goals.

Learn from successful business people, not academia. Read books and articles and listen to podcasts that are relevant to your situation. Will the circumstance of a Fortune 500 CEO be relevant, or from an entrepreneur who tells the story of how he or she built a small or mid-market company? Be very wary of people who say or allude to their success being mostly thanks to pure luck. It happens sometimes, but it is not a strength. Like winning the lottery.

Don't tell. Do. Act like this role you aspire to get. Nobody will be impressed by what you tell them about yourself but by the actions you take.

Once you understand the truth of your strength, it becomes pretty easy to align goals with strength - for the simple reason that we are most likely to like what we do if it aligns with our strengths. But at the same time, you need two kinds of goals. Some goals must be realistic and relatively short-term. So you can reach them long before you run out of persistence to aim for them. Other goals are long-term and aspirational. Summarized as BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals.) These goals should scare you and make you really excited.

It is almost impossible for a person to accurately identify his or her strength. Our perception of ourselves is skewed by aspirations and perceptions. "You cannot read the label from inside the jar." So, for someone to get a better, more true, identification of their strengths, there are two options I'm aware of. Use a psychometric test service, or ask a professional coach or counselor. Never ever ask friends or family - they will not tell the truth!

You need to develop a succinct elevator pitch. This is not easy at all. But a good elevator pitch will enable you to communicate with peers, superiors, partners, and the market in such a way that they immediately understand the value of the product and why they should care.