Reinventing the Job Wheel: Future-Proof Your Career in the AI Revolution by Hay Fraser

Author:Hay, Fraser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Microsoft
Published: 2024-09-10T00:00:00+00:00

Step 2: Align Your Strengths with Your Role

Once you’ve identified your strengths, the next step is aligning them with your current role. It’s no use being brilliant at problem-solving if your role is 90% routine admin work. This misalignment is where disengagement creeps in, slowly at first, and then all at once.

Let’s take Jamilah, a 43-year-old project manager in Nairobi. Jamilah is highly skilled at stakeholder management, able to communicate complex ideas to different groups in a way that gets everyone on board. However, her job had become bogged down by bureaucratic processes, far removed from her natural strength. After realising this, she had a frank conversation with her manager and proposed a new role focused on client-facing work, where her communication skills could truly shine. The result? Not only did her engagement increase, but the company also saw a rise in client satisfaction.

Harvard Business Review reports that aligning strengths with role requirements leads to a 38% increase in productivity and a 44% improvement in employee retention (HBR, 2020). When your strengths and role align, work feels less like a chore and more like a chance to thrive.

Case Study: The Art of Prioritisation

Let’s look at another example from a non-corporate environment: Ahmed, a 35-year-old teacher in Cairo, Egypt. Ahmed had always been praised for his ability to break down complex topics into digestible lessons for students. But as the years passed, he found himself spending more time on curriculum planning and less in the classroom, where his real strengths lay. After a review with his department head, Ahmed shifted his focus back to teaching and mentoring, allowing someone else to handle the administrative side of things. His students’ performance improved by 18% in the following term, and Ahmed rediscovered his love for teaching (UNESCO, 2021).

This example demonstrates that prioritising your strengths doesn’t always mean a complete career overhaul; sometimes, it’s about making small tweaks in your current role to refocus your efforts where you excel.

Checklist: How to Prioritise Your Strengths

Reflect on past successes: Identify moments where you’ve felt most productive and satisfied at work.

Align strengths with key tasks: Map out how your strengths can directly impact your current role.

Communicate with leadership: If your role doesn’t naturally align with your strengths, discuss ways to adjust your responsibilities.

Set clear boundaries: Ensure that tasks outside your strength zone don’t dominate your day.

Track your progress: Measure how prioritising your strengths impacts your productivity and engagement.

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