Play To Your StrengthsDo you know people who are brilliant but only achieve mediocre results at work because they are in the “wrong” role for them?

The Toronto CFA Society recently organized an informative seminar on career paths for financial analysts. The three panel speakers were: 1) Jaime Ziegler, Principal of Focus Consulting Group; 2) Beverly Flaxington, Co-founder and Principal of The Collaborative; and 3) Ross Healy, President and CEO of Strategic Analysis Corporation.

According to Jaime Ziegler, one of the keys to career success is playing to your strengths. I have always been a big believer of this. She pointed out that everyone can operate in any of the four zones depending on the task:

• Genius
• Excellence
• Competence
• Incompetence

When you’re operating from the genius zone, you’re coming from a place of true passion. You achieve great productivity with great ease and find it difficult to imagine others struggling at it. But beware of the “management trap!” The promotion that follows outstanding performance could shift you into the incompetence zone if you don’t first assess whether you have the skills to excel in the new role.

I personally knew of two brilliant who were promoted to become research directors. Both quickly moved down to the incompetent zone because they were not born managers and had never received training for the managerial role. One stayed on, performed miserably and was eventually asked to leave. The other resigned after three months and became a successful fund manager.

I’m not suggesting quitting at the first sign of challenge. There is always the choice to learn and grow into the new role. Better yet, think ahead the skills that are required for your next logical step up the career path and acquire them before the promotion offer comes.

If you find yourself in the incompetent zone and it’s not where your passion lies, get out quickly. Any successful fund manager would tell you that a winning portfolio is not just about allowing the profits to run on the performing stocks but also quickly getting out of those that don’t.

Knowing your strengths requires self-awareness. There is no guarantee that your next move would always work out even with the best of preparation. If it doesn’t turn out the way you anticipated, it calls for decisive strategic quitting so you can play to your strengths.

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