Why You Should Take a Self-Assessment

I’ve always been what I like to call a “self-assessment junkie” or a “tell me about myself kind of person”. Sometimes I wonder if I am just incredibly vain or insecure as hell, but I just love learning about how I am wired. When I was a little girl someone told me (no idea who, probably my mom) about Astrology. I was maybe 8 when I heard that I was an “Aquarius” and that I could read something called a horoscope that would tell me what my future was going to be like. At 8 I thought this was by far the coolest thing EVER. I quickly became fascinated about what it meant to be an “Aquarius” as if I was in this elite club or something where my “water barrier” traits would help me solve my little worlds problems.

It became interesting to hear that I was “friendly” or “imaginative”. Once I got to high school people around me started calling me a “leader”. I didn’t feel like a leader…I wasn’t actually leading anyone or captain of any team. What did they see in me that I didn’t see in myself? Then, one day my best friend and I got in a fight (who knows what about) and she called me selfish. SELFISH. Her comment recked me and changed my life! Up to that point I knew myself to be smiley, friendly and authentic, NOT selfish. I was crushed and concerned for my character.

Side note: Authenticity at 15 was all about trying to be “cool” when really not trying to be cool”. I think I’ve grown into that word a bit…

Anyway, being called selfish put me into a hard reality check and I wondered if other people viewed me that way.

This was the first time I “self-assessed”. Not only did I take a step back, I also began to see how other people were wired. I noticed that people were wired differently than me on a deeper level. Not the social stereotypes we hear about everyday, but how my friends were influenced by the way they were raised…also differently than me.

Fast forward past college (yay more self discovery but nothing dramatic enough for this purpose) and into my first job post-grad. HELLO WORKING WITH OTHER PEOPLE, people older than me, different races or ethnicity than me, different genders, different astrological signs. I mean, I didn’t exactly grow up in a shell ok. I played on teams, was around other kids in the community, volunteered in church…ect. But this was different. Now, there was this serious expectation of performance. I had my first formal performance review with my then boss where she asked me questions like, “what will it take to get X achieved” & “What skills do you have that will help you achieve X”? I struggled with my answer. I thought, I’m friendly and people tend to tell me I’m spunky?! How on earth was being friendly or spunky going to help me achieve my professional goals?

Insert the self-assessment. After some time with the company, the HR director asked the entire organization to complete this test called, Strength Finders. After spending about 20 minutes taking this $10.00 quiz, I got to see for the first time in my life what my strengths were…I was #becomingwiza. Not that being friendly is a bad thing, I just didn’t know how that would help me professionally. I was dying to learn more about how I could grow. Even better, other people would know my strengths too! My team and my manager were all coached and learned a TON about how our natural talents could help us be successful.

Here are my Top 5 Strengths:

1. Maximizer
2. Relator
3. Positivity
4. Belief
5. Arranger

You too can learn what your natural strengths are. It doesn’t have to be through Gallup Strength Finders, there are a TON out there. You can try DISC, Myers-Briggs, Big Five…etc.,this one just happened to work for me. Here is a link to a few others:

(NEW FAVE) *Enneagram: https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/test

Strength Finders: https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/home/en-us/strengthsfinder

Myers Briggs: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

5 Love Languages: https://www.5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/

Becoming Wiza starts from within. Once I knew what my strengths were, my professional life changed. I was able to sell my ideas, make new relationships and really start to understand my decision making skills. This then translated into how I communicated personally and truly impacted my friendships, and most defiantly helps with my relationship with my fiancé. Knowing my natural talents/tendencies opened up my eyes and made me more compassionate and forgiving. It has allowed me to become free and truly authentic.

If you’re a new grad reading this, a self-assessment can help you land the interview and get the job. I encourage you to tell the person on the other side of the table how your strengths WILL benefit their organization…but you have to know them first. If you are currently in the workplace, a self assessment can help you on current projects and influence team building…but you have to know them first. For the mama at home reading this, a self-assessment will help you communicate your thoughts and ideas to your partner, kids, and community…but you have to know them first. For every reader, self-awareness through a self-assessment helps us solve problems, make decisions, and delegate. I encourage you to create a benchmark and begin this self-awareness project with completing a self-assessment too.

#becomingwiza starts with you.