Stage 1 Tips

Three Quick-and-Easy Assessments

Write down what you feel are your primary strengths and weaknesses.

Be honest. Think about how you would talk about yourself to your best friend: You have nothing to hide, and there's no need to try and look good.

When doing this, make sure to list your top-three core competencies.

These aren't simply the things you can do. They're the things that you can do better than anyone else, abilities that will stand out and be visible to others.

If you're not sure what they are, ask people who've worked with you closely.

Here's the oldest self-assessment test in the book—in fact, it undoubtedly predates books.

Ask your friends to assess what they believe your strengths and (ouch!) your weaknesses are.

Ask for honesty without brutality.

• What do they think you're good at?
• Bad at?
• Do they think you "play well with others," or are you better on your own?
• Are you a self-starter?
• Easy to get along with?
• Punctual?
• A follower more than a leader?

Coach's Hint:

Don't discuss and debate what they say, just write down their opinions. This is information gathering, pure and simple.

Take a big sheet of paper. Write the word "CHANGE" in the middle of the page.

Play a game of word association by writing down everything that "change" makes you think of, and do it as quickly as possible, without editing yourself. Sixty seconds is about right.

When you finish, take a look at your associations with "change." Are they generally positive? Negative?

One of the most important things to discover in the assessment process is whether you are receptive to change itself, to the fundamental idea of change.

You don't want to build a career strategy in the field of, say, technology (where change is the order of the day) if you're a person who's not all that comfortable with change.

Think it over, and be honest with yourself.

Got a question for Gordon? Ask it here.

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