Craft Your Career Around Your Strengths – Not Just Your Skills
Most career advice tells you to double down on your skills. But focusing only on skills won’t bring the fulfillment, impact, or confidence you’re looking for. Skills make you capable. Strengths make you come alive.
I learned this firsthand about a decade ago. I had built a career on my life-long passion for environmental issues. I invested in a law degree, worked on mission-driven projects, and was “successful” by certain measures. Yet, I felt drained. I was skilled at many parts of my job, but not energized by them. Being good at something wasn’t the same as thriving.
What Are Strengths, Really?
My perspective shifted when I took the CliftonStrengths Assessment (and later became Gallup trained). It revealed insights that changed how I thought about my career:
I had a natural ability to connect with people and help them grow.
I thrived on starting new projects and strategies — less so on long-term implementation.
I was strong at making sense of data and communicating ideas clearly.
These weren’t just skills I’d learned — they were innate patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior.
Here’s the distinction:
Skills are learned capabilities. You can train in them, but they may still feel draining.
Strengths are your natural wiring. When you use them, you feel confident, energized, and at your best.
This is why people with impressive resumés can still feel stagnant or burned out. They’ve built careers around what they can do instead of what they’re wired to do best.
Why Strengths Are the Key
For years I thought fulfillment came from using my skills or following my passion. But the real unlock was working in my strengths zone.
Your biggest growth potential isn’t in fixing weaknesses or adding more skills — it’s in harnessing your strengths. Strengths are your differentiator, the source of your best contributions, and the foundation for lasting fulfillment.
As I transitioned into coaching and consulting, I saw the difference for myself and for my clients. Once people start aligning their work with strengths, everything shifts: engagement, influence, and confidence soar.
Examples of Strengths in Action
Gallup identifies 34 themes of talent, grouped into four areas: how you act, influence, relate, and think. A few examples:
An Activator can catapult a plan into motion.
A Connector brings people together to collaborate.
An Analytical talent spots patterns in complex data.
A Learner thrives on quickly grasping new concepts.
A Strategist creates clear pathways forward.
Notice how these go deeper than skills. They describe where someone thrives — not just in terms of accomplishing a skill.
Why We Overlook Strengths
Most of us focus on fixing weaknesses because that’s the model we were taught. Schools and workplaces measure performance in terms of gaps, grades, or deficiencies.
And because skills are easier to quantify, they dominate job descriptions and evaluations. But they don’t predict fulfillment. Positive psychology shows that a strengths-based approach delivers the highest chance of success — in school, in sports, and in careers.
The formula is simple: invest in your strengths, manage your weaknesses.
Putting Strengths to Work
I coach people every day who are rethinking their careers through this lens:
Some are pivoting and need clarity on which roles will be the best fit.
Others want more influence and impact in their current role.
Many simply want to feel more fulfilled day-to-day.
The results are striking: people who use their strengths at work are six times more likely to be engaged.
But here’s the catch — most job descriptions and work plans don’t naturally highlight your strengths. That’s why you need to craft your role intentionally.
Four Steps to Craft Your Career Around Strengths
Identify your strengths. Use CliftonStrengths or reflect on when you feel most energized.
Audit your work. Which tasks light you up, and which drain you?
Craft intentionally. Seek projects or shifts in your role that play to your strengths.
Grow strategically. Build new skills on top of strengths — that’s the sweet spot for impact and growth.
Strengths wither if you don’t use them. But when you align your work with them, you unlock energy, confidence, and fulfillment.
So don’t just ask: What am I good at?
Ask: What gives me energy when I do it?
That’s your strengths zone — and that’s where you’ll thrive.