Reframing Weaknesses Through Strengths Science
Written by: Heba Mohamed, 4th Year BMOS Student
Photo by: Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
Top Five Strengths: Strategic, Relator, Restorative, Positivity, Individualization
“Strengths science answers questions about what’s right with people rather than what’s wrong with them.” - Don Clifton
In almost every interview I have been part of, there is one question that always comes up: “Tell me about your weaknesses.” I often struggled to answer it, not because I lacked self-awareness, but because I did not like defining myself by my limitations. The question pushes you to focus on what you cannot do, what you lack, or where you fall short. Attending the CliftonStrengths Conference challenged that mindset in a way I did not expect.
Instead of focusing on what was missing, strengths science invites you to think about what you can accomplish. It reframed how I think about potential and reinforced that all leaders bring different strengths. Learning that Strategic is one of my top strengths helped me understand why this shift resonated so deeply with me. I naturally look for alternative ways forward, and the CliftonStrengths assessment encouraged me to invest time and energy into areas where I could grow, contribute, and thrive.
Key Takeaways From the Conference
Your Strengths Do Not Put You in a Box
It can be easy to take your top five strengths and either completely agree with them or dismiss them altogether. But I learned, they are not the end-all be-all. Just because you are strong in certain areas does not mean you disvalue other strengths that may not show up in your top five or even across all thirty-four CliftonStrengths themes. Strengths simply reroute your approach. They are not limits but starting points.
Strengths Show Up When You Let Them
Strengths are always there for you, even when they do not feel useful at the moment. They can be applied at any stage of life and in any setting. A strength that feels irrelevant in one season may become essential in another. The key is learning how to recognize your strengths, trust them, and intentionally use them rather than waiting for a perfect situation. As someone with Relator as a top strength, I began noticing how much growth happens through deeper conversations and trusted relationships, whether that is in teams, leadership roles, or moments of conflict. Strengths show up everywhere and anytime, once you start noticing them, you realize they have been there all along.
Your Strengths Are the Raw Materials of Your Life
One idea that really stuck with me was the connection between life design and strengths. Life design helps you develop your future. CliftonStrengths helps you understand the materials you are building with. The biggest learning curve is understanding how you use them, shape them, and combine them, which is completely up to you. Understanding them gives you clarity but applying them is where the growth actually happens.
Walking away from the CliftonStrengths conference, I feel less pressure to fix myself and more confidence in building on what already exists. As someone who resonates deeply with my Positivity strength, this approach feels more sustainable because it emphasizes encouragement and possibility. Instead of growth being defined as correcting weaknesses, it is about investing in your potential.
That does not mean challenges disappear, or that self-improvement stops. It means the starting point shifts. When we focus on what we are naturally excelling in, we create a space to grow in ways that feel more natural, sustainable, and aligned with who we are. And maybe that makes answering questions about ourselves a little easier, too.
Want to learn more about your strengths? Click this link: https://strengths.uwo.ca/about/approach.html
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