People are different
Even if people are the same in their basics, they differ in their dispositions and talents. People are different. They each have their own set of strengths (soft skills) and weaknesses; they have an individual personality. The strengths may be partly genetically determined or learned early in development. However, this is irrelevant for our consideration. Our personality determines what we are interested in when it comes to shaping our career. It is the basis for how we do things. And finally, our personality decides with which people and in which environments we feel comfortable. Many people find it difficult to recognise their own nature, because it includes not only strengths, but also the limitations we face with our weaknesses. Younger people in particular often tend to want to be equally good at everything. Personality development requires that we know our strengths and weaknesses.
Personality development strengthens strengths
So, what exactly is it about our personalities that we need to develop? I work on this question with Friedeman Schulz von Thun‘s values square. According to this model, every strength is accompanied by a weakness. These weaknesses show up when we are stressed, tired or under the influence of strong emotions. In such situations, we tend to exaggerate our strengths. Thus, a balancing personality in conflict tends to react in a conflict-shy way. The development potential of this person thus lies in learning to confront. Confrontation is his/her challenge. Personality development as work on our personal challenges expands our own behavioural repertoire. When the balancing personality learns to confront when needed, it can successfully deal with many different situations. It is only through the development of our challenges that our strengths come to full bloom, as we are less likely to turn them into our weaknesses through exaggeration.
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