The Difference Between Strengths, Weaknesses, Talents and Non-Talents
It’s important to understand the difference between strengths, weaknesses, talents and non-talents.
Talents are things that help you reach goals while energizing you because you naturally enjoy doing them. A talent becomes a strength when you invest in getting better executing that talent to the point where you reach near perfect performance.
The key understanding to start with is that a talent is innate, and a strength is developed. You may naturally do good with art projects and be highly creative, however this does not automatically mean you will become a famous artist, designer, or architect. This just means you have potential. Reaching this potential largely depends on how you invest in talents.
The basic formula that explains how to turn a talent into a strength is as follows:
Talent x Investment = Strength
According to Gallup’s StrengthsFinder research:
When people supplement their talents with knowledge and skill to the point that they can provide consistent, near-perfect performance in a given activity, they have a strength. And in applying and further refining their strengths, they move closer to fulfilling their natural potential as individuals.
Non-talents are things that you don’t naturally enjoy and don’t prevent you from reaching any of your goals. A non-talent becomes a weakness when that non-talent starts to prevent you from reaching a goal. Non-talents don’t need managing, they are what they are. It’s good to know a non-talent exists as far as self-awareness goes. But other than that, there is nothing wrong with just ignoring them.
On the other hand, you must manage a weakness so you can reach your goals. To manage a weakness, focus on two basic steps.
- Invest the minimum amount of time needed to improve the area of weakness to a basic level of proficiency so it does not prevent you from reaching your goal. (i.e. learn the minimum amount of math you need instead of trying to master advanced calculus)
- Spend the rest of your time learning how to leverage your talents and strengths to overcome any deficits that may remain as a result of the weakness. (i.e. you may be a really good leader, so you use those leadership skills to build a team around you to support you with your math problem areas.)