The Difference Between Strengths, Weaknesses, Talents and Non-Talents

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.

  1. 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)
  2. 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.)

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