The Secrets of Product Management Podcast

The Secrets of Product Management Podcast


75: How To Be Better – Strengths and Aptitudes

November 03, 2020

A lot of “how’s”

In this episode I focus on:

* How to be better* How to be more effective* How to achieve more

And the secret is to focus on your strengths, play to your aptitudes, and instead of focusing on your weaknesses, figure out to mitigate them via collaboration, tools, or just by avoiding things (a legitimate tactic, as I explain!).

Resources

* Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation – They run a two-day in-person test (not sure how they are doing it during the pandemic, but it’s worth checking out). It is $850. There are about a dozen testing centers around the U.S. Money very well spent, in my opinion.* The Clifton Strengthsfinder – buy the book, which has a code, and use the code to take the online test. Highly worthwhile, and much cheaper than Johnson O’Connor, so no excuse not to do it.* Lisa Cumming’s Lead Through Strengths podcast. Your first stop should be the episodes that align with your top five strengths.* Read about the Law of Comparative Advantage which gives a great economic argument for focusing on your strengths.* Podcast episode #56, “Soft Skills For Product Managers” which is also all about the Clifton Strengths concept.

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A lot of “how’s”

In this episode I focus on:

* How to be better* How to be more effective* How to achieve more

And the secret is to focus on your strengths, play to your aptitudes, and instead of focusing on your weaknesses,