Strengths and weaknesses: how to name yours honestly, with examples by style

Every strength casts a shadow: how to find yours

Most people find strengths hard to name, because what comes easily feels like nothing special. Weaknesses are hard for the opposite reason: they sting, so we either hide them or list ones that are really strengths in disguise, like "I work too hard".

A more useful way to think about it is the shadow. Each strength has a version that shows up under pressure, when you lean on it too much. Patience becomes putting things off. Attention to detail becomes not letting go. Seeing the pair makes a weakness less shameful and a strength less boastful, and it tells you exactly what to watch for. It is one of the most practical parts of self-awareness.

You won't find your strengths and weaknesses by thinking harder on your own. You need patterns, and other people see some of yours better than you do. Spend a week collecting evidence, then look for what keeps coming up.

• Ask three people who know you in different settings: "What do you come to me for? And what do I do that frustrates you a little?"
• Notice what energises you and what drains you. Strengths tend to give energy, even when the work is hard.
• Look back at feedback from the past few years. The same comment twice is a pattern.
• Think about your last bad week. What did you do more of when you were stressed?
• Write each strength next to its shadow, in your own words, not a textbook's.

Direct strengths and weaknesses

Direct people are driven by results and challenge. Their strengths show up as momentum, and their shadows usually involve other people being left behind. If people call you type A, several of these may sound familiar.

• Decisive, and can decide before others have been heard.
• Takes charge in a crisis, and can take over when nobody asked.
• Honest and straight, and can be blunt to the point of hurting people.
• Competitive, and can turn colleagues into rivals.
• Gets things done fast, and can skip steps that mattered.

Inspiring strengths and weaknesses

Inspiring people are energised by people and ideas. Their strengths lift a room, and their shadows tend to show up in follow-through and focus.

• Enthusiastic and persuasive, and can oversell or promise too much.
• Creative with ideas, and can start more than they finish.
• Warm and easy to talk to, and can avoid hard conversations to keep things pleasant.
• Optimistic, and can underestimate risks and timelines.
• Spontaneous, and can find routine and detail draining.

Steady strengths and weaknesses

Steady people value calm, loyalty and helping others. Their strengths hold teams together, and their shadows usually involve putting themselves last. If you recognise yourself here, our guide on being a people pleaser is worth a read.

• Patient and calm, and can put off things that need to happen now.
• Loyal and dependable, and can stay too long with what isn't working.
• A good listener, and can keep their own views to themselves.
• Supportive, and can take on too much and quietly struggle.
• Consistent, and can find sudden change unsettling.

Careful strengths and weaknesses

Careful people care about getting things right. Their strengths show up as quality and good judgement, and their shadows as delay and self-criticism.

• Thorough and accurate, and can get lost in the detail.
• Analytical, and can need more information than the decision deserves.
• High standards, and can be critical of others and hard on themselves.
• Calm and objective, and can come across as cool or distant.
• Plans ahead, and can struggle when the plan changes.

Talking about them in an interview

The interview question "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" is easier once you have done the work above. Pick one real strength with a short example, and one real weakness with what you are doing about it. "I can get caught up in detail, so I now agree with my manager up front how much checking a task needs" is honest and shows growth.

Keep in mind that your DISC style describes how you prefer to work, not how good you are at anything. No style is better or worse at a job, and DISC should never be used to choose people.

See your strengths and their shadows

The free DISC Test takes about seven minutes and shows your scores at work and, with the optional home part, in your personal life. Your profile names your natural strengths and the ways they can trip you up, which makes an honest list much easier to write. For more on understanding yourself, browse our know yourself topic.