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How Do I Identify My Strengths as a Manager?
By Simon Bell, Mindtools Content Writer and Editor
Have you ever wondered what truly makes an effective manager? You might have some general ideas from your own experience. Perhaps in your own role you’ve received positive feedback from your team or your manager for something you did.
Even so, you still might not be sure what the qualities were that helped you to succeed. Or you might just be looking to sharpen your leadership skills but don’t know where to start.
Understanding your strengths as a manager is key to leading effectively yet identifying them isn’t always straightforward.
Unlike technical skills, which can be measured relatively easily, management strengths – such as clear communication, decision making, and strategic thinking – are more nuanced.
Fortunately, there are structured ways to assess your abilities and gain meaningful insights. This piece explores different methods to help you to recognize and build on your strengths as a manager.
Why Identifying Strengths Matters
Knowing your strengths as a manager isn’t just an exercise in self-reflection – valuable though that might be. It has real-world implications.
Managers who make the most of their strengths are more effective at motivating their teams, making strategic decisions, and driving results.
By identifying your strengths, you can:
- Play to your natural abilities, increasing your confidence and efficiency.
- Delegate effectively by recognizing areas where others may complement your skills – or just do the task better than you.
- Improve your leadership style by understanding how you best engage and inspire your team.
- Avoid potential blind spots that could hinder your team’s success.
Without a clear understanding of your strengths, you risk either overestimating or underestimating your abilities.
This can lead to missed opportunities for personal growth, as well as problems managing other people.
Common Tools for Identifying Management Strengths
There are various tools and methods available to help managers to assess their strengths. Each has its benefits and limitations, so choosing the right approach depends on what insights you’re seeking.
Here are a few of the most widely used:
360-Degree Feedback
360-degree feedback gathers feedback from multiple sources – line managers, peers and direct reports – to provide a well-rounded view of a manager’s strengths and areas for improvement.
Pros:
- Offers diverse perspectives, reducing individual bias.
- Encourages self-awareness and development.
Cons:
- Can be subjective and influenced by workplace dynamics.
- Time-consuming and difficult to implement effectively.
DiSC Personality Assessment
The DiSC® Model categorizes individuals’ behavior into four types (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness) to help them understand their communication and leadership styles.
Pros:
- Useful for identifying preferred leadership and communication styles.
- Can help managers to adapt their approach to different team members.
Cons:
- Focuses more on personality traits than specific management skills.
- Lacks detailed insights into areas like decision making or delegation.
Belbin’s Team Roles
Belbin’s Team Roles model identifies nine different team roles (e.g., Coordinator, Shaper, Implementer) to help individuals to understand how they contribute to a team.
Pros:
- Highlights how managers fit into a team structure.
- Useful for improving collaboration and delegation.
Cons:
- More relevant for team dynamics than in assessing individual managerial effectiveness.
- Doesn’t provide direct insights into leadership or decision-making abilities.
Self-Reflection and Informal Feedback
Managers reflect upon and analyze their past experiences, successes and challenges, or seek feedback from colleagues informally.
Pros:
- Quick and cost-effective.
- Encourages ongoing personal development.
Cons:
- Can be biased without structured evaluation.
- Lacks comparative data or benchmarks.
A Practical Approach: The Mindtools Manager Skills Assessment
While all of these tools provide valuable insights, managers looking for a structured, yet practical approach may benefit from using a targeted skills assessment.
The Mindtools Manager Skills Assessment is designed specifically to help managers to identify their strengths across four key areas (emotional intelligence, setting expectations, developing people, and motivating people).
It was developed using the insights from the Mindtools Building Better Managers report.
Unlike broader personality tests, this assessment focuses directly on the essential competencies managers need to succeed.
By completing the assessment, you can receive a clear picture of where you excel and where you can improve – offering a great starting point for targeted development.
Plus, the results can guide you toward relevant resources and learning opportunities to build on your strengths.
Taking Action: How to Use Your Insights Effectively
Once you’ve identified your management strengths, the next step is to put them into action. Here are a few ways to make the most of your insights:
- Set development goals. Focus on strengthening areas where you have potential while refining your existing skills.
- Seek feedback continuously. Regular check-ins with colleagues and team members help to validate your strengths and highlight areas for improvement.
- Leverage your strengths in daily leadership. If you’re a strong communicator, prioritize clear and transparent messaging. If you excel in strategic thinking, take the lead in long-term planning.
- Pursue learning opportunities. Management is a career-long journey – engaging with tools and resources tailored to your skills can help you to grow further.
Understanding your strengths is a powerful step toward becoming a more effective manager or leader.
Whether through 360-degree feedback, personality assessments, or structured tools like the Mindtools Manager Skills Assessment, identifying what you do best allows you to lead with confidence and intention.
What’s Next?
Ready to take the first step? The Manager Skills Assessment is a great starting point. After that, explore the core skills you need to manage a team, and refine those skills to continue your journey as a successful manager.
After all, great managers are always learning, and encouraging their teams to do the same. Where will your strengths take you next?
Tip of the Week
Keeping the Faith: Getting Over Life's Setbacks
By Kevin Dunne, Mindtools Content Editor and Writer
Back in December 2000, I was buying my first apartment, and we were having our first child. In January 2001, I lost my job.
I’d jumped ship from a “safe” job to a start-up. Hard work, late nights, big dreams. Then the backers pulled the plug.
We lost the property and, in the months that followed, the market took off. It was quite the blow.
But I was confident; it wouldn’t take me long to get fixed up. It did, 18 long months in the end. As the rejections piled up, I took a low-paid job in the building trade and was a stay-at-home dad. That bit I loved.
In the end, it was my dad who made the difference. As my faith in myself wavered, he said to me one day, while we were walking my baby boy on a weekday afternoon, “We believe in you, son.”
And it made all the difference in the world to me. I believed again, tried even harder to get that great job, and pretty soon I did.
The support of family and friends helped me to get back on my feet. For more practical tips, see our article How to Recover From Job Loss.
Pain Points Podcast
This week on your exclusive Pain Points podcast, we talk to Maisie Ganzler about how to embed sustainability in your organization in a way that truly makes a difference.
Discover how to avoid “greenwashing,” how to get your message heard, and steps to get started on your journey toward sustainability.
Subscribe Today
Video of the Week
Emmanuel Gobillot, Power: Where It Comes From and How to Use It
Leaders need to be experts at understanding and using power.
In this video, find out where true power comes from, and explore the role that leaders play in controlling its flow through their organizations.
Watch Now
New! Get Your Personalized Growth Plan With Our Manager Skills Assessment
Did you know when managers lack empathy, their people are 34 percent less innovative and 43 percent less engaged – or when managers lack self-awareness, their people are less loyal to the organization?
Do you know which skills you're lacking in the most?
Thousands of managers are using the Manager Skills Assessment (MSA) to uncover their strengths and development areas. Now, with the new Pathways feature, you’ll get personalized learning recommendations – so you can focus on developing the skills you need the most.
No more guesswork. Just clear, practical steps to help you grow with confidence.
Take the MSA Now
News Roundup
This Week's Global Workplace Insights
Have You Done Something to Your Hair, Boss?
Spare a thought for your boss – no, stay with me – and for that matter, bosses and managers everywhere.
Leading U.S. management consultants Korn Ferry reported earlier this month that bosses are struggling.
Quoting a DDI Global Leadership Forecast, they revealed that 71 percent of managers and leaders reported increased stress in the last year and that four in 10 had “considered leaving their roles to improve their wellbeing.”
Their problem becomes an opportunity for everyone else, because as Korn Ferry point out, “Bosses are particularly receptive to validation, because many of them so rarely get it.”
But how do you do it without coming across as fake and annoying every single one of your co-workers?
Korn Ferry advise:
- Imitate: echo their complaints or agree with what they compliment.
- Timing: don’t lay it on thick on the morning of your performance review.
- Be specific: detailed feedback beats an obvious attempt to puff your boss up.
- Less is more: don’t overdo it.
Yes, boss.
Time to Tap Into Neurodiverse Talent
Business is not doing all it can to harness neurodivergent potential in the workplace, and it’s missing out.
Neurodiversity reflects the differences in how people feel and behave and how they process information. This includes conditions like dyslexia, ADHD and autism.
And according to a new report on neurodiversity highlighted by Personnel Today, creating environments for neurodiverse staff to flourish is “possible in all workplaces.”
Dan Ellis, Interim CEO of report authors Acas, said, “It is estimated that between 15 percent and 20 percent of U.K. adults are neurodivergent. This is a potentially enormous number of workers who may not be getting the support they need.”
The research was carried out by Birkbeck, University of London, and professor Almuth McDowall said, “Conversations about adjustments should focus on performance optimization to harness neurodivergent talent. Simple and centralized processes are important to reduce the burden on managers.”
Research also revealed that good practice could reduce staff turnover to as little as 8 percent, against a U.K. average of 34 percent.
For more information on how to support neurodivergent staff and the benefits it brings, see our article Neurodiversity in the Workplace.
See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mindtools team!
