If you want to be a good leader, you should perform a personal SWOT analysis on a regular basis. It is also a really good method when facing new challenges and opportunities, such as a career change or starting a business.
Knowing your weaknesses can be invaluable and help you prepare properly for any eventuality. At the same time, it is a good way to assess your natural strengths and appreciate the qualities you can bring to a new project or position. You may also gain better self-confidence thanks to this, as well as find it easier to realise what your strengths should be, for example, during a job interview.
Part of the SWOT analysis is also the framing of threats and opportunities. The personal threats are not necessarily competitors in the market or a change of direction of the industry; they could be, say, a lack of funds or loss of employment. Personal threats might include your own skills, which can become obsolete and you will lose personal competitiveness in the market.
Similarly, opportunities should apply to areas where you can grow personally. For example, do you have the opportunity to take a course and learn a new skill? Is there a gap in your market where you could apply your unique abilities and skills?
Some questions you can ask during a personal SWOT analysis are:
- How can I further develop my strengths?
- How can I improve my weaknesses or how can I proceed to overcome them?
Also, think about how you can use your strengths to take advantage of the opportunities you've seen in the analysis.
- Can your strengths be used to address any threats?
- And what about your weaknesses? Will they prevent you from looking for opportunities?
- Will your weaknesses further disadvantage you with regard to the threat you face?
A personal SWOT analysis is something you do once and for all. As you learn new skills, you should perform the analysis on an ongoing basis, whether planned or ad hoc. It is also important to realise a SWOT analysis is not the end of self-assessment: it makes no sense to address opportunities and weaknesses if you don't then plan to work on them.
After compiling the SWOT analysis, you should create an action plan or timeline to record how and when you intend to address the weaknesses you have pinpointed, as well as how you plan to seize the opportunities you have identified.
Being brutally honest with yourself is difficult, but it will pay off.
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