 To be successful in our careers, we need to be intentional about the steps we take toward our growth and development. When I think about one thing that has helped me build a successful career, it is that I have leveraged my strengths professionally. We are good at things and do not leverage them enough at work.
In this blog post, I will share how to leverage your strengths professionally and grow your career. Check out my other "Her Career" blog for more tips and resources. MC's Journey Right from when I was a child, people talked about how I talked too much, asked too many questions, and was bossy. Little did they know those traits would make me a great program manager over 30 years later. At various points on my journey, I have had to remind myself of my strengths and ensure I am leveraging them. Some of the ways that I leverage my top 5 strengths include:
How to apply your strengths at work Discover your strengths Knowing what you are good at is the first step toward leveraging your strengths. If you had asked me about ten years ago what my strengths were, I would not have been able to articulate them clearly. I started working with a career coach when I moved to the US over seven years ago; one of the first things she asked me to do was to spend time thinking about my strengths. I knew I was very good at certain things but could not articulate them clearly. Especially at work, it is crucial to know what your strengths are. Strategies to consider
Seek out opportunities to put your unique strengths to use You shine when you are using your strengths. As you choose the projects and initiatives that you want to work on, seek out ones where you can apply your strengths. Becoming a project manager, I knew that I would excel because I like to plan things and am organized. As I have progressed in my career, I have applied other strengths, such as working with global teams. Given my background living in different countries, I have learned how to navigate connecting with people from diverse backgrounds. This greatly influenced my decision to work as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program manager. Strategies to consider
Talk about your strengths One way to let people know what you are good at is by celebrating your achievements. There is so much power in telling your story and highlighting the strengths that helped you accomplish your goals. I had to learn how to talk about my strengths. It was hard to speak up when I knew I was good at something that would help our team succeed. Observing others speak about their strengths helped me develop that skill and improve. I leverage avenues such as performance evaluations and work presentations to showcase my strengths. Strategies to consider
Teach others the skills you have I have learned that one way to amplify my strengths is to share my knowledge with others. Although I am a passionate learner, I did not know the value of teaching others. I discovered that when I teach others, they benefit a lot, and my strengths increase. Initially, I offered to teach people things I excel at, and now they come to me to seek my expertise. Strategies to consider
Continue to grow your strengths Part of a growth mindset is believing you can always get better even at things you do very well. Recently, I have been leading a program that has multiple phases. One of the things I noticed was that I was looking for ways to do things smartly and be more effective with every new launch. I am very intentional about learning new ways to leverage and grow my strengths. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts It feels great to know that we can apply our strengths and grow professionally. I really like to see all my team members showcasing their strengths. You have something unique to contribute to your professional community. Time for Reflection What are your top three strengths? How have you been leveraging your strengths at work so far? How would you like to leverage your strengths more at work?
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 With six months of this year behind us, it is a great time to reflect. Reflecting on my experiences this year, I was amazed at how much I have to be grateful. I had to be intentional about celebrating the highlights because focusing on the hardships and lowlights is very easy. Gratitude is a practice that helps me adjust my perspective. Research also shows that reflecting on what you are grateful for makes you a happy human.
In this blog post, I will share the ten things I am grateful for. Check out my post "Are you thinking about the good things in your life?" for ten questions you can ask yourself as you reflect on the great things happening in your life. #1: Watching our son grow In the almost two years that our son has been a part of our lives, he has grown and developed beautifully. I am grateful every day that I watch him grow and learn new things. The way he smiles at me is something that I can not explain in words. #2: Being able to spend time with family This past June, we spent time with our family for the first time in four years. It was very special because our son got to meet his aunties and uncles. I am very thankful for all the laughter and memories we created together. #3: Accomplishing key career milestones For many years I have been setting a foundation for a successful career. It all started coming together this year. I have had many great career successes this year that have made me very proud. #4: Being physically healthy Over the last years, I have struggled with gastritis, which typically flairs up when I am stressed. Being sick in my gut took out the joy of eating and caused a lot of getting used. I'm very thankful that this year has been better for me physically, and I have not suffered as much. #5: Being mentally healthy This year, I have been swamped and felt the weight of all my responsibilities. One of the practices that have helped me is to check in on my mental health regularly and do things that de-stress me and bring me joy. I can confidently say that my mental health is good. #6: Being physically safe There have been a lot of things that have happened to people in places where I live or have lived in the past. I am very grateful that my family and I are safe. Physical safety is one of our basic needs, and it is sadly not available to everyone. #7: Learning new skills One of the things that bring me joy is learning a new skill. With the pandemic and having a baby, I had not been able to invest the time in learning since 2020. Sitting in a class and learning made me very happy. I'm very grateful to add new skills to my portfolio. #8: Having a passion project Fulfilling my purpose is something that is a priority in my life. I feel balanced when I get to do things that I am passionate about. In this phase of my life, I am doing what I can to support the women around me. My weekly blog is one of the components of my passion project. I am grateful to have a way to contribute to my community positively. #9: Being happy and content Compared to the other phases of my life so far, I am happier now. In addition to things in my life mainly going well, I have learned to guide my happiness. I am happy with the progress I am making toward my goals and very grateful for the life I have. #10: Feeling excited about the future Sometimes we let the fear of the unknown take over. When I think about my future, I am very excited. Thinking about my goals, creating plans, and taking action toward building the life I want to live makes me happy. I am grateful that I am in a place where I can lay the building blocks for the life that I desire. Final Thoughts It is very easy to remember things that have not gone well in our lives. Reflecting on the highlights and documenting them gives you a place you can always go back to when you need a reminder. We all have a lot to be grateful for. Call to Action What are three things that you are grateful for? How will you remind yourself of the good things in your life?  On our life journey, we need to unlearn things to make way for us to learn other things and live our best lives. Some beliefs,
mindsets, and behaviors we learned in our formative years no longer serve us well and need to be unlearned. Holding on to them can hinder your growth and the quality of life. In this blog post, I will share the ten things I had to unlearn to thrive and be happy. #1: Thinking a "suffering" mother is a good mother Over the past two years, as I have discovered who I am as a mother, I have become more aware of the picture of motherhood I grew up with. The expectation of a mother was that she would do everything to meet everyone's needs. However, I could not meet my imagined standards in my current phase. My life is very different; I live far away from my family, so I don't have my village to support me. I had to let go of the vision of a perfect mother and be the best mother I could be to our son, even if it looked different. Strategies to consider
#2: Focusing on my weaknesses vs. strengths There is that thought that you have to keep working on getting rid of your weaknesses. We were taught to believe we were not good enough and needed to keep aspiring to improve. I remember growing up hearing all the things people thought I did not do well and asking me to work on them. There were hardly any conversations about what I did well. About seven years ago, when I moved to the US, there was a shift in my thinking. I started celebrating my strengths and creating opportunities to leverage them. Strategies to consider
#3: Doubting my intuition and thinking others know more than me From my upbringing, I observed people seeking advice, validation, and expertise from others. I firmly believe that we have intuition to guide our decisions. Unlearning having to go to others before I made decisions helped me make decisions that were more aligned with my values and the direction I want my life to go in. Strategies to consider
#4: Thinking that learning ends Growing up, when learning was discussed, it was mostly striving to get a degree and then be done with it. The concept of continuous learning was a little foreign. I always yearned to learn new skills even after getting my degrees. I had to unlearn the thinking that there is an end to learning. Being a lifelong learner has really set me up for success. Strategies to consider
#5: Doubting that I can build wealth Conversations around finances were tense when I was growing up. We always worried about money and could not make ends meet. For the longest time, I believed that being financially independent was out of my reach. I had to change my relationship with money and learn ways to improve my financial status. Strategies to consider
#6: Asking for what I want or deserve It takes a lot of time to discover yourself and know what you want. Then it takes a lot of courage to ask for what you want and deserve. I thought you were annoying if you had expectations and voiced them. Especially in a professional setting, I kept seeing people get things they asked for while I wasn't. Negotiating for my salary or benefits at work was something I did not know how to do, and I felt resentment when what was offered was less than what I wanted. I quickly had to unlearn being uncomfortable asking for what I wanted and learn great negotiation skills. Strategies to consider
#7: Refusing to ask for help I grew up thinking that needing help was a sign of weakness. It took me a very long time to reframe my thinking and learn that I needed to ask for help. My turning point was going through months of feeling overwhelmed and not seeing a way out. I now know that people around me are ready to jump in and support me when I ask for help. Strategies to consider
#8: Being hesitant to share my feelings and struggles with people Growing up in a culture where we were taught only to say good things and that bad things happen because we confessed them influenced me heavily. I did everything possible to hide the pain and discomfort I was feeling, even from people close to me, because I thought that was the right thing to do. Keeping all the emotions bottled up was not good for my mental and physical health. Being able to have honest conversations and be vulnerable with my community has helped me tremendously. Strategies to consider
#9: Not talking about my accomplishments When I was growing up, you were perceived as proud if you spoke about your accomplishments. In Nigeria, people thought you should wait for others to talk about you, and in Germany, it was that your work would speak for itself. While that way of thinking works in places where people know you or you have a reputation, it does not work in new environments where no one knows you, and you have to win over their trust very quickly. That was exactly my experience when I moved to the US and had a very short time establishing myself and my brand. I had to unlearn all my thinking about talking about my accomplishments and find a way that felt natural to me. Strategies to consider
#10: Avoiding planning the future Shortsighted living makes you miss many opportunities. It was not common to see people who shared their dreams, aspirations, and goals. It seemed like people were afraid of the future and decided not to focus on it. I had the learn to plan for the future and be flexible to make changes as life takes its course. I am hopeful and no longer afraid when I think of the future. Strategies to consider
Final Thoughts It is awesome that we have the ability to unlearn and learn new things in all phases of our lives. I am certain that my list of things that I am unlearning will grow and change as I progress on my journey. Call to Action What are three things that you have unlearned? What are three things that you want to unlearn?  In the 21 years that I have lived abroad, I had a mix of experiences. Some of them were good while others were not so cool. However, overall my journey has been amazing. There are many moments that I am proud of and still amazed at how my life has tuned out. I never imagined that I would be where I am today.
In this blog post, I will share the ten things that I am proud of accomplishing in 21 years of living abroad. Check out my other Her Relocation blog posts about my experiences living in Nigeria, Germany, and the US. #1: Becoming independent At the young age of 15, I moved from Nigeria to Germany. It was the official start of me having to fend for myself and make critical decisions. I felt so grown-up back then, and now when I think back, I realize how young I really was. Being so young and figuring out my life is something that makes me very proud. #2: Paying for my way through school I will forever be grateful to all the families that allowed me to care for their children. The money I made from babysitting, working in cafes, and on-campus helped pay for my life as a student. I know it's a big deal that I was able to support myself and my sister financially. #3: Earning my first and second degree If you had followed my story, you would know that it took me longer than expected to get my first degree. I changed my under-grad course twice, and it took me about seven years to finally get my Bachelors degree. That did not stop me from going ahead to start my Masters. I decided to study part-time while I worked my full-time job. Finishing my Masters degree in the planned time is something I am very proud of. #4: Getting my German passport One of the most complex parts of being an immigrant is securing a visa or legal stay approval. For ten years of living in Germany, I was on a visa that granted me a short time stay of six months. This was a very stressful process, and I felt really relieved when I was finally eligible to apply for a German passport. The truth is that traveling and living in other countries became much more accessible than when I only had a Nigerian passport. #5: Building my family and home My family is one of my biggest accomplishments in life. I have people that I love and get to spend my life with. In addition, finding a place where I really feel at home was not always easy. I am proud of the fact that I have been able to have my family, find my place, and be settled now. #6: Being able to give back I feel very fortunate to be able to meet my own needs and support people around me. Years ago, I was struggling to afford my basic needs. Being financially stable was the first step, and then I was able to start building wealth that helped me afford to invest in my loved ones' lives as well. #7: Following my passions In the early days of my journey, I focused more on surviving and didn't have much time to invest in my passion projects. The truth is that I didn't know what I was passionate about. In recent years, I have been able to spend more time doing things that I really enjoy. My blog is one of the things that I have always wanted to do, and I have finally gotten to do it. #8: Having a successful career I started as a babysitter and worked many minimum wage jobs to pay my way through college. After graduating, I started building my career as a project manager from scratch. I did not have the access or network that some of my peers did. It took a lot of hard work to achieve the professional success that I have experienced so far. #9: Finding happiness in life On my journey living abroad, I have experienced a lot of ups and downs. It took me a long time to get to a place where I was genuinely happy. I am now at a place in my life where I feel satisfied and excited for the future. #10: Staying true to who I am As an immigrant, your identity is a complex topic to navigate. I have lived in many countries and have been influenced by many life experiences. I now know who I am and am confident in what I can offer the world. Final Thoughts Reflecting on the past 21 years, I am very grateful for how far I have come. Although the first years were very rocky, I am where I was destined to be. All my experiences made me who I am today. |
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