One of the most fascinating aspects of my work is facilitating DISC Strengths profile assessments. These ingenious assessments help us determine who we are and what our strengths and weaknesses are.

Not sure what DISC Strengths profiles are? Click here for a quick explanation.

After years of conducting, coaching, and applying DISC Strengths profiling, I can easily tell if someone is in a position that fits them or not. Trying to force yourself to work in a job that is not you – and frankly never will be – is a really bad idea. It hurts you – your health and relationships – and it hurts the company, as you will never be as productive as you could be if you were working in your strengths.

How do you know if you’re in the wrong role? Here are some indicators:

• You dread Mondays…not the normal dread, but real, sick-to-your-stomach every Sunday night kind of dread. Maybe you wish you had a calendar with no Mondays, as my friend Dan Miller just received.
• You catch yourself complaining, when you know that is not normal for you.
• You begin to develop health problems. Your doctor starts to mention words like high blood pressure.
• You are bored
• You feel stressed.
• You become apathetic.
• You log into Facebook…at work…and complain…about work.
• Your work drains you.

A friend noticed a restaurant crew recently. It was one of those places where you go through the line and each person has a station where they serve part of the meal. They each were doing the same type of work, but there was a distinction. Some served with great enthusiasm, greeting each customer with a smile, moving about efficiently, and keeping their area sparkling clean. Others made it pretty obvious they hated their jobs. They said nothing to customers, moved lethargically, and had sloppy work areas.

Same restaurant. Same job. Same pay.

Some loved it. Some hated it.

Why?

It was a case of misplaced strengths.

If you take someone who is task-oriented and not people-oriented – someone who is highly analytical – and put them on a serving line where they have to face strangers and move fast, it will be tortuous. But if you take that same person and allow them work in the back office doing accounting, they will be content and highly efficient in their work.

By the same measure, if you take the I-wired server who loves meeting new people all day and put them in the back office to work alone…with a spreadsheet…they will pull their hair out!

While these high school students were just working part-time to make a little income on the side, the sad part is there are people in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s who have been working in wrong roles ever since they were that age. They have come to accept the misfit jobs as “just the way it is” without realizing they could do so much more and be so much happier in a position that allowed them to use their strengths.

How do I know? Because these are the people who come to me every week. They may sit in a cubicle or a posh corner office, but if the work doesn’t fit, they are miserable.

The good news is, I know how to help them! It is my absolute passion to help them find the work that truly allows them to reach their full potential.

In December, my colleague, Mike Harbour, and I will be talking about leaders in the wrong roles…and how you can avoid being one of them. I personally invite you to join the call as my guest…just sign up here and we’ll provide the details.

Learning your strengths is more important than you may realize. We’d love to help you!