It happens to all of us at some point on our professional development journey. After we’ve identified our strengths and weaknesses, we’re told to improve the latter. Perhaps someone tells us that in order to succeed we have to become great at the things we’re not-so-great at. How many times have you been told to work on your weaknesses? 

Of course, we dive into improving our weaknesses. We end up spending a ton of our precious time in the process of trying to strengthen the skills we’re not great at. While the idea of strengthening our weaknesses is great in theory, in reality, we end up becoming frustrated. We feel that we’re not improving fast enough. Or, our results aren’t what we’d hope they’d be. Perhaps, try as we might, we feel that our weaknesses are not only still weak, but we’re also super annoyed that we have to improve them anyway. And, a funny thing happens in the process – our true strengths become weaker because we’re not using them. 

So, what can you do? If you want to thrive in business, do you strengthen your strengths or do you strengthen your weaknesses? 

Build your success on your strengths. Here’s how.

Why all the focus on weaknesses?

In the past, the focus was on making all of our skills a strength. It was thought that the most successful business owners didn’t have weaknesses – they worked the weaknesses out of themselves. However, over time, we realized that not only do even the most successful among us have weaknesses, they often don’t spend much time working on them. Why not take a page out of their book, then? Instead of focusing our time and energy on turning a weakness into a strength, why not use that same energy to make our strengths even stronger? 

How does this relate to network marketing?

For example, let’s say your weakness is talking to strangers about your business. You just don’t feel natural walking up to someone and chatting about it. Now, if you’ve been told to work on it, you may turn yourself in knots with anxiety thinking about how to bring up your business to random strangers. Perhaps while you’re not great at talking to strangers, you’re awesome at talking to people you know. You love talking about your business to people you know. Conventional wisdom would say to get more comfortable talking to strangers about your business. That is, spend your time honing this skill and talking to everyone you can until it feels comfortable and natural. Although you may improve this skill, chances are, it won’t be as strong as your strengths. Additionally, it’s more likely that you’ll begin to dread doing it.  

Instead of working hard to improve your weaknesses, use the time to make your strengths even stronger. Spend time connecting with people you know and discussing your business with them. Then, ask them to introduce you to people they know who would appreciate your business. The people they introduce you to aren’t strangers – you already have one person in common. This makes the prospect of discussing your business much easier. Since they already know and adore your advocate, it’s only a matter of time before they feel the same way about your business. The more introductions you ask for from your advocates, the stronger your business will be. That’s because it’s filled with people you have relationships with who like you and what you offer. 

How to boost your strengths and build a strong business

What are your strengths?

First, what are your strengths? That is, what are you good at? It can be tough to pinpoint where our strengths lie. A good hint is to think about what you enjoy doing. Often, what we’re good at is what we enjoy doing the most. For example, we know that we need to exercise, but hate running. However, we may love being on a bicycle. Instead of pounding the pavement or hitting the treadmill with our feet every day, we may hit the road (or living room) on a bike. It achieves the same end goal, but one feels more fun than the other. 

The same is true in your business. Figure out what your strengths are and not only will you build a stronger business, you’ll also have more fun in the process. 

“It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes the difference.” -Zig Ziglar

How can you become even stronger?

The next step is to think of ways to make your strengths even stronger. For example, if you love talking to your network about your business, but have trouble converting the conversation, take our training. You’ll get the tips you need to feel more comfortable presenting opportunities and asking for an introduction. As a result, you’ll feel more comfortable in your conversations with your network and understand the leading objections you may encounter. It’s a wiser, more productive use of your time. 

Practice, practice, practice

As you’re improving your strengths, be sure to take the time to practice what you’ve learned. Remember, the more you practice, the stronger your skills will become. So, if your strength is connecting with your advocates, be sure to do so daily. Log into your Teamzy Dashboard and connect with your network each day. Also be sure to follow up when you say you will – after all, what better way to reinforce your communication skills and professionalism than by following up when you say you will? 

Use the scripts in Teamzy or that you’ve learned in our training programs to help you get the conversation started with your advocates and ask for introductions. Continue to use them and, as you become more comfortable, adjust them to fit your personality, the person you’re speaking with, or the situation. The more you use the scripts, the more natural you’ll feel using them. They’ll also help you build confidence as you won’t feel like you’re struggling to think of what to say next. This allows you to focus on the conversation and the other people and listen for a need that you and your business can fill. 

Share your strengths with your team

One of the best ways to test your strengths is to share what you know with your team. If someone on your team struggles with following up with their network, but you’re an ace at it, share what secret with them. If they struggle with talking to their networks about their businesses and asking for introductions, volunteer to help them practice. It may just be that they haven’t practiced enough and it doesn’t feel natural to them yet. 

Also, chances are your strength may be someone else’s weakness. If this is true of your team, share a tip to help them make it easier to do. For example, if you’re a whiz at time management and always remember to do your Power Hour each day, share with your team how you do it. Do you set a reminder on your phone or is there a certain time of day that you’ve found works best? Whatever it is, share it with others who may struggle to do their Power Hours consistently. Although they may not become time management whizzes themselves, it will at least give them the opportunity to improve that area of their business. 

Let Teamzy help you use your strengths to build the foundation for a stronger network marketing business

We developed Teamzy with network marketers in mind. It has everything you need to build a strong business based on the relationships you have with everyone in your network. Whether you’re just starting out or have been a network marketer for years, Teamzy makes the process of building a business fun and accessible. Set goals, connect with your network, improve your skills and mindset, and grow your network marketing business. What are you waiting for? Click here to learn more.