Leadership class -Milestone 3
Milestone Activity 3: Using the questions listed in the overview, perform a personal SWOT analysis in order to identify your primary strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Record your results.
Write a 1-2 page summary of your SWOT analysis and a plan of action to address your weaknesses and threats. Be specific!
A SWOT analysis is an effective tool to identify and evaluate one's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This type of resource is often used in strategic leadership, where c-suite leaders try to evaluate an organization's competitive position and to develop an advantageous plan. Yet individuals can also use it for personal and professional growth.
Strengths refers to an individual's abilities, skills, competencies, and experiences that add value to a team or organization. These can be strengths that are currently being used or have been used previously. In order to discovery your strengths, ask yourself questions such as:
What are you good at naturally?
What skills have you worked to develop?
What are your talents or innate abilities?
What do other people see as your strengths?
What experiences do you have that could help others?
Weaknesses refers to an individual's incompetencies, blindspots, bad habits, and lack of experience. Some of these weaknesses can be strengthened and others cannot. In order to identify your weaknesses, ask yourself these questions:
What are some of your bad habits or traits?
What areas of your life need improving?
What do other people say are your weaknesses?
What are you afraid to do or try to avoid?
What negative behaviors occur when you feel insecure?
Opportunities refer to external factors that an individual can take advantage of in order to grow personally and professionally. There may be open doors or available resources to help an individual advance their goals. In order to identify your opportunities, ask yourself the following questions:
Are there available training courses in your department?
Is there new technology to learn in your field?
Is there a new demand for a skill or competency that you possess?
Is there a need in your organization that no one is filling?
Is your team or organization growing?
Are there strengths of mine that could create an opportunity?
Are there weaknesses of mine if addressed could create an opportunity?
Threats refer to external factors that may hinder an individual from achieving their goals. Some threats may be immediate and others may be in the early stages of causing real harm. In order to identify your threats, ask yourself these questions:
Which of your weaknesses are hindering you from growing in your organization or personal development?
Is your industry going in a different direction?
Is there strong competition for the industry that you are in?
What identifiable factors are getting in the way of you achieving your goals?
Are there any new skills or competencies you need to learn to maintain relevance in your field?
Once a SWOT analysis has been completed, there are two ways to create a plan of action:
Matching: This is where an individual matches their strengths to their opportunities in order to identify where to take immediate action. They also match their weaknesses to their threats in order to determine areas to improve or to avoid.
Converting: This is where an individual attempts to convert their weaknesses into strengths or their threats into opportunities. This requires a little more planning and strategizing but it can be an effective path towards growth.
One of the biggest problems with the SWOT analysis is if it is not followed up with a plan of action. It is not enough to identify one's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. One also needs to develop a strategy to address each of the four components. An effective way to do this is through S.M.A.R.T. goals, which we will talk about in the next section.
