I worked with a client in a senior strategic role. Strategic management was their defining strength. It was the reason they had been appointed to that level. It was the reason they kept delivering. But when we began working through interview preparation together, something became clear. They were not talking about it. They glossed over it. They treated it as a given, as something too obvious to explain. In doing so, they undersold it entirely.

A genuine strength has three features: you do it well, you do it consistently, and it gives you energy rather than draining it. Importantly, others tend to rely on you for it without being asked. To find yours, stop looking for highlights and start looking for patterns. Which types of problems keep landing on your desk? What do colleagues come to you for?