Rethinking Strengths with Jennifer Shinkai
On November 1, 2018, facilitator and executive coach Jennifer Shinkai held a special session just for FEW Members at H&R Roppongi. The event aimed to give participants ideas on how to shift their inner capabilities into energy to grow their careers by finding their strengths.
According to Shinkai, we as women too often focus on lamenting what we are not good at, or at things that we can do easily and well, ending up not challenging ourselves to get better. The participants were encouraged to refresh their memories on what kind of person they were in their childhood to become aware of any habits and roles – like a ‘good girl’ role, where you try to do things ‘right’ – they might have taken in the past.
Creating a Deck of Your Strengths
To find out their real strengths, the participants get to choose three photo cards from ‘Points of You’ deck they liked the most – the idea was to pick up the ones that first appeal to you, and not to think too much. This was to make sure that the cards represent your true self as accurately as possible.
After creating your own ‘deck,’ participants would form pairs and interpret what kind of person they were having a discussion with by looking at the cards the other person had picked. To everyone’s surprise, people were able to make very accurate descriptions of each other only based on the three cards.
People would also notice things and aspects the person themself hadn’t been aware of – it is empowering to find out how other people perceive you, as it helps you to see yourself in an objective light.
Strengths are what makes me strong.
Jennifer Shinkai
‘Points of You’ is a powerful tool to identify your real strengths – understanding what makes you feel strong helps you to focus more on activities that support your growth, and eventually become the best version of yourself!
FEW wants to thank Jennifer Shinkai for this special session where we were able to find out more about our strengths and becoming stronger as persons and professionals!