You don’t have to be good at or enjoy every skill that is related to People Analytics in order to be successful in a People Analytics career. There are many different skills that can be leveraged in People Analytics and luckily there are also many variations in careers. That means you can focus on a career that aligns best with your strengths and interests. But, only if you have clarity on what they are. In Step 1 you identified your existing strengths and in Steps 2 through 4 you completed ‘Self-Discovery’ skill assessments that highlighted many more. So, you’ve already got a head start on taking an inventory of all your awesomeness. But it is important to also consider what you might enjoy doing. Remember, you don’t necessarily enjoy everything you are good at and you don’t have to be good at something to enjoy it.

Self-Discovery: Take Inventory of What You’re Good At & What You Enjoy

1. What are Your Strengths? Review all the skills you explored in the self-discovery activities of this book. Add them to the table – see template – and put a checkmark in the column labeled “Strength.” It doesn’t matter what level of skill you are at and there is no minimum level for something to be a strength. Since some activities or jobs only require a low level on a skill to be successful a high level may be unnecessary; it’s all relative to how the skill will be used. It also doesn’t matter if you are at your desired skill level today. Something can be a strength even if you hope to grow and become stronger in the future. Unsure if something is a skill? Pretend a friend asked for help on a project involving that thing. Could you provide them with some useful help or support? If, in any way, you could support them, go ahead and mark it a strength. Can’t remember where these self-assessment activities happened in this book? You can find them in each step as follows:
   1. Step 1: “Self-Discovery: Identify Your Strengths”
   2. Step 2: “Self-Discovery: People Analytics Translator Skills.” Plus, the data consumer skills of ‘Analytical & Critical Thinking,’ ‘Systems Thinking,’ and ‘Curiosity & Creativity.’
   3. Step 3: “Self-Discovery: Analytical Skills,” “Self-Discovery: Data Visualization Skills,” “Self-Discovery: People Data Management, Governance & Ethics Skills,” “Self-Discovery: People Analytics Research Skills,” and “Explore & Engage: People Analytics Technology Explorations”
   4. Step 4: “Self-Discovery: People Analytics Community Building Skills”
2. Where are Your Passions and What Do You Enjoy? In the table, use a column labeled “Interest & Passion” to checkmark any skills you enjoy or are interested in. Then add more skills that you are interested in to the table. Typical ikigai definitions use the word “love” for this category but that can be too strong a word for some people, even “joy” may be a bit too exuberant for some. If that’s you, feel free to think of these as skills you are “drawn to” or “interested in.” Enjoyment and connection to something is personal, so how you choose these will be personal too. When in doubt, mark it.
   1. Tip: Go back through all the lists of skills in this book and add anything you were interested in to the table. Don’t limit yourself to only the things you are good at. I don’t believe you have to be good at something to be interested, excited or enjoy it.
3. What Skills do You Want to Develop? Learning something new can be incredibly rewarding, it can spark a sense of accomplishment, fuel curiosity and keeps you engaged and stimulated while also enabling you to reach your full potential and gain the career you hope to achieve. The process of discovery and mastering new skills can bring a sense of joy. So it’s worth identifying the skills that you would like to develop. Look at the list of skills you have created and place a checkmark in a column labeled “Development” for any skill you would like to increase your mastery level in.
   1. Tip: Don’t base this off of what you are/aren’t already good at. Base this off of what things you want to learn. Either because you would enjoy the learning process or because you feel the learning would be valuable to you personally. And, don’t be afraid to mark items you are already strong in; building new skills is exciting, but so is mastery and deep specialization. It’s up to you which and how many you choose to mark.

Skill Table Template:

Example: