I have been re-examining Asset-Based Thinking (ABT), which is a valuable leadership tool for creating personal mastery that supports your work and career. Very simply, it is about your glass being half-empty or half-full, when in actuality it is probably both.

ABT is a cognitive process for identifying our assets, strengths, talents, synergies and possibilities that are available in you, other people and any situation. It is about viewing your business, yourself and life in terms of opportunities rather than problems, strengths more so than weaknesses, and what can be done instead of what can’t be done. ABT creates a focal point of concentration and mental energy that will keep us alert and inspired to maximize all there is to gain from situations.

ABT is not blind optimism; and major companies, such as Monsanto, DuPont, Microsoft, Starbucks, Peabody Energy, Deloitte & Touche, MasterCard and the US Air Force have adopted ABT thinking in its approaches to developing leaders and managing change.

The opposite of ABT is deficit based thinking:  telling yourself “it is not going to work, it can’t be done.” One problem is that deficit based thinking is hard-wired into our thinking as a survival mechanism. Survival, however, is no longer a controlling theme in our lives.  The good news is that ABT is hard-wired also but less utilized and therefore takes a slight shift, conscious at first, in how we see things.

DEVELOP YOUR ABT 

To strengthen your ABT make a list of three to five things you have accomplished in the past week or so.  Now, reflect on the personal talents, strengths, and skills you used in making those accomplishments happen. Jot those down next to each accomplishment.

Take a good, long look at your talents, strengths and skills, making notes about common traits and how these traits are experienced.  This is your ABT profile. What patterns do you see? Think about how you can leverage this particular positive pattern of skills, talents, and strengths-today, tomorrow, and next weekend! Do this reflection on a regular basis and you will be amazed at what you discover about yourself. (We all have major blind spots when it comes to our own unique assets).

Change The Way You See Everything, Thought Asset-Based Thinking, Cramer, Kathryn & Hank Wasiak. 2006. Running Press.