
 
 
Example of a Personal Leadership SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, 
Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis 
(rev 2008) 
 
Strengths 
•  Compulsive 
•  Strong follow-through 
•  Articulate 
•  Writes well 
•  Balanced work-life perspective 
•  Multi-interested (e.g., work, recreational activities [e.g., curling, golf, etc.]) 
•  Ambitious 
Weaknesses
 
•  Strong need to “get things done and off my list” with consequence of getting it done right 
away, thereby undermining the benefits of more careful deliberation over time 
•  Compulsiveness sometimes causes me to begrudge being given tasks, i.e., stress of many 
tasks and need to do each carefully can lead me to think unkindly about the people and/or 
circumstance creating the task 
•  Can be impatient, i.e., not tolerate those who do not understand (“suffer fools poorly”) 
•  Time pressure causes stress and can lead to emotional “hijacking” 
•  Do not handle multiple immediately competing demands well 
Opportunities
 
•  To engage others in providing feedback about their experience of me 
•  To receive coaching in service of improving my leadership skills 
•  To learn from others in similar roles to mine 
•  To enhance my ability to manage the need to complete task quickly in order to be able to 
deliberate more carefully 
•  To enhance my equanimity about work-related tasks 
Threats
 
•  Time pressure, which can derail my plan for self-improvement because it catapults me 
back to my “usual” habits 
•  The multitude of everyday demands, which conspires against self-reflection 
•  Etc.