90% OF THE LEADERS I TALK TO DON’T GET THIS

I was right there with everyone. Until someone I worked with was so tired of me asking her to work her weaknesses that she game me the book, “Now, Discover Your Strengths.” I would share improvement feedback with her and partner to help her get so good would she be promotable. And the was to work on where she was weak. I had her best interest at heart, right? Apparently not.

FLAWED ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PEOPLE

Early in the book, the authors (Clifton & Buckingham) introduce findings from over 2 million interviews where they discovered that most organizations believe:

“Each person can learn to be competent in almost everything.”
“Each person’s greatest room for growth is in his or her areas of greatest weakness.”

This was on page 7. And I believed both of these things. I was an organizational man. A competent manager. That was the trick, right. Have a clear competency model. Get clear on the task, conditions, and standards for specific tasks. And provide frequent feedback - both positive and improvement. That’s what a good manager does, right? I read on…

According to the authors (and the data they had collected), the next two assumptions guide the world’s best manager:

“Each person’s talents are enduring and unique.”
“Each person’s greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength.”

This was page 8. I was a Six Sigma Green Belt with ISO 9001 experience who found ways to measure productivity at every turn (all things listed on page 9 as issues with organizational approaches to talent management). Don’t find a problem?

THIS WAS A REVELATION

Not only for the poor Team Leader working for me - the one that had the courage to hand me the book in the hopes that I would stop asking her to be someone else, but it was a personal revelation for me.

I didn’t have to be good at everything. I didn’t have to be “well rounded.” I had spent so much time working on weaknesses. And I didn’t have to worry about them anymore.

I WAS UNIQUE

Even more than the freedom I felt knowing I didn’t have to be good at everything, I had something different about me. I didn’t have to fit in. My background, my education, the way I worked, my birth order, where I went to school, my first job. Everything was special. There was only me. I had unique and enduring talents. My strengths were my own. And if you are rolling your eyes right now, what is it that is so special about you? Think about those things.

I read the rest of the book. It was very good. I took the strengthfinder assessment. I vowed never to work on a weakness again. And I vowed never to ask a team member to work on theirs either. It was the moment when I stopped managing and started leading. Many thanks for the book recommendation, Melany.

CAVEAT

I will point out that I have had my share of improvement feedback. And there is a difference between a weakness and a “career de-railer”. I have some of those. I work on them. Often. And if someone is new in their career, there are foundational areas where they need to grow. They may need a broad set of general skills to build a baseline of competence. I get that. But you the point here, right?

WHAT’S THE IMPACT?

Too many managers are still asking people to work on their weaknesses without taking time to discover what makes each team member unique. Here’s the so what.

It feels bad - there is a magic 5:1 ratio of that started in marriage research that is also true in business relationships . If you are giving 5 critiques to one “way to go” then it’s not going to feel good.
Deficit mindset - when people hear primarily about the negative, they tend to work just hard enough not to screw up. They don’t soar. They don’t stretch. They just don’t want to hear about the TPS reports.
Low energy - when people talk about their “superpower”, you can see them light up. When they talk about their weekend, their kids, their upcoming race…they are on fire! When they talk about their “opportunities” or “less than strengths”, it can suck the life out of them.
Not highest and best use - I hope I get a chance to use all my talents to the fullest in this life. When people are working in their strengths, it can give them a feeling of resonance that is uncommon. Ask a true master what it feels like when they work. The trick is to help people find the best possible way to use their strengths. Honestly, that's one the best parts of coaching and development.
They might not improve - I am not great at finishing projects. I’m not great at spelling and checking for grammatical errors. I try to hire people for those skills. I’ve tried to get better. I really have. It just saps the energy from me. I like to get to 90% and call it good. But people respect those who can put a polish on work - make it shine. I love those people. But sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you don’t get better. That’s the risk when working on a weakness.

WHAT’S THE FIX?

Start leading and stop managing. Or manage systems and lead people. Look inside and see what’s different about you - and about each team member. It is in the uniqueness that we find the strengths. I’m pretty good at looking at a bunch of disorganized information then quickly making sense of it and finding the next 3 steps to move forward. I got that from sitting in an HQ M113 vehicle as an executive officer. I’d listen to 4 different radio nets and then give the commander an update periodically. It made me great at filtering out noise and listening for red threads - the themes in between all the words. It took me a while to articulate that strength. I noticed it because I was frustrated others couldn’t do it as easily. Then I realized it was a strength. That’s how I figured mine out. Over time and through reflection.

IDENTIFY INDIVIDUAL STRENGTHS

Take some quiet time to look at your work history. What do you have that others don’t? Focus on where work feels easy. Take a Strengthsfinder survey. Your strengths may be in use more often than you know. Look at hobbies? Where do you invest time?
Ask other people what you are good at. Chances are they might know your strengths before you do. See what the themes are across different people from periods in your life.
Think about how you’d define your “highest and best use” - what are the unique and enduring talents you bring to your organization (I was tempted to say “the world” there - because isn’t that what you are really after)?

HELP YOUR TEAM IDENTIFY THEIR STRENGTHS

Give people the time and space to figure out where they are strong. Take them through your strengths and how you discovered them (if they are interested and need an example). Ask them questions about their career and life. Get into their values. Find out what matters. Stay curious.
Start talking about how they can build their unique strengths. Give projects that help them. Sure, you have to “manage performance”, but spend some time talking about how they sharpen the edges even more. Matching work to strengths can change how it feels to work on your team. Help them grow where they ae uniquely good.

They’ll thank you for it.

- Mike Sweeney, www.sabercoaching.com

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If you found this post valuable, please share it far and wide so others can benefit. If you want to think about investing in some coaching, shoot me a note @ mikesweeney@sabercoaching.com. Maybe we can discover your strengths together, find the strengths of your team members, and bring it all together in a high performing team.

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