Developing strenghs and weaknesses
International consultancy DDI offers guidance on dealing with both strengths and weaknesses in leadership training.
While acknowledging the importance of emphasising and building strengths, it is key to focus on weaknesses and fill in development gaps of leaders
1 Effective leaders must be strong in all areas
Effective leaders must be able to draw on a wide array of capabilities in order to assume the many roles required of them. Most models that describe how leaders accomplish these roles divide the required underlying behaviour into 12-16 units called competencies (for example building trust, empowering and so on). Effective executives have enormous strengths in some competencies, while they are merely proficient in others.
2 Strengths can' t compensate for major weaknesses
Senior executives who run departments or business units must, at different times, play all the executive roles. Successful leaders also avoid falling prey to weaknesses related to executive derailers: negative personality traits that can cause otherwise knowledgeable and skilled leaders to fail. Although hard to change, the negative impact of derailers can be minimised or diffused through coaching and other developmental techniques.
3 Strengths can be over-used
Effective leaders know when to use their strengths. The idea of growing strengths, without encouraging insight into the possible downside of overuse, can lead to personal disappointments and management havoc.
4 Focusing only on strengths can overburden others
In instances where a leader is weak in a critical area, others, recognising the leader's weaknesses, may be forced to manage around him or her. This shifting of roles can cost an organisation a great deal.
5 Weaknesses might be confused with inexperience
Sometimes development needs result from a lack of experience rather than from basis personality or behavioural factors. Individuals may have leadership development needs that came about because of a lack of a challenge or opportunity. These needs can often be filled and the particular quality may even be transformed into a major strength.
6 Focusing only on strengths can limit job options
When individuals choose only to improve on areas where they are strong, they can end up being under-utilised in narrow jobs in the lower levels of a company.
7 Individuals are not always in tune with their own true strengths and weaknesses
Highly-talented people are often hypercritical of themselves and view a relative weakness as an absolute weakness. These individuals usually get very concerned over their 'weak' areas and devote quite a lot of time to developing them into something approximating their strengths.
8 The true meaning of 20 per cent
In the book Now, discover your strengths Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton state that only 20 per cent of employees believe they use their strengths every day. Managers need to do a better job of discovering the strengths of individuals and helping them maximise those strengths to the mutual benefit of both the individual and the organisation, just as they should also help individuals develop their weak areas.
9 Weaknesses can be successfully addressed
People have a surprising ability to develop and grow - even as mature adults. Effective training can result in big payoffs to individuals and organisations.
10 Successful strategic leaders use all their executive competencies
Effective leaders have the necessary insight to flex their leadership competencies to address given situations. Some competencies can be stronger than others, but it is hard to be successful with major competency gaps. The idea is not to throw away the competencies people already have, but rather to develop those competencies along with others for success.
