Others will have the strengths you are lacking

Years ago I took over leadership of a rapidly growing business. My attention was all on the vision and values because that's what I enjoy the most. We built an amazing community, did great work and our customers loved us. I was filled with a purpose and wanted to share it with others.

But we began to suffer when our systems, processes, and controls could no longer manage the business. Our head office overseas couldn’t help because they’d never had such a rapidly growing subsidiary.

One of my top strengths is Learner. The systems side of things never interested me, but I enjoy learning for its own sake. I thought, ‘Well, I could learn about systems, enough to tell someone what I need to run the business.’ And I used what I’d learned in my investment banking days when systems were crucial to controlling risk.

What had been boring suddenly became interesting!

Then I realised a staff member had a passion for systems and controls. She loved the detailed, intricate work of building systems and making them work. Between us, we designed something that served the business well for years. I was learning and using my relationship strengths to encourage our teams to take it on. And I could rely on her to implement it because she had the necessary strengths of Focus and Discipline. It was a great partnership.

This will be different for everyone, but I hope you get the idea. There’s no point flogging away at your weaknesses, use yours and other's strengths instead.

If you want to talk about how living your strengths can overcome weaknesses, please give me a call. I also made a video about this, you can check it here.

Until next time, be strong!