Turning Personal Weaknesses Into Business Strengths
Larry Easto
I Help Self-Employed Professionals Market & Grow Their Service Businesses | Marketing Coach | Author of 30+ Books & Online Video Courses | Sharing Practical Strategies for Authentic Business Growth |
In both our personal and business lives, we all face challenges and weaknesses that can sometimes feel overwhelming.
But what if these weaknesses could actually be transformed into our biggest strengths?
This is the personal journey that many individuals embark on, discovering their hidden potential and turning their weaknesses into stepping stones for success.
From overcoming fears and insecurities to learning from past mistakes, we can not only achieve personal growth but empowered ourselves along the way.
Discover how you, too, can adopt a positive mindset, embrace self-improvement, and conquer your own weaknesses.
It's time to shift your perspective and realize the untapped potential that lies within.
Embark on a journey of self-discovery and learn how to navigate life's challenges with grace and resilience.
Identify Personal Weaknesses
The first step is to identify whatever weaknesses we may have.
For example, I am more comfortable cooperating and collaborating than I am at confrontation.
Although being non-confrontation need not be an issue in one’s personal life, it can be very problematic as a practicing lawyer.? Much of lawyers’ work involves advocating on behalf of clients, which work is more often than not, adversarial or confrontational in nature.
From the time that I qualified to practice law, I declined any and all work that was or might become adversarial in nature.? When working with clients, whenever a conflict arose, I immediately referred the matter to a lawyer who was more comfortable with confrontation.
Fortunately my target audience recognized the value of my non-confrontational approach.? Many new clients told me that they chose me because I wasn’t like the other lawyers who liked to fight.
Painstaking Preparation
Many people over-prepare to offset their weaknesses.
As I write this article, an acquaintance is getting ready for an eagerly awaited vacation.? To offset her longstanding practice of procrastination, she has a detailed check list of everything that must be done before departing for the airport.
This checklist details specific task or action, deadline for completion, how it will be completed and any costs associated with the item.
Not only has she met every deadline, the last time I heard she was ready to start her packing…three days ahead of the deadline.?
Go figure.
Do What You Do Best
For those of us who run our own single-person service business, we have total responsibility for everything.
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But that doesn’t mean we must do everything ourselves.
A better approach would be to follow the advice of Peter Drucker, the contemporary management guru:
"Do what you do best and outsource the rest."
In following this advice, not only can we address problematic weaknesses, we are better prepared to grow our businesses and achieve our goals.
By delegating tasks to others who are more qualified, we can focus on what we do best … and get even better at doing it
Good Enough Is Good Enough
Like many aspects of life, perfectionism is both a blessing and curse.
Sure it’s great to tasks completely perfectly, free of any obvious flaws.nbsp; But at what cost?
I know someone who is such a perfectionist that he won’t start anything unless he knows he can complete it perfectly.nbsp; Not surprisingly, he talks more about what he wants to do than he actually starts…and finishes a whole lot less than what he starts.
Other perfectionists obsess over every detail regardless of how trivial and insignificant.nbsp; As a result most takes require much more time and attention than is reasonably necessary.
Good enough is not mediocrity, nor is bare minimum quality.
It simply means that all things considered, there are sufficient benefits to the task or action to achieve its intended purpose.nbsp; It will serve as the next benchmark in the process of continuous improvement.
Other Weaknesses
Obviously the above weaknesses to which I made reference are little more than the tip of the iceberg.nbsp;
Given how different each of us is as individuals, we each have our own unique combination of weaknesses … just as we all have our own combination of strengths.
Realistically, the process of identifying personal weaknesses is an individual process that is best undertaken by each of us on our own.
And equally realistically, the best resource for this process is the SWOT Analysis as described below.
As surprisingly as it may appear, you really can turn those problematic weaknesses into valuable strengths.
The following resources will help get you started.
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