Turning Weaknesses Into Strengths

Hi, I’m David Timis and my mission in life is to prepare people for the future of work.?

In this week’s edition of the newsletter the theme revolves around turning your weaknesses into strengths. Weaknesses make us feel vulnerable; they make us feel anxious and afraid of starting something new, because of the fear of failure many of us have since childhood. However, if you start looking at your weaknesses from a different, less daunting, perspective, that of the opposite side of the same coin that also represents your strengths, you could unblock the potential lying dormant in every limitation, that of being turned into a strength. Below are some insights, thoughts, and simple exercises that will help you in the process by identifying your weaknesses, and then changing the way you look at them so that, in time, you will be able to turn any weakness into a strength.?

Timeless Insight

“Every weakness has a corresponding strength.” – Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman is one of the most well respected American entrepreneurs and investors. Hoffman was the Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the platform enabling this weekly newsletter - LinkedIn , an early investor of another social network - Facebook , and one of the original members of the PayPal Mafia - a group of former PayPal employees and investors who have since founded other technology companies (e.g. Tesla , YouTube , etc.). In 2017, Hoffman launched a podcast, Masters of Scale, which is full of insights on everything from business strategy to entrepreneurship (you can also listen to it on YouTube). One of the nuggets of wisdom he shared in the podcast that stuck with me for some time was that those of us looking to get better by working on minimising our weaknesses are potentially exposing ourselves to a risk - that of eliminating a corresponding strength. One of the examples he shared was actually a personal one - Reid is not very well organised, but perhaps his day-to-day chaos is what enables him to be so creative. That’s because creativity involves connecting disparate ideas, and so the unstructured tempo of his life is a positive enabling force for him, not a bottleneck. How intensely organised you are and how creative you are may be two opposite sides of the same coin. For example, if you’re a startup and worry your lack of a track record is a liability, instead of wishing it away, figure out how to turn your newness into a strength when marketing to customers. The two sided coin idea informs one of Reid Hoffman’s favourite mental models: that of turning your weakness into a strength.?

Food for Thought

One of the biggest bottlenecks that stops us from starting something new, be it a new project or a new habit, is our worry about our shortcomings - the weaknesses that might have led us to failure in the past. However, as much as it’s important to identify them and be aware of them, pondering too much on our inadequacies never helps, it only causes us to be more anxious. What we can do instead is to change the way we think about our weaknesses altogether.?

The legendary American essayist, poet, and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Our strength grows out of our weaknesses,” and so, every shortcoming we might have can, with the right mindset, be turned into a strength. Positive thinking can help in the process, but what makes the difference is figuring out ways in which weaknesses can become strengths. And that’s easier said than done, since it involves developing a high level of self-awareness.?

However, in a blog I used to subscribe to, Zen Habits, I stumbled upon a way to circumvent the need to become all-seeing in order to identify our weaknesses and find out ways to turn them into strengths - breaking down the task at hand into smaller, easier to manage steps. For example, if a person is not very good at sticking to a task and/or a project for very long, but he/she is good at doing short-term work, they can turn this into a competitive advantage:?

1. Become a master of the quick turnaround - Someone needs a small task or job done? Do it in a day or two. Any job that takes longer than should be broken down into smaller jobs, which can be taken on one at a time, rather than as a group of intimidating and overwhelming projects. If you can do great work in short bursts, that’s an awesome strength.

2. Focus on baby steps - For some goals, you need to sustain something for a long time (e.g. running a marathon, writing a book, etc.), but if you focus on one step at a time, and make each step a major success, you can achieve a lot over time with little baby steps. Instead of worrying about an entire marathon training program, focus on one day at a time.?

Let’s do a small exercise of self-reflection. What do you think are your main weaknesses? Are they keeping you from starting something new or from pursuing a childhood dream? Sometimes we have fears about our weaknesses without even realising it, and these fears can hold us back from becoming the best version of ourselves. So, while you are still in reflection mode, take a minute to think about what are the fears that are holding you back?

After going through this exercise and writing down your main findings, try looking at the weaknesses you’ve identified from a different perspective, that of seeing them as strengths. This is how, slowly but surely, you will be able to change the way you think about limitations, and find ways to actually leverage them to your advantage. Imagine how powerful this could be. And, the good news is that there is a step-by-step model that can help you in the process:

• Step 1 - examine your weaknesses;
• Step 2 -? identify your strengths;
• Step 3 - figure out how to move your weaknesses into the strengths column.

The more you practise this step-by-step mental model and use it to change your perspective, the better you’ll get at it. For example, if you aren’t good at speaking in front of large crowds, try talking to small groups instead, until you hone your skills and build up your confidence. Or, if you are not a great writer and every time you have to write a proposal you struggle, then become an amazing presenter and turn every written proposal into a pitch.

Article of the Week?

Do You Know Your SWOT?

Caricature of the Week

Source: Condé Nast

Thank you for reading and keep on growing!

David

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