Strengths and weaknesses

Just finished Marcus Buckingham’s “Go Put Your Strengths To Work”. A proponent of the strengths movement, Buckingham advances the whole idea that we can be most successful if we maximize our innate strengths, not by fixing our weaknesses to be more well-rounded. I fully agree.

I have a pretty good idea of what my strengths are, but as you may have inferred from my occasional ranting on this blog, maximizing them is easier said than done. In fact, the book revealed a study that most people are able to use their strengths less than a quarter of the time. That is so true. I find myself doing a lot of things that are just not making full use of my real strengths.

It’s also an important realization that only the things that we are good at and love to do are what we should consider our real strengths. We may be good at something but if it’s something we don’t like to do, then it’s actually a weakness. If we love to do something but we’re not good at them, it should be at best a hobby. Strengths are what exhilarate and excites us. Weaknesses are exhausting and draining.

The book takes readers to steps in identifying both strengths and weaknesses. Here are mine:

My Top 4 Strengths

Strength #1: I feel strongest when…
I conceptualize and start new projects, such as magazines, websites, and events, that are ground-breaking, defining their objectives, market, structure, content, and design.

Strength #2: I feel strongest when…
I write about things that interest, intrigue, or humor me, searching and sorting through sometimes complex information and present to readers in a comprehensive, insightful, accessible, or entertaining way.

Strength #3: I feel strongest when…
I create a strategic program or specific action plan that will solve a marketing or HR problem.

Strength #4: I feel strongest when…
I encourage people I supervise who do outstanding work and deliver the results I want.

My Top 4 Weaknesses

Weakness #1: I feel weakest when…
I have to do the nitty-gritty details of implementing, managing, and operating a business, program, or project, such as coordination, follow-ups, paperwork, and monitoring.

Weakness #2: I feel weakest when…
I have to write boring articles, business letters, PR stuff, scripts, and other things that I don’t care about.

Weakness #3: I feel weakest when…
I edit or proofread letters, ad copy, articles, and layouts.

Weakness #4: I feel weakest when…
I deal with problematic results, sub par performance, and uncooperative people.

It’s interesting that my strengths and weaknesses are actually mirror images of each other:

1. Conceptualizing vs. Implementing
2. Writing Interesting Things vs. Writing Boring Things
3. Strategic Planning vs. Detailed Work
4. Supervising Top Performers vs. Dealing With Bad Performers

Being very specific made me realize I do not hate writing, which was my conclusion not long ago, when I found myself corporate communication and public relations work (by the way, I do them well, but I despise doing them). I don’t hate writing per se. In fact, I love writing, but only stuff that interest me.

The real challenge after identifying strengths and weaknesses is doing more of the former and less of the latter. The author suggests concrete steps, although geared largely towards employees rather than the self-employed. But in fact, as a free agent and business owner, I ought to have greater freedom to do more of what I’m good at and what I love.

The ball, as they say, is now in my hands.