The Weekend of Weakness Management
October 13, 2007 by David Zinger
Filed under Business
Use this weekend to determine how you manage weaknesses.
Brian Brim wrote a new article on the Gallup Management Journal on adopting a strength-based approach does not mean you can ignore your weaknesses. I believe strongly in a strength based leadership approach and write about it frequently on www.davidzinger.com. It is a challenge to determine how to handle your weaknesses and Brian does an excellent job of exploring this myth.
From the strength bases approach, a weakness is a shortage or misapplication of talent, skill, or knowledge that causes problems for you or others.
Mr Brim outlined 5 approaches to manage your weaknesses:
- Get the right education and training
- Leverage your greatest talents
- Form complementary partnerships
- Just do it
- Stop doing it
I believe Brian’s conclusion was very insightful:
Managing your potential weaknesses isn’t always easy. It takes planning and effort — and maybe even a little humility — but as you proactively deal with shortages or misapplications in talent, skill, or knowledge that could create problems, you will clear the path to strength for yourself, your teammates, and the organization.
I encourage you to read the article, learn more about your strengths, and manage your weaknesses to maximize your strengths.
Be bold and be strong!
David Zinger is passionate about strength based leadership.
This is a great post. We would all do well to look beyond both our current strengths and weaknesses by means of brainstorming perhaps more. We should be mindful of the fact we can always turn a weakness around. Redefine our goals and challenge ourselves. “Weakness Management” is a great lesson in going the extra mile. David Zinger keep up the excellent posts!
This is good stuff. There are some great things for my readers to think about in light of their job search and success on the jobs. I will see what I can come up with to link back to your article. Good stuff!!
Darlene
Interview Guru
http://www.interviewchatter.com
I love the title Q-bicle.
Darlene: always good to hear from someone else at B5 and I thought your post on Edmund Hillary and his failed attempt was inspirational. I have always loved his Hillary’s sense of accomplishment wedded with his bortherhood of the rope.
David
I think the first step is to be open and acknowledge the fact there we are not great at everything and we don’t know everything. Knowing your weakness will allow you to target areas you need to develop but also allow you to find ways to compensate so that you don’t feel helpless. Take opportunities to use your strengths but be prepeared for situtions in which you will need to just face your fears and do something that you’re not quite good at – i.e. presentations, I don’t like them but I must do them so I keep them short.
I think the first step is to be open and acknowledge the fact there we are not great at everything and we don’t know everything. Knowing your weakness will allow you to target areas you need to develop but also allow you to find ways to compensate so that you don’t feel helpless. Take opportunities to use your strengths but be prepeared for situtions in which you will need to just face your fears and do something that you’re not quite good at – i.e. presentations, I don’t like them but I must do them so I keep them short.
Carol
http://mba.ubalt.towson.edu/
Carol,
In essence it is like being strong about our weaknesses. Good points and you even made them twice!
Take care and carry on caring,
David