Three Star Leadership Blog: Recent Comments

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Wally Bock — 2010-03-19T13:55:32Z

I like how you put that, Darcy. Thanks.

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Darcy — 2010-03-19T13:38:10Z

Wally - This is a great post. I like "strengths-based" management because people feel more successful when they're working with their strengths. And I know that for me personally, there are certain weaknesses that are innate, and based on watching my parents, seem to be genetic. I'm never going to get good at those things. I do think it's important to work on them to get "good enough" like you mentioned above. But I'll get a better ROI with my time if I work on improving the areas where I already do well.

I like to tell supervisors that it's their job to help employees to capitalize on their strengths and manage their weaknesses.

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Wally Bock — 2010-03-19T12:26:02Z

Thanks for the comments, Bret. I love the point about how, when things are taken to extremes, we almost always get in trouble.

It's also to cherry-pick the parts of an idea we like and forget the rest. Many advocates of strength-based leadership, for example, appear to think that weaknesses can be ignored.

Then, there are things we haven't addressed here. Strengths that are developed at the expense of other things can become weaknesses. And there's a difference in the way people receive and interpret commentary on their strengths.

There was an excellent post on this by KenNowack on the Results vs. Activities blog last year. It was titled "HRD Shams #3: Leveraging Your Strengths." I can't do the post justice in a summary, so click over and read it for yourself.

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Wally Bock — 2010-03-19T12:01:02Z

Thanks for those thoughtful comments, Tanmay. I think there's a few degrees of difference between project management and other management on this issue. With project management there's usually a sunset date or deadline, and that tips the balance for the manager more toward using complementary skills and away from developing team members. Art Petty had an insightful post on this a couple of weeks ago titled "Learning to Lead in a Project-Focused World."

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Wally Bock — 2010-03-19T11:53:37Z

I like that line, Heath. Thanks for sharing it.

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Tanmay Vora — 2010-03-19T03:55:37Z

Very interesting thoughts on strengths based leadership.

Managers, leaders and organizations have to play to their people’s strengths and see that they win each day. Team members should smell success everyday in whatever they are doing. These small victories build self-confidence over a period of time and makes them capable of handling larger assignments. I call this “eventual strength building”. While proper utilization of team members is important too, assigning them tasks without thinking about their capabilities and strengths is a sure way to failure - both for the team member and for the manager.

An extension to the above is to manage their weaknesses. I prefer to have people with complementary skills on a project. Ideal team composition is where weaknesses of one member is complemented by strength of another team member.

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Bret Simmons — 2010-03-19T03:38:37Z

I always love how you see through the fog and boil things down to the bottom line. Its when things are taken to extremes that they get distorted and can be more harmful than good. Such is the strength based "movement." I wish folks would learn to run as fast as possible from anyone that claims to support their approach to management with "a mountain of evidence."

I think we should always care about our weaknesses, but as you point out so well, they don't always have to matter.

Well done, Wally.

Comment on Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You

Heath Davis Havlick — 2010-03-19T00:14:13Z

Good points, Wally. Business concepts, like sheets, need to be changed from time to time.

Comment on 3/17/10: Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

Wally Bock — 2010-03-18T13:42:27Z

Gosh, Mike, after reading your post, how could I say, "No?"

Comment on 3/17/10: Midweek Look at the Independent Business Blogs

Mike Myatt — 2010-03-18T00:11:32Z

Hi Wally:

Thanks so much for including my post. Always honored to have your feedback Wally. Thanks again.