By now, if you’re well into your career, you probably have a good sense of what your leadership strengths are, right? Let me ask you this question: As a leader, do you use your strengths wisely? Or perhaps you rely too much on your go-to talents and skills?
Think about it. As the psychologist Maslow has said:
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.”
I’m aware of many leadership development programs that continue to urge leaders to fix their weaknesses through training and coaching. Far more relevant for today’s complex business environments, however, are the leadership development experts who advise leaders to not waste time trying to excel at all things.
Instead, leaders are encouraged to develop their unique strengths and become really good in the areas where they are naturally talented. The Gallup StrengthsFinder Assessment is an example of a program that promotes discovering and using your strengths. While I agree with this approach to developing effective leaders, it’s only half true. This is because there is a trap inherent in strength-based leadership.
When leaders over use their strengths, they miss out on essential information. The over-extension of a strength becomes a weakness. Overusing strengths is what sabotages our leadership and managerial effectiveness every time.
A talented results-driven leader may be decisive, determined and great at delivering outcomes. Yet, under stress or at times of crises, his or her strengths may prevent collaboration with key people, thus missing key input.
Does this make sense to you? I suggest there is a downside to every strength and no matter how self-aware we may be, we can’t always see or know when we’ve crossed the line.
Has this ever happened to you? Or your boss? I think this is a hot topic in almost every team today.
I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached at 425-533-4330 or my cell, 425-877-8808, here or on LinkedIn.