Identifying your strengths and weaknesses

By ROBERTO GALEOTTI
roberto.galeotti@leaderonomics.com

We all have areas of strength and weakness, or rather areas of “non-strength”. It is of great importance that we identify what they are, and nurture our strengths rather than wasting energy and resources trying to fix our areas of non-strength. The process of identifying and redefining our areas of strength takes a lifetime; beginning at the early stages of our lives, and never really ending.

The initial signs of our strength and non-strength areas show during our early school days: our likes and dislikes, the activities and topics where we do best and worst at school give us an early an indication of our strengths and non-strengths.

Several tools are available to help us assess in a more scientific way our aptitude and areas of strength. They have various levels of depth and complexity, according to the target age group and learning environment. Assessment tools to help young people understand their basic personality traits and aptitude are commonly used in secondary schools as a form of career orientation. The combination of these tools and your personal experience should give an accurate assessment of the areas where you would do better in studies and professional life.

Some of the best leaders I have personally known and worked with leverage their strengths more than develop their areas of weakness. Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, is a clear example of a strength-based leader. Jack is extremely self-aware and clearly knows his strengths. In non-strength areas, Jack will quickly turn to his CFO or other business leaders for guidance and advice. He is not afraid to let others lead in areas which are not his strengths but fully leverages his strengths constantly.

Sony Corp co-founders Masaru Ibuka (right) and Akio Morita are shown at their Tokyo office in the 1960s. Morita's strength was as the marketer and entrepreneur, whilst Ibuka took care of areas Morita was not as competent in.

In reality (let’s be honest) how many of you are really satisfied with your job? I don’t mean your boss, or the office environment, or the salary and perks package you have negotiated with your company, but rather with your actual professional activity, your specific function and area of expertise. Have you ever asked yourself on the way to work why you are doing what you are doing, grumbling about doing things you do not connect with or you don’t really think you have an interest in? Do you feel that whatever you are doing lacks a sense of purpose, has no impact on your company or community? Do you feel that your inventiveness and creativity are wasted? Are you struggling to develop a rewarding career path and finding relevance in your organisation? If you do, something is fundamentally wrong, and you should start asking yourself hard questions:

·       Am I in the right line of business?

·       Is my job the right job for me?

·       Is my company letting me make full use of my strengths?

·       Am I excited about what I do and can’t wait to go to work daily?

If not, you may not be playing to your strengths. Remember that when your strengths are fully at work, you are at your peak performance.

We are all different and we adapt in different ways (according to our strengths) to functions, roles and job specifics. For some, managing people or a business might not be an area of strength, but they should not consider this a failure. This same person might be a top achiever in his area of specialisation, a well respected engineer, or a future top label designer. You may not be stellar at solving complicated mathematical formulas or finding solutions to difficult engineering issues, but nothing stops you from becoming a top business leader, or a potential world famous chef.

I personally know of a very brilliant sales executive, a top achiever who was highly motivated, whom the company decided to promote to manage the entire marketing and sales team. They expected to see sales skyrocket with him as the boss. Well, it did not work. The young man, a top achiever as an individual salesman, failed miserably as a manager. His team became unhappy, and the sales numbers crumbled. Clearly, managing people was not his strength – he was a leader in his own merit, but he could not be a manager.

Great leaders manage from their strength. Akio Morita, the founder of Sony, realised early in life that he was a great marketer and had great business sense. However, he did not fancy a number of other areas of running the business. So, he wisely brought in Masaru Ibuka as his co-founder and partner. Whilst Akio focused on his core strengths, Masaru filled in the gaps, focusing on areas where Akio was less inclined. This way both Akio and Masaru’s strengths came to the fore and were leveraged fully. This combination enabled Sony to become one of the most amazing organisations ever to emerge from Japan.

Morita played to his strengths throughout his life, culminating in the success of Sony Corp.

I see the same partnership exists in many successful organisations. Today I am an executive coach at Leaderonomics and I see a similar partnership between the CEO and his co-founder. Whilst the CEO focuses on vision, strategy and execution, his number 2 focuses on the other areas needed to ensure the business grows and is fully developed. This is critical for leaders to surround themselves with people different from themselves to help them address their non-strength areas.

In conclusion, our full potential is multiplied the moment we play to our strengths. When we do what we love most, our performance is at its peak. Fight for it, do not settle for anything less, look for what really fits you. Keep working on your strengths and you will surely find success.

Roberto Galeotti was a former business leader at General Electric (GE) for numerous years. He is now retired and now spends his time helping coach young leaders fulfil their potential. He hopes all Malaysians play to their strengths and transform this nation.