MY STRENGTH IS MY WEAKNESS. WHAT’S YOURS?
It was a Business School course, it was a long time ago, and we had been there for what seemed a long time as well. But having got to know each other pretty well over that time, we sat down towards the end as a group and did this exercise together.
We had to pick one word to describe each other’s biggest strength. Fair enough. And then to pick another word to describe their biggest weakness. Bit tougher. All very intuitive. But all done in a very positive and supportive environment.
It’s my turn.
And this guy, who I liked, asked to name my biggest strength, said “Martin is Sensitive”. Note the capital S.
Nice. What he meant was high empathy, reads the room, very strong interpersonal skills, can bring people together. All that sort of good stuff.
But you know where this is going, right? Same guy, asked to name my biggest weakness, said “Martin is sensitive”. Obviously lower-case s…
Hmm. By which he meant easily hurt, sees things that aren’t there, tends to be conflict averse. Challenging stuff if you aspire to run global businesses, as I did.
My strength is my weakness. It was very definitely what I would now call an “Aha!” moment.
I had some things to learn then. Embrace the strength, but recognise when it’s a weakness, and develop new skills to combat it.
The good news is that we can develop new skills. I use the analogy of the footballer who is naturally right footed. That’s where their strength lies. But if they never learn to use their left foot, that strength also reflects a weakness.
Another example. Your greatest strength might be Attention to Detail. And when that’s what the project demands, I absolutely want you on my team! Attention to Detail is probably not in my top five strengths.
But when we need to take a quick decision based largely on intuition? Now your strength suddenly becomes a weakness, because you just can’t move forwards without more data.
And then there’s David and Goliath! Goliath’s biggest strength? His size. His biggest weakness? His size.
David’s biggest weakness? His size. Biggest strength? His size
Modern (in the news) examples of the David and Goliath story are not hard to find…
So yes, we embrace our strengths and make the best of them. But we need to be alert to when that strength is also a weakness and manage that downside.
My strength is indeed my weakness. True for you also?
Your Best Self
“Your Best Self” is a collection of 20 reflections like this one, with the common thread of how we can create greater humanity in our interactions with each other. It can be used either by teams or by individuals. To get your copy just follow the link:
