The Elephant in the (Strengths) Room

At the end of the school term, when a child brings home a report card that has three A’s, two B’s and a D, which mark gets the most attention?

Most people – using a conventional approach – would say the D.

Using a strengths-based approach, we would say, "let’s really lean into those A’s and B’s."

This example, which I’ve used many times, exposes the most common critique of a strengths-based approach: “What about weaknesses? What do I do with the things that hinder my performance?”

It’s a fair and very important question. Most of us have experienced our weaknesses being every bit as consequential in our performance as our strengths. To boot, our culture is obsessed with fixing our weaknesses. The diet industry in our country is a multi-billion dollar industry that uses this idea, "I need to fix a weakness or problem." In communities of peers, one of the most common conversations is the new diet or workout program that is seeking to fix a weakness or flaw. My point is this: Our culture is far more comfortable leaning into weaknesses that we need to fix than in discovering and using the things that are right about us.

Because the strengths-based approach to development is so positive, it is vulnerable to a critique of being naïve or negligent about the reality of weaknesses.

But I’ve found, this simply is not true.

The reality is, you can’t have an authentic conversation about a natural talent that turns into a strength without also talking about weaknesses. As someone who cares about good leadership and deeply believes that work can be a fantastic experience, I care about what’s NOT working. Indeed, every interaction in strengths-based coaching, be it individuals or teams, includes addressing what’s NOT working.

In a strengths-based approach, what do we do with weaknesses? Strengths-based guru Dean Jones suggests three ideas around weaknesses that are used in helping individuals and teams in dealing with weaknesses:

1. Grow in awareness of weaknesses. It seems contrary to a strengths-based approach. But, the truth, if not the mystery, of strengths-based development, is: in order to turn our talent into strengths, we have to be aware of weaknesses. Every leader has blind spots where they simply don’t have all the tools to achieve maximum productivity. Perhaps more concerning is when our strengths can actually turn into a weakness. One of my signature themes is activator. It’s a group of talent that empowers me toward action and taking courageous first steps – when it is at it’s best. But, without my awareness, it quickly turns into ready, FIRE, aim. The result down the road is chaos for teammates. Strengths coaching is growing in the awareness of our weaknesses which are so closely tied to talent and strength.

2. Take responsibility for weaknesses. It can be hard to really grasp the impact of our strengths and weaknesses. A great teammate is one willing to take a pro-active responsibility for the impact of her strengths, as well as the impact of her weaknesses and non-talents. Sometimes, we have to acknowledge an area of weakness, and dive in anyway. What I want to highlight is that the vast majority of us are not in positions where we have the option to simply NOT DO something outside of an area of strength. Speaking from my own experience, there are always activities included in what I get paid to do that don’t naturally fit to my strongest sets of talent. When we are pro-actively responsible for our weaknesses, it gives us a stepping stone to find a pro-active, strengths-based solution as an individual or with our team. So, I grow in awareness and responsibility, then what?

3. Use strengths to manage weaknesses. This illustrates why we need to talk about strengths and weaknesses together. While conventional approaches to development aim directly at the weakness to hopefully help us develop in that particular weakness, strengths-based development suggests that we use our more dominant groups of talent – our strengths – to discover how to produce results in areas of weakness. As someone who likes to start new projects and activities, I have a weakness when it comes to finishing them. I do, however, have talents in relationship building. So, when I am confronted with the need to follow-through and finish, I draw on the importance of the relationships I have built with all those who might be relying on my ability to finish strong, in order to get the job done.

Indeed, it is because of weaknesses that strengths coaches even have a job. A good strengths coach is guiding individuals toward greater awareness of strengths and as a result allowing them to be more comfortable with their weaknesses. The goal, however, is to not obsess about the weakness but to draw from the areas where we have the greatest talent and, thus, the greatest aptitude to grow.

A strengths-based approach is not about ignoring the D on the report card or pretending it doesn’t matter. The strengths-based approach is curious to discover how we use that A’s and B’s to help us manage the D.