I am an organized person. I meet my deadlines, pay my bills on time, create detailed itineraries for my trips, and rarely show up late. In most cases, these are considered positive traits, or even skills. But not always. At various times with various people in various situations, this has caused challenges. Navigating friendships with people who are less punctual, traveling with people with looser (or no) itineraries, and sharing an apartment with someone who does not always pay their bills on time have all led to frustrations, arguments, and in some cases, broken relationships.
In my professional life, these organizational skills have similarly been a blessing and a curse. On numerous occasions, some of my supervisors and colleagues have praised me for my thoroughness and attention to detail. On several other occasions others have been completely exasperated by it. What some would consider reliability and consistency, others have deemed inflexible and rigid. The same behavior has been interpreted as a great strength and a glaring weakness. And I’m guessing yours has too.
One of the most common pair of interview questions is related to what we think our greatest strengths and weaknesses are. A common strategy in answering these questions is to imply or even outright state that they are one in the same. Like, for example, that our greatest weakness is that we care too much, a la Michael Scott. This is sometimes suggested in a humorous way and sometimes in a tactical one, but it is not altogether untrue. In many ways our greatest strengths are often our greatest weaknesses and vice versa. It all depends on the situation.
Of course, there are some strengths that we can likely all agree are universally positive: being honest, kind, and hard-working, to name a few. On the other hand, there are some weaknesses that we can all likely agree remain negative no matter what: lack of follow through, integrity, and communication, for example.
For many other examples, however, what we tend to think of as universally positive are not quite as universally positive as we may have originally believed. Which is not to say they are negative in the sense that they are immoral or unethical. Rather, that they are not strengths in the sense that they are not helpful or useful.
Think of the example of someone who is a strong team player and a wonderful collaborator. Sounds pretty positive, right? But what if that person’s position requires them to work independently? Their strength would not add much value to their role, and in fact, their lack of opportunity to utilize their strength could lead to frustration, poor performance, and even a decision to move on to a position that is a better fit.
On the flip side, think of someone who thrives working independently. Again, it seems pretty easy to consider that to be a strength, but what if that person’s position required them to do all their work collaboratively? Like the inverse example above, this situation could cause a lot of challenges for this person which could ultimately lead to them looking for a position that is a much better fit for what they do best.
It’s great if your staff can speak French but if their job requires them to speak German, it won’t do them much good, will it?
In Gallup’s extensive research on what people need to feel satisfied and successful in their work, the opportunity to do what they do best every day is one of the most important requirements, yet less than 40% of people say they get that opportunity. The issue is not that they lack the strengths but instead, that they are not in a position that allows them to utilize those strengths.
So, what is it that you do best? Are you currently in a position where you get to do that every day? What about your team? Can you quickly identify what each of them does best? Can they? Are each of them doing that thing each and every day? This is one of the quickest ways to ensure that you have the right people in the right seats on that proverbial bus. What are everyone’s strengths and are they in the right positions to be able to use those strengths?
Yes, there are some strengths that are universally positive and some weaknesses that are universally negative, but many others are situational. It will benefit you and your team to think of strengths and skills in this way, starting from your hiring process. What is it you are looking for in terms of the positions you have? As people come and go and move up and down and all around, how can you adjust the work they are doing based on the strengths that they have? How can you ensure that people are doing what they do best every day? How can you ensure that you are doing what you do best every day? What do you need to do today to make that happen?
