What Are My Strengths?

The Strengths Grid

For the past few years, Marcus Buckingham has been trying to change the definitions of 'strength' and 'weakness'.
The old definition of a strength was 'something you're good at'. Marcus says it's 'something that strengthens you'.
The old definition of a weakness was 'something you're not good at'. Marcus says it's 'something that weakens you'.

I side with Marcus. I think his definitions are great, and useful. 

But I'm also a realist... It's not likely that we'll be able to throw out the old definition, particularly in the business environment. So, I think we need both definitions. 

Above, I've created a 2x2 matrix, with the traditional definition of strengths and weaknesses on the left and Marcus' definitions on the bottom.

It's pretty simple:

• If you're not good at something and it weakens you - run!
  Don't do it. Only an idiot would ask you to.
• If you're not good at something and it strengthens you - it's either a hobby or something you're in training for.
  If it's a hobby, no one will pay you to do it, but do it anyway... it's fun and you'll grow.
  If it's a training situation, keep working at it.
• If you're good at it, and it strengthens you - Wow! That's perfect.
  You should seek those opportunities. And your company should want you to be here.
• If you're good at it, and it weakens you - that's a 'leverage skill'.
  You can trade this for 'Wow' or 'Hobby/Training' tasks, just like a Hollywood actor who makes a crappy romantic comedy in exchange for a green light on his independent film.

Exercise: Take your work activities and plot them on this grid.
How does your grid look? Like most 2x2's, you want to be 'high and to the right'.

Your company should be motivated to keep you in the 'good at it'  boxes.
You should be motivated to stay in the 'strengthens me'  boxes.
Hopefully you can work with your manager to satisfy both, and stay in the Wow box...

Links of Interest:

• My other Marcus Buckingham posts
• Marcusbuckingham.com
• Marcus Buckingham books and dvds at Amazon.com

Are You Leveraging Your Strengths?

Last week, I received Strengths Guru Marcus Buckingham's latest DVD "Go Put Your Strengths to Work". It captures an excellent live presentation and it's reasonably priced.

As attendees of my management workshops will attest, I'm a big Marcus fan.
If you don't know him, Marcus Buckingham is a former Gallup Organization researcher and current best selling management author. He also has the delivery of a stand-up comic, so he's fun to watch.

Earlier this year, I was showing a Buckingham video in India. I'd seen it a dozen times, so I pulled out my index cards and decided to practice sketching while the attendees watched. The result is above.

I'm not particularly good at drawing, but the act energizes me. That feeling fulfills one of Buckingham's basic definitions of a strength - a strength is something that strengthens you.

Not everyone agrees with his core belief that "you will grow the most in your areas of greatest strength". According to surveys, in fact, most people disagree with that statement.
His latest book, "Go Put Your Strengths to Work" addresses this.

I believe his thesis.
I (and my teams) have been most successful when I focused on bringing my strengths to the team - not on correcting my weaknesses.

When I've been in positions that don't call on my strengths, I did okay work. But I struggled, feeling drained at each day - not able to summon the energy to do outstanding work.
In my current role, which calls on all my strengths, I have endless energy.

I stumbled on this formula before I discovered Marcus, but his books helped me put it into words. They also helped me realize that I wasn't a slacker for not wanting to grunt and sweat my way through my weaknesses.
On my current team, as much as possible, we trade each others strengths for weaknesses, so that there are few times when we feel drained.

I'm lucky to be on such a team, but I'm only lucky because we know our strengths and communicate them...

If you're not so lucky, go to iTunes and search for Marcus Buckingham's "Take Control of Your Career and Your Life". This podcast shares his process to identify your strengths and bring them into your worklife.

As for me? I'll keep finding ways to draw at work!