Focus on Strengths
Most people work under the false assumption that in order to be a good leader, one must be a “well-rounded” leader. Thus, they spend their time trying to fix their weaknesses and ignore their strengths. They figure that they don’t need to work on their strengths because they’re already “strong” in that area. Unfortunately, the area for greatest growth is not in the area of a person’s weakness, but in their strengths (See Marcus Buckingham's Now, Discover Your Strengths for more on this). As a student leader, discover your areas of strength and work, develop, and grow in those areas.
Successful leaders do two things:
• Become aware of their strengths – take a personal inventory of what you do well, what you comes “second-nature” to you, what personal characteristics stand out from others.
• Focus on education and experience in the area of your strengths – once you know what it is, then spend the majority of your time on developing your strengths even more.
One note about this: I’m not encouraging you to ignore your weaknesses, but to simply find ways to manage or delegate those aspects of your life where you are weak in. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. But as you can see by the chart (click on the image for a larger version) if your primary focus is on improving your weaknesses, you are only going to have average results. The value of a great team can be found in bringing together a group of people who have complementary strengths to balance each other’s weaknesses.
Hat tip: The chart was derived from a lesson I received from the Maximum Impact Monthly Tape Club.
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