The Truth About Strengths & Weaknesses part 1
As a culture we are obsessed with our weaknesses. We are told that to succeed, we must work had at the areas we are weak in and get “better” at them. In school, tests are not to show what we know but what we do not know, they do not show where we are strong but where we are weak. In the workplace we get evaluation not to show where we are doing well but where we are falling short. (Don’t you hate it when you are told no one gets an excellent in an area because “we all have room to improve”? It is as if doing an excellent job is the end of all things.)
The simple truth is, weaknesses make us weak, and strengths make us strong. That is it, nothing more or less. This does not mean we ignore areas of weakness; we simply have to learn to manage them, not focus on them. It is in focusing on your strengths that you will find excellence, and we all desire to be excellent.
No one knows what you are strong at better than you. It is a natural part of who you are. Author and speaker Marcus Buckingham, in his book, The Truth About You, said, “You’ve been raised to believe that other people know you better than you know yourself….But always remember: you are the greatest teacher about you and your strengths.”
There are two areas of facing weaknesses that have created must heartache and discouragement. The first one is this:
If you work hard in an area of weakness it will one day become strength.
That is simply not true. You may be able to improve a bit in an area, but it will not become a strength. This kind of thinking can also become an area of discouragement and frustration for you.
One of the signs of an area of weakness is we do not enjoy the task in the first place. We don’t enjoy it because we always feel bad about the outcome. As I said, we all what to be excellent in the things we do. We all want to do a good job. When we are forced to do a poor or mediocre job it leaves us frustrated. For some it will cause them never to even try to be excellent in anything. They feel they are poor at everything and can not succeed, so they give up. This is common in students who are always reminded of their failures and never helped to see just where they do excel.
Another area where we misunderstand weaknesses and strengths is in how we learn. I have found many students that think they have learning problems who are in fact really are good students. The problem is not how they learn; it is in how they are taught. We all have different learning styles (I can not go into all that here), and once we learn how we learn, the doors are open and a one time poor student can excel in their studies. This same principal works on the job, in the home or any where learning takes place (which is everywhere). This is why so many people who were poor students in school – a structured classroom – do better when they are out of school. As adults we can learn how “we” want to learn, not how we are told to learn. This is expressed by Mark Twain when he said, “Do not let your schooling get in the way of your education.”
Next week part 2
The simple truth is, weaknesses make us weak, and strengths make us strong. That is it, nothing more or less. This does not mean we ignore areas of weakness; we simply have to learn to manage them, not focus on them. It is in focusing on your strengths that you will find excellence, and we all desire to be excellent.
No one knows what you are strong at better than you. It is a natural part of who you are. Author and speaker Marcus Buckingham, in his book, The Truth About You, said, “You’ve been raised to believe that other people know you better than you know yourself….But always remember: you are the greatest teacher about you and your strengths.”
There are two areas of facing weaknesses that have created must heartache and discouragement. The first one is this:
If you work hard in an area of weakness it will one day become strength.
That is simply not true. You may be able to improve a bit in an area, but it will not become a strength. This kind of thinking can also become an area of discouragement and frustration for you.
One of the signs of an area of weakness is we do not enjoy the task in the first place. We don’t enjoy it because we always feel bad about the outcome. As I said, we all what to be excellent in the things we do. We all want to do a good job. When we are forced to do a poor or mediocre job it leaves us frustrated. For some it will cause them never to even try to be excellent in anything. They feel they are poor at everything and can not succeed, so they give up. This is common in students who are always reminded of their failures and never helped to see just where they do excel.
Another area where we misunderstand weaknesses and strengths is in how we learn. I have found many students that think they have learning problems who are in fact really are good students. The problem is not how they learn; it is in how they are taught. We all have different learning styles (I can not go into all that here), and once we learn how we learn, the doors are open and a one time poor student can excel in their studies. This same principal works on the job, in the home or any where learning takes place (which is everywhere). This is why so many people who were poor students in school – a structured classroom – do better when they are out of school. As adults we can learn how “we” want to learn, not how we are told to learn. This is expressed by Mark Twain when he said, “Do not let your schooling get in the way of your education.”
Next week part 2
Comments
Post a Comment