Hello, readers! This week on the Educated Leadership blog we’ll talk about taking stock in one’s self and identifying strengths and weaknesses. The lesson I want you to take from this week if you remember nothing else is this: Focusing solely on shortcomings, whether they are your own or those of others, is not the key to success.
Introspection is difficult. We must fight through mental safeguards that help us deal with our quirks and issues so that we can focus on being productive members of society. Leaders and those who wish to be leaders need to step back and review their habits, thoughts, and practices in order to adapt to the ever-changing environments in which we work and live.
Earlier in this class, the ratio of positivity to negativity in one’s life was covered (Fredrickson, 2013). An important point to remember is that too much positivity can lead to leadership failure. If there is no negativity, what can the positive points with which to be compared? We want the ratio to favor the positive over the negative, but we know we really can’t eliminate the negativity. As we look in our respective mirrors, we will likely realize that we (our personalities, our styles) are a mix of positives and negatives. That’s ok! Educated leaders look to enhance the positives and minimize or fix the negatives.
What do I feel I do well? My distinctive strengths are manifold. I have been told I am a very good communicator. I can create and share a vision of the future that seems easy for others to find a place for themselves. I have a high level of emotional intelligence and am considered inclusive in team building. I am a strategic thinker. I set challenging goals for my teams and myself that are attainable. I am compassionate and work hard to be resonant with my family, teams, and co-workers. My potential strengths are driven by the level in my company that I have attained and the continuing education and open-mindedness I will continue to develop and leverage. My enduring characteristics that will help me are a strong desire to help others reach their maximum potential, my compassion for others to be well and belong, and my belief that we can find common ground and overarching goals to which we all can strive. My potential strengths are picking up another language so that I can attempt to teach, coach, and lead in more areas of the world. (I really enjoy Japanese, French, and Spanish.) I need to get back into a workout routine to help build up my physical capabilities and deal with the inevitable stress of life and work.
My shortcomings include a distaste for delivering bad news which leads to an aversion to being in confrontational situations, a preponderance of caring more about the wants and needs of others to the detriment of my own wants and needs, and not taking as good of care of myself as I know I should.
I want to change my aversion to having “candid conversations” as they are sometimes called. Rarely, if ever, do they turn out to be as bad as I expect them to be. In fact, I usually walk away feeling energized by the result. Nonetheless, my upbringing has conditioned me to loath these situations and I need to continue to work on that. I also want to work on identifying and accomplishing things that I want to do. I want to do more things that please me, not just others. Earning this degree is something I wanted to do and I want to do more. The requirement for resonant leaders to re-charge and re-energize themselves has provided me with more evidence that I should bring more of my needs and wants to the fore.
At the same time, I know my desire to please others will, at times, be a hindrance which I will always be working on. Too many years of being raised in an alcoholic household have set that need. I’ve identified it and can work on it. Putting my needs forward will bolster my beliefs and tenets, which enhances my resonant leadership ability. It’s something I must continue to do.
Ultimately, reviewing our strengths and weaknesses is integral to becoming a resonant leader. The exercise ties back to Intentional Change Theory (ICT) and identifying the real self, building compassion, building emotional intelligence, personal renewal, mindfulness, and hope (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). Self-reflection, honest self-assessment, and self-coaching are tools that must be in the kit of any leader. Attempting to lead without these capabilities puts the leader at a distinct disadvantage.
At the beginning of this entry, I said introspection is difficult. I undersold that point. I should have said honest introspection is really difficult. Looking in the mirror, real or hypothetical, and saying “I do not do well at this,” or “I have (or may have) hurt myself or others because of this trait or habit,” is painful. The key is to learn from those points AND to identify the positive talents, traits and capabilities that can be leveraged and enhanced! Celebrate the positives! Use that energy to chip away at the negatives. Remember, we are all a ‘work in progress’.
Have a great week and look for the next entry soon at The Educated Leadership Blog!
Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant Leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Frederickson, B. L. (2013). Updated Thinking on Positivity Ratios. American Psychologist, 9. doi:10.1037/a003584
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