Overusing our Strengths
There has been a lot of good work done recently about identifying strengths in leaders and recommendations to only do what you are uniquely qualified to do. There is another side to how we use our strengths that I would like to explore.
Leaders typically are pretty efficient at what they do well and love to exercise those abilities. It feels really good when we use them. When it seems obvious or useful, we slam down with our greatest skills, solve the problem and move on. So, what do the people around us learn from our awesome performance?
- Let the boss solve it
- She/he doesn’t listen
- We always do things the same way around here
Make a list of your strengths and check with a few people around you to verify that they value them, too. The next time you sense you are about to pull one out, hold back and see what others come up with first.
If your first response is to go into “Solve” mode, how about asking for suggestions, then keep quiet.
If it is always about how we think, explore how we feel.
If it is always to close the sale, what else could you add before you finalize the price?
