How To Overcome Your Strengths, by Michael Kaplan, Fast Company, May 1999 pp. 225-234

Who would ever imagine that your strengths could get you in trouble? It's usually the weaknesses and they don't usually cost you a promotion, they cost the job. The strengths usually get you rewarded or provide you with more responsibility and often create a good working team. So I was surprised to read this article about how the strengths can hurt you in the business world.

The three people who were highlighted in the article provided an important wake up call for me. It's always good to have a message hit home when you've read it, as opposed to having someone else hit you over the head to deliver the message. The bottom line of this article is to be flexible and be able to adapt and do things differently. Recognizing the need to change is the important first step, even before making those changes. A person needs to admit they need to make changes in order to overcome those strengths that are ultimately causing the problems.

Within the last two weeks, my strengths have become a challenge to a co-worker. I happen to be organized, task oriented and professional in my approach to getting work done. A co-worker feels I am not flexible and that I am too detail and rule oriented. This caused a breakdown in our communication and has even affected our daily relationship. I realize how my approach to a situation may have caused this breakdown and I have spent lots of time trying to work this out. By doing some of the things suggested in the article, I have begun to see a change. I have rehearsed conversations like Charles Martin and thought through what reactions might be to the topic. Having thought through the options has made me more prepared for the conversations we have. It still hasn't been fun, but it shows other people that I have taken a stand and feel strongly about the topic, although they can also see that I have altered my approach and delivery.

Ed Garnett of Amgen, had the same problem I do. Sitting around the table with "heavy hitters" can be intimidating and I often do what Ed did, freeze up and not talk. I never realized how other people perceived my quietness, which was actually absorption of the situation, until at a recent meeting someone stated that they would put in the minutes "that's the most Kia has ever spoken." I realized at that point that my opinion mattered, whether I supported the topic or brought up other key points, they wanted to hear my thoughts. I've also needed to remember that when I speak, it needs to be concise and to the point, I don't need to over-explain my point.

Another important lesson was pointed out by Joan McCoy of ARCO Alaska, who stated that it's important to use your skills at work, where you have interactions and relationships with people, much the same as you do with the public or at business functions. That means you need to listen and communicate with employees, just like you do with the public, when at meetings or in planning sessions, etc. It's hard to fool employees into believing you care when you don't notice or pay attention to their needs. When you communicate with employees, you also learn how they feel about you and they job you are doing, while also learning about their skills and talents that could be better put to use on the job.

As I read the list in the midst of the article on "Why People Fail," the reasons are obvious, but how do you convince people to take them into consideration for their own future. 1) They don't adapt to transition. 2) They are difficult to work with. 3) They fail to lead in a team-centered way. These are some concerns I have for a co-worker and I am trying to approach the situation to point these things out. I haven't discussed this article with my co-worker, I feel I first need to change my behavior and my approach and to practice some of the things I learned from reading this article. I am hoping that by practicing these things in this situation, that it will help me to change my behaviors and practices in other situations so that my approach to others does not appear as inflexible and detail and rule oriented as my co-worker feels it is. Conscious recognition of the problem and practice toward changing those behaviors are the first steps in resolving the perceived problem. I am planning to keep this article handy as a reminder to me to work on this and I am sure I will refer to it on a regular basis to help me!

-- Anonymous, April 20, 1999