christopherhildreth

Is it possible for a weakness to actually be a strength? This is an idea that I have had for a while. There are plenty of people who have become successes at NOT being able to do something. We watch American Idol so that we can see people NOT be able to sing. We watch Jerry Springer to see people NOT get along and resolve conflict. We watch the Moment of Truth to see people NOT tell the truth.

In these situations and others, to NOT be able to do something can be as beneficial as being able TO DO something. Look at the success of the “For Dummies” series of books. These are for people who DO NOT know how to do things. Maybe the very thing you cannot do well is the very thing that you need to do.

I know this is confusing considering my previous two posts, but I always think it is important to look at things from several perspectives. Truthfully, if your weakness turns out to be a strength, then it no longer can be considered a weakness.

What does all this talk about strengths mean to me as I live my life? Primarily, it means evaluating your life and only do the things you are good at instead of trying to improve the things that are weaknesses. When we improve a strength area, we will see a proportionally greater increase in productivity than if we focus on improving our weaknesses. To improve a weakness, we may feel better about ourselves, but the actual benefit to our work and those around us is minute.

Focusing on our strengths brings more simplicity and stability to our lives. We have fewer things to focus on and the things we focus on are things that we are good at and bring us satisfaction. This makes each day something for us to look forward to.

The idea of working from our strengths, for me, originated in a discussion with Marcus Buckingham. He has been involved with the Gallup organization for several years and recently authored and co-authored several books about the idea of working from your strengths.  These are great books that , if you haven’t read them, make it a point to do so.

For the next couple of days I want to look at the word, “strength”. What does it mean, and more importantly what it means about how we should live our lives and interact with people. Finally we will ask the question, “can a weakness actually be a cloaked strength?”

“Strength” is a word that conveys a certain weight. It gives a presence to a given activity or situation. To have strength also conveys some sense of proclivity or talent in regard to an action of some kind. It is typically assumed that a strength is a proficiency in a subject.

These are what we think about when we hear the word strength, tomorrow we will look at what it means for us.