I recently did a quick Google search on advice regarding the dreaded interview question, "What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?" Now, I'm no expert on hiring and employment, but what a mess! Nearly every article I found both misunderstood the definition of strengths and advised people to say they are working to grow their weaknesses. The irony here is that once you redefine the meaning of strengths, there is no reason to focus on growing your weaknesses. But I'll get to that.
First, unless you want to be miserable, strengths should never be defined as "what I do well." Most of us, especially if we are "competent" (that is, smart enough to figure most things out), have at least a few things we do well, but despise doing. They make us feel weak and suck the energy right out of us. These aren't strengths; they are skills or competencies.
Strengths are those qualities and activities that make you feel strong, that create energy in you, and that you love doing. Gratefully, these are often things we do well. Better than that, these are the areas where learning and growth is likely to be fast, easy and nearly limitless. In terms of ROI (return on investment), these are the activities (or ways of getting things done) that will require minimal investment of resources from your employer in exchange for huge growth. Making sure employees are using their strengths every day offers a great ROI for an organization.
Weaknesses, on the other hand, are those qualities and activities that make us feel weak, drain our energy, and that we despise doing. In terms of ROI, these are the activities (or ways of getting things done) that require a massive investment of resources in exchange for slow and minimal growth. Trying to grow employees' strengths offers a terrible ROI.
So assess whether the position for which you are interviewing will allow you to use your strengths. If so, share how you will maximize these strengths for the benefit the organization. If the position also requires that you work in your weaknesses, name the weakness and share with them 1) how you've learned to manage this weakness, or 2) how you would restructure the task to play more to your strengths, or 3) how you would utilize the strengths of others within the organization who would be faster and better at doing what is a weakness for you, but a strength for them. Explain the efficiencies of these strategies. Explain the ROI. Explain how you will save them money and increase productivity by not wasting your time and their money trying to get better at your weaknesses.
I'm no expert and don't pretend to offer expert advice here. What I do suggest is that the research now tells us that this is true. It seems to me that telling your potential employer how you will help them be better at what they do (at less cost, with higher productivity and lower turnover) can't be too bad a strategy.
Let me know what you think.
Last summer, I wrote the following post about my dear friend and teacher Bob Dizney. This week, Bob's body finally gave in to a long battle with cancer and his bright spirit burst into the non-physical consciousness of the Universe. For John, his beloved longtime partner, and for the many, many people whose lives were touched by this gentle man, I repeat it here.
I love you, Bob. You changed my life. You simply - and so profoundly - changed my life.
June 12, 2007: What does it feel like to feel cared for? Today, in a greasy spoon in southwestern Ohio, I discovered the answer to that question. Across from me sat “Diz,” a high school teacher I had not seen in more than 30 years. In my memory, Diz had been an ever present teacher and mentor, one of the good ones - teachers who knew how to connect with the kids in their class. After all, as far as I could tell, no one knew about the disaster that was my home life. I was a good student and a responsible kid, and I absorbed what I could from these kinds of teachers without blowing my cover.Except I didn’t just run into Diz. He wasn’t one of my teachers. I wasn’t benignly benefiting from an adult who just happened to be in my life. Over our second cup of coffee, I learned that Diz had simply chaperoned some of my trips with the school choir. But he recognized in me the look of a kid in pain, a kid with secrets and challenges being managed in the shadows. He decided, he told me, to simply make himself available to me.
“You mean you reached out on purpose?” I asked.
“Oh, yes.”
"What did you do?" I asked, searching my memory.
"Oh, nothing in particular. I just decided in my own head that I would be available to you."
Can you imagine how, as a kid, my “radar” must have locked onto that silent signal?
Can you imagine how it felt to learn that this lovely man, who I thought was just being a good guy, had seen through my bravado and purposefully decided to “make himself available” to me?
It felt like a life ring then. It feels remarkable now. Someone saw me and reached out - quietly, respectfully, expecting nothing in return. Someone cared… on purpose.
This is the opportunity available to us each day: not to solve problems, fix what is wrong or dramatically change the world, but to see through the clutter, send out the signal and trust the radar.
Who will you see today?
Largely because of you, the focus of my work has begun to expand from How do we effectively help youth to be resilient and successful? to What do resilient youth have to teach us about being resilient and successful? So often, you write me or come to me after presentations and say, "This will really impact my work with youth, but what I'm really thinking about is how it's going to change my life/marriage/parenting/goals/friendships..."
So let's ask them what they've learned. In last week's Strengths Ezine, I shared designer Stefan Sagmeister's project called "Things I have learned in my life so far." (A 4-minute video about the creative ways he communicates these ideas can be found here.)
I am inviting you to ask the young people in your life: "What have you learned in your life so far?" Give them the tools and guidance to create art, music, dance, rap, poetry, photography, video or any other expressive communication to share these ideas.
Then send them to me. I will create a web page just for these projects - to share them with and inspire the world. Who knows, maybe we'll go "viral" and inspire millions!
Friday I celebrated my 52nd birthday… and here's what I noticed.
I am grateful… every day. Not because of what happens - that is so unpredictable and temporary - but because of what I expect to happen.
I expect to see beauty. I expect to love well and be loved. I expect to be healthy and feel vital. I expect to hear miracle stories. I expect to grow and discover and be in awe - a lot!
I also expect my gremlins to mock me and I expect to ignore them a move on. I expect to get lost in old useless recordings and I expect to notice and tell new ones that serve me better. I expect to blow it with my wife and my kids and even myself, and I expect to notice and make amends and be forgiven - by them and myself.
I expect this to be an adventure full of contrast and color.
Friday I celebrated my 52nd birthday and I noticed the journey… and for that I am most grateful.
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