Seeing Strengths Instead of Weaknesses

Some people are hesitant about the Strengths Movement because they think that weaknesses is ignored, or that a person’s strength (or lack thereof) becomes an excuse to not get certain things done.  Well, it is important to remember that strengths-based methodology does not ignore weakness, and neither does it try to fix weakness.  Instead, it seeks to mitigate weaknesses with strategic partnerships, systems/processes, or leveraging existing strengths.

I’m not going to speak of mitigating weaknesses, but I’m going to talk about the perspective of weaknesses.

Firstly, it is important to realise that weaknesses are linked to a person’s strengths.  One of our StrengthsFinder Singapore Network members certainly had that epiphany when he said:

“Understanding StrengthsFinder really changes my perspective of how I view people.  Instead of seeing how people behave as their weakness, I can now see them as their strengths.”

We can stop seeing a person as arrogant, but understand that he has high Self-Assurance and has a very strong inner reference.  We can stop seeing a person as anal, but appreciate how he can handle huge amounts of information, arrange them and make sense of them because of his high Analytical Theme.  I think Tony Stolzfus says it well in his book:

Weaknesses are the flip side of strengths – for you to be highly observant and tuned in to the world around you, you can’t always be creating new visions in your head. And to be a visionary dreamer, you can’t be burning all your neurone paying attention to every stimulus around you. In other words, the weakness is part of the strength, and you can’t have the strength without it. However many people think of weaknesses as personal failings, so they avoid inventorying them. To get around this, practice expressing weaknesses as a function of strengths: “You really have a knack for reading people.  Completing tasks is a weakness because you put your best into relating to those around you.”

– Christian Life Coaching Handbook, Tony Stolzfus

Just imagine how would your perspective changes when you stop seeing weaknesses and start seeing strengths in other people?  What would that do to your relationships?

Take Action Today

1. Start expressing someone’s weakness as a function of strength – this can often appear in two ways.
   • Absence of a strength because of existence of another.
     This is similar to what Tony mentions in his book.  A person may find completing tasks (alone) because he needs to relate to those around him – Likely someone with high Relator Theme.  Affirm the person’s ability to Relate to others, and explore how he can leverage on that strength to get things done.  Perhaps, to find someone that he would enjoy completing the task with.
   • Overuse of a strength
     A strength can become a weakness when it is overused.   Affirm the person’s strength by telling him what value his behaviour brings, and then help him to identify how that value is diminished if that strength was overused.
2.  Start becoming a Strengths Scout.   Often times we starting noticing a person’s weakness because it brings us some form of pain.  Starting to express that weakness as a function of strength as above is one way, but reframing something negative into something positive is still a focus on the negative.  Why not keep a look out for what people are doing right, and telling them?  They may not even be aware of their contributions, and would really appreciate your encouragement.

Get more information about StrengthsFinder by visiting http://gallupstrengthscenter.com