For decades, the focus of corporate culture has been the same: weakness prevention. Leaders and managers have spent untold energy and time in addressing the deficits in their employees and their own personal weaknesses. There is a constant desire to fill gaps and perform jobs where one lacks naturally capability. In extreme cases, this may even completely transform your personality and make you someone you’re not.

It’s high time leaders and managers stopped fixing themselves and others and started paying more attention to their most powerful asset: their strengths.

There is sufficient research to suggest that highly successful people typically begin with one key talent and gradually add knowledge, practice and skills to enhance their careers.

Common Challenges in Modern Organizations

A survey of organizations throughout the world reveals some fundamental challenges faced by nearly all of them in the current work situation:

• Development of managerial efficiency: This challenge relates to the development of relevant skills, including prioritization, time management, decision-making and strategic thinking; all of which contribute to work efficiency.
• Employee development: Similar to the above, this challenge is about developing workers in an organization, including coaching and mentoring.
• Inspiring employees: This challenge related to motivating others so that they can work smarter and remain content with their professional roles.
• Team leadership: A challenge associated with team development, team management and team building.

How can a leader deal with these challenges effectively?

It is important to understand that among the various priorities in an organization, there would always be some critical tasks which can only be done by you. And these are the tasks that require your maximum attention because they will allow you to amplify your unique value and place within the organization. The rest of the tasks can be delegated.

Tips to Maximize Your Strengths

• The first step towards maximizing your strengths is to identify the tasks that you enjoy most at work. These are the tasks that will energize you instead of draining your energy. Other people will be able to quickly notice how these tasks, when performed by you, add great value to projects.
• After identifying your strengths, you need to make an effort to link them to practical outcomes which are valued by the organization. For instance, if your strength is ‘collaboration and strategic thinking’, you could try and build a unified cross-functional work team that can tackle tricky issues brought up by external environment changes.
• Organizations can consider incorporating a focus on strengths in the process of performance management. It is crucial for them to be open-minded about possibilities related to employee skills and performance. For instance, a worker’s optimal role may be in another job, and not his/her current one

It is extremely vital for leaders, managers and all other employees to recognize their personal workplace strengths. When each one identifies their own strengths and their value in the bigger picture (final organizational goals), it is a lot easier to work in their own sweet spot without being dragged into fields where they will fail to add significant value.

Organizations would be able to enjoy greater and more meaningful contributions from people if they can help build on their personal strengths instead of keeping them busy in redundant tasks where they lack interest and capability.