Let's be honest -- although we all have them no one really likes having these weaknesses pointed out. Especially when it comes to our work.
What will people think of you? What might it mean for your career? And is there really anything you can do to overcome them?
"Based on research with thousands of people it's unusual for a genuine weakness to become a genuine strength," explained Dr. Alex Linley, one of the world's leading experts on the development of strengths in workplaces, when I interviewed him recently.
"Just think back to things that trip you up now," he suggested. "Did they trip you up school? Chances are you're nodding your head because our genuine weaknesses don't tend to change much -- instead we find ways to avoid them or manage around them."
The good news, Alex reports, is that if your job really requires you to improve a weakness there are ways you can avoid letting them trip you up.
The first step is to understand what your weaknesses and strengths actually are. It sounds obvious but taking the time to understand what you're good at, how much energy you get from doing it and how often you get to do it, can be a powerful way to clarify your areas for opportunity and development. To help make this easier you can use the online assessment Alex and his colleagues have developed called Realise2.
The second step is to explore the most effective strategies for applying your strengths or dealing with your weaknesses in different situations. For example, Alex suggests:
- Maximize unrealized strengths for growth and development: Your unrealized strengths are things you perform well and enjoy doing, but maybe don't use often enough. If you want to turbo-charge your growth and development, these are the strengths to focus on.
The third step Alex suggests is getting to know the strengths of other people around you. When people understand and appreciate the strengths of others it can transform their understanding of who that person is and what that person brings. It can change resentment and frustration about somebody's weaknesses, into an opportunity to value the diversity and differences that people offer and how to work together better as a team.
Given the benefits of higher levels of engagement, lower turnover and absenteeism and more satisfied customers that Alex and his team are finding in organizations that apply these steps, perhaps knowing what your weaknesses are isn't so painful when you know what to do with them.
If you'd like more tested, practical ways to put your strengths to work, then grab this free e-book from the latest science in positive psychology.