Newsletter - January, 2006 - Issue 3 - Too Much of a Good Thing...

When your greatest strength becomes your greatest weakness

"Life's a great balancing act."
Dr. Seuss in Oh the Places You'll Go


By Lindsay Sukornyk, Founder, North Star Coaches

In working with executives and rising stars in organizations, we spend a lot of time focusing on building on their strengths. I believe that authentic leadership comes not from trying to do what everyone else is doing, but in figuring out what you do well and doing more of that. But, as Dr. Seuss says "Life's a great balancing act“ and sometimes our greatest strengths can become our greatest weaknesses.

Ryan is a "yes man". If you want something done, you give it to Ryan. He is passionate about the work that he does and even more passionate about the people he leads. One of his greatest strengths is his passion for ideas and for doing what it takes to make them happen. So, when he has his weekly meetings with his direct reports, he could often be heard saying "That's a great idea, here's what I'd like to do to help move it forward."

In gathering 360 degree feedback from his team, we uncovered a shocking truth to share with Ryan. While his team admires his commitment to his work, they have found that Ryan had been spreading himself too thin. With 45 people to manage, Ryan could no longer be directly involved in every project. He was over-committing himself and ultimately over-promising and under-delivering.

This information has changed Ryan's leadership style. As a great leader, he is acutely self-aware and an avid learner and he couldn't wait to adapt his style to reflect this new insight. After some powerful coaching together, Ryan decided to reign in his strength of wanting to get things done by turning the responsibility back to his team. Now, instead of jumping in to do all the work with his team, he asks them to come up with the solution and supports them when they need it. He thinks of it as "sitting on his hands" instead of getting in the thick of things with his team.

Ryan has seen many benefits of allowing his team to take more ownership of their projects. His time has been freed up to focus on the strategic planning, relationship building and communication with the senior people in the organization. His direct reports have deepened both their skills and their confidence as he has given them new responsibilities and challenges and helped them to succeed. Finally, he has noticed that he is getting a lot more accomplished in less time, which is freeing up the necessary time to be out in the world, gathering ideas and inspiration to take his already successful team to the next level.

Ask yourself this as you enter the New Year; "What's your greatest strength and when does it become your greatest weakness?"