How To Make Weaknesses Irrelevant
"Maximize your strengths" has become a cliche.
Yet, being a cliche does not make it untrue or irrelevant. People excel when they are playing to their strengths. Also, developing existing strengths provides greater leverage than improving a weakness - unless the weakness is a derailer.
Leaders get this, but consider it impractical. Clients sometimes say: "How can I serve my customers, if I encourage my people to only do what they are good at?”
Making people play to their strengths does not mean compromising business results. Here are 5 ways to make your people's weaknesses irrelevant:
Hire people with strong and complementary skills.
When hiring, pay attention to an individual's strengths, as well as how they enhance the overall capability of the team. Not everyone needs to be good at everything, as long as the team can collectively excel.
Be strategic in allocating or delegating tasks and outcomes
When you have a team of people with distinct strengths, you get the best results by structuring processes and projects to make the most of individual members' strengths.
Aim for effectiveness, not perfection
Even with the best planning and optimisation, you are likely find capability gaps. In closing gaps, aim for effectiveness, not perfection. Address less important gaps by training, and more strategic ones through hiring.
Reward collaboration
When success depends on effective collaboration, you cannot reward people solely or mainly on the basis of individual outcomes - put your money where your mouth is.
Celebrate those who show mastery AND those who make others shine
Recognise outstanding individual achievement, but. do not overlook the contribution of those who work behind the scenes to keep the machine running.
If you can "make your people's strengths effective, and their weaknesses irrelevant", you are someone Peter F. Drucker would consider to be a true leader.