There has been a strengths movement sweeping this country. Just recently Bob led a webinar with the Center for Creative Leadership. About 60 percent of the audience of senior HR and Learning & Development executives was familiar with the book Now, Discover Your Strengths and its self-diagnostic tool, the StrengthsFinder. The central idea of the strengths movement is that it’s wrong to focus on trying to fix an executive’s weakness because greatness comes only from building on natural talent. Strengths advocates promote this very worthy idea to stop obsessing about your weaknesses because you’re never going to be great at those …
If you are serious about becoming a more effective leader, you can’t just work on your behavior. You also have to work on your mindset. However in our experience, most executive clients don’t know what subterranean forces impede their effectiveness. One of the most debilitating forces—anxiety—can trigger a dysfunctional tendency to control too much. Certainly, control has its uses. Even at its most inclusive and enabling, leadership is essentially about influencing others. But dysfunctional control—gratuitous intrusions into other people’s space where little is gained and much is lost—is counterproductive and disabling. You know these leaders. They fill their own space and yours too. They …
In our leadership development work and research on overplayed strengths, people sometimes object to the idea that every strength can be taken too far. For instance, an academic journal editor once held up publication of a research article stating flatly that “it is impossible for a leader to be too supportive, caring, and loyal.” Did that journal editor have a point? Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest American Presidents and one of our personal favorite leaders, offers a fascinating example. Like many leaders with strong people skills, Lincoln’s tremendous gift put him at risk for struggling with tough calls about his …
Recently Bob and Rob met with Moe Abdou, the visionary creator behind 33voices.com, a resource for entrepreneurs designed to help them develop as leaders and grow their extraordinary ideas into successful businesses. His purpose is to “ignite the ambitions of entrepreneurs, help them grow as people and contribute to inspiring them to build amazing businesses and live extraordinary lives” by connecting them with the world’s greatest thinkers. After over 23 years of experience coaching entrepreneurs and admittedly being “on the Strengths bandwagon,” Moe was struck by his own blind spot — overusing strengths– after reading Fear. Eager to share this urgent message with the …
