myAIPMThree Myths About your Strengths
Jack Zenger | 29 September 2021 | An Unconventional Leadership Podcast – Episode 47
One of the most dramatic changes in leadership development in the last decade has been the shift in focus from correcting weaknesses to identifying and expanding on strengths. As this movement continues to catch hold, three myths have emerged that deserve to be dispelled.
Myth #1: Focusing on strengths is the latest fad from impractical social scientists. While it’s true that prominent practitioners of leadership development have only recently adopted a focus on strengths as an accepted practice, the idea is far from new.
Myth #2: A strength taken too far become a weakness. There is no question that there are beneficial things a person can do that if taken to excess can become serious problems. As many have pointed out, people can die from massive doses of water, which in reasonable amounts is utterly essential. But leadership strengths don’t work the same way.
Myth #3: Strengths and weaknesses go together. In a recent publication by two prestigious consulting firms, senior HR executives discussed the advantages of focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses. One of the participants said, “The key is to inhibit the de-railers….When you find a person with towering strengths on one or two out of three dimensions, often there’s a fatal weakness on another.”
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Click here to read Jack Zengers article in the Harvard Business Review on the three myths.
Zenger, J (2021) . Three Myths About your Strengths. An Unconventional Leadership Podcast – Episode 47.[Podcast] https://zengerfolkman.com/episode-47-three-myths-about-your-strengths