Determining Your Natural Talents and Strengths


There is no one best way to assess yourself as a leader. You could purchase and complete one or more of the many instruments available on the market for such purposes. You could engage in a 360-degree feed-back process and have your boss, your peers, and the team members you are trying to help fill them out about you too. All I can do is assure you that effective leaders in team-based organizations own their talents and strengths:

  • They have a high level of self-esteem but are not narcissistic ”they can tell you what they have to offer without bragging

  • They are excited to be working with team members who also have great talents and strengths

  • They recognize their relative weaknesses but do not try to be all things to all people

  • They are neither intimidated nor defensive about working with others who know more than they do in certain areas

  • They have discovered their own talents and encourage their team-mates to do the same

  • They use training and development opportunities to become competent in areas where they are naturally strong ”not expecting to be great in all skill areas.

Many types of knowledge, skills, and personal qualities have been identified over the last several pages. Which of these represent particular strengths that you provide in your organization? Use exercise 5 to list your particular strengths and identify some opportunities to make more effective use of these strengths and clarify the steps you will take to do so. Also list your areas of relative weakness ”areas in which you may never become great, but where you may need to become more proficient. Do not work on more than two or three areas of weakness at any one time. Spend more time utilizing your strengths than working on your weaknesses.

How do you know which are your natural strengths? Buckingham and Clifton (2001) suggest some telltale signs to look for. Use the descriptions of the leadership behaviors provided in Table 3 to help with this reflection.

  1. Pay attention to your immediate, spontaneous , "top-of-mind" reactions to situations. Is your first impulse to figure out how to accommodate people's needs (cooperation)? Do you tend to refer to past precedents to cover the current situation (conservative)? Do you immediately think, "What will my boss want to happen here?" (authority). Do you find yourself becoming detached and analytical? Think about situations you have faced recently and try to notice your first, immediate response. This should give you some clues about your natural strengths and tendencies.

    start sidebar
    EXERCISE 5

    Identifying Your Natural Talents and Deficiencies

    Directions: To be an effective leader in a team environment, you need to own up to your strengths and confidently, though not arrogantly, apply them for the sake of the team and the organization. Reread the previous pages to remind yourself of things you know, things you can do well, and personal qualities that you can bring to your role. Identify your natural strengths, followed by your deficiencies.

    Knowledge: What do you know? What bases of knowledge have you mastered that could be applied to the work you are facing ?

    Skills: What are you capable of doing? What technical skills do you own? What interpersonal skills do you own? What skill bases have you mastered that could be applied to the work you are facing?

    Personal qualities: What qualities personify you? These are not about your knowledge or skills. They include traits such as trustworthiness , openness, kindness, and so on. Which of your personal qualities could be applied to the work you are facing?

    Deficiencies: What knowledge, skills, or personal qualities do you lack that may present a problem for you in successfully fulfilling the work you are facing?

    Plans for the future: Develop plans for better applying your talent “knowledge, skills, and personal qualities. Remember, it is more important to deliver your strengths to the situations you face than trying to be great at all things. However, spend some time developing a plan to reduce one of your areas of weakness, too.

    end sidebar
     
  2. Think about what you have yearned for since early in life. Were you the kind of kid who always wanted things neat and orderly (structuring)? Have you tended to value unplanned events where going with the flow seemed to spontaneously produce good things? Pehaps some long- term yearnings have been unfulfillable until you took on the responsibility of team leader. Notice which things you seem to do naturally now that may be manifestations of inclinations you have had for years .

  3. Become aware of the things you seem to learn very easily. Rapid learnings offer another clue as to what your talents really are. Maybe you never thought you would be interested in budgeting information but now find yourself going over the numbers and figuring out things quickly. Maybe you never thought of yourself as a public speaker but are now finding words just flowing out of your mouth at team presentations. Many people have not allowed themselves to consider their hidden talents, having received discouraging messages from parents and teachers for a long time. What have you enjoyed learning lately? Was there anything that you were surprised to learn easily?

  4. Recognize those things that are particularly satisfying to you. If it feels good to see a team member become more effective because of a tip you provided, maybe you have a talent for developing people. Perhaps it may indicate that you have a natural talent for breaking down complex situations and identifying the specific details involved (tactical). Buckingham and Clifton would warn you, however, to pay attention only to the positive satisfactions. If you find yourself gaining great satisfaction in telling management "I told you so" when your ideas work, this might not be a talent that will be useful in becoming a leader in a team-based organization. If you take pleasure witnessing others' pain, don't mark that as one of your natural strengths.




Tools for Team Leadership. Delivering the X-Factor in Team eXcellence
Tools for Team Leadership: Delivering the X-Factor in Team eXcellence
ISBN: 0891063862
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 137

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net