What are your strengths?
And what would you consider as your weaknesses?
We all know this questions from job interviews or seminars. And of course there are things we have more talent for than others. There are people with technical skills and others who are born leaders or speakers etc.
But let's have a closer look to the issue. What about personal qualities? Let's assume you are extremely ambitious. Would you call it a strength or a weakness? Actually there is no chance to answer this question, without knowing the current situation you have to handle.
If you are in a business environment, where you have to prove yourself on a daily basis, ambition might be seen as a strength. Perhaps even a basic prerequisite to survive.
If you are with your friends and your family, or while playing with others, just for fun - than too much ambition can destroy your relationship with other people.
Another example:
What about being impatient and demanding? That is often seen as a negativ trait. But is that still true, when you have to work on big projects with a very tight timetable? What do you think will happen here to a guy, who is too patient and lenient?
The history books are full of people, who achieved great success through their strengths, but later crashed by the same features. Leo Kirch is seen as such a person, because he built an empire, mainly because of his disciplin and his refusal to give anything up, once he had started it. He stayed persistent until the goal was reached. If an investment wasn't profitable at first, he invested more and optimized the approach.
This was the main secret of his success and made him a billionaire. But the same trait became his destiny. The Pay-TV-Station Premiere swallowed a million by a million. But instead of pulling the pull cord he stayed with his usual strategy and refused to give up. The end is known. It was his ruin.
The very same trait that was seen as his greatest strength, was in this situation his biggest weakness. What does this teach us about strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths and weaknesses exist only in our head. Dependent on the situation you are currently in, a trait could be as well a strength as a weakness. And a strategy, based on your supposed strengths, which brought you success in history, doesn't guarantee you success in the future.
So stay flexibel if necessary and authentic if possible. Be yourself, even if your traits don't fit in every situation of today. Perhaps your weakness of today might be the greatest strength of tomorrow. Check for every new project, for every new situation, what is necessary and what fits to your preferences. Than decide what to do in this special case.
What do you think about strengths and weaknesses? Do they really exist? Or determines the situation whether a trait is a strength or a weakness?
Good luck and
take care
Gerd