3 Keys To Turn Weaknesses Into Strengths

Your greatest strengths are likely related to your greatest weaknesses. That sounds crazy, but it’s true.

We list our strengths in one column and our weaknesses, if we’re brave enough, in the other. One is a list of things we excel at, pay attention to, and do better than most people. The other represents blind spots and areas we don’t know (or particularly care) about.

We think the two lists are a thousand miles apart, but they’re often not. In fact, they’re probably more closely related than you think.

Incredibly decisive individuals can come across as rude. Exceptionally firm people can be seen as defiant. The highly engaging can look irresponsible. And the list goes on and on. Fun becomes illogical, kind and diplomatic becomes passive-aggressive, polite and loyal becomes a pleaser.

There is a fine line between strengths and weaknesses, and you often cross that line quite simply by taking something good too far. Our weaknesses are often strengths that are out of control.

So while the advice “play to your strengths” is not all bad, perhaps a better approach is to “redeem your weaknesses” by doing what it takes to convert them into the strengths they have the potential to be. Here are three keys to bring balance and wisdom to your particular natural wiring:

Ask someone you trust for their perspective.

The key here is to find someone you can trust, and not someone who will tell you everything is fine. True friends are honest with each other when personal health is on the line, so find one and ask them to candidly identify your 3 areas of weakness. Extra credit is to be had if said friend is aware of the environments you lead and/or work in. And don’t argue with their answers; simply close your mouth and listen to their feedback, knowing you will be better for it.

Don’t throw out your strength, but seek to make it healthy.

The key to an out-of-control strength is not to eliminate it, but rather to dial it back to healthier levels. Being firm or fun or polite are great things in the right context and at the right levels. It is unfair and unwise to expect your personality to change completely; instead focus on finding a more healthy interpretation for your viewpoint. For many, finding someone who models health in your particular strength could be golden.

Become the learner from another perspective.

This one is counterintuitive, but has perhaps the biggest potential to help you navigate this principle. Find someone whose strength is the opposite of yours, and focus in on finding the value in it. For those who are too firm, a friend who is compliant in a healthy way can show you why taking that approach can sometimes pay off. Struggle with being too analytical or cautious? A carefree friend might do wonders for your worldview, even if you are never completely able to adopt the lens they see the world through.

We need your gifts brought to the table of our organization or household or community. But much like riding a bicycle, finding balance is the key to making progress and avoiding pain.