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    You are here Home » assessment

    Do You Know What Your 3 Greatest Strengths and Weaknesses Are?

    Last updated on Apr 9, 2013 by Dan McCarthy · This post may contain affiliate links

    I was helping out our Career Services team last week by
    being an interviewer for some of our soon-to-graduate senior business majors.
    Although I have
    my
    own preferred way
    on doing selection interviewing, I was
    provided with a list of standard questions and was asked to stick to the
    script.

    Two of the questions were:

    1. What you’re your greatest strengths?

    2. What are your greatest weaknesses and what are you
    doing to overcome them?

    One of the student candidates nailed them both! She had
    very specific and authentic answers for each question, along with a story to
    illustrate each strength and weakness. The strengths were highly relevant to
    the position she was interviewing for. The weaknesses less relevant, but she
    skillfully used the question to show humble self-awareness and the desire to
    develop and improve.

    The other three candidates didn’t do so well with the
    questions, which somewhat surprised me. I always thought those lame questions
    were two of the most overused interview questions used by inexperienced hiring
    managers. Anyone in the job market,
    or soon to be in the job market, should at a minimum have answers for those
    questioned memorized and rehearsed. They paused, they stumbled, and they
    rambled on, and eventually were able to sweat their way to the next question.

    I was happy to give them constructive feedback. (-:

    However, as I think about the work I’ve done with very seasoned
    successful executives, maybe I was too hard on those 20 something year-old students.
    When faced with the results of their 360 degree assessment reports and
    feedback, I’d say at least half of the executives I’ve coached didn’t have a clear
    handle on what their greatest strengths and weaknesses were. Or, even if they
    thought they did, there was a mismatch between the person they thought they were and how they were perceived by others.

    Being aware of your strengths and weaknesses isn’t just
    important in acing interviews and landing a spot on a television reality show.
    It’s also important in order to be a successful leader. “
    Blind-spot” weaknesses,
    often manifested as
    over-used
    strengths
    that may have served as leader well early in their
    career, will most likely derail a senior leader if not identified and
    addressed. Attention to detail turns into micromanaging; confidence turns into
    arrogance, and being a good problem solver leads to an inability to delegate
    and develop others.

    How aware are you of your strengths and weaknesses? If
    you haven’t already, could you answer the two questions about greatest
    strengths and weaknesses any better than our students did?

    I could have two years ago when I was interviewing for my
    current position, but if I had to honestly answer the same questions today, I’m
    sure my answers would be different.

    So here’s what I think we need to do:

    At least once a year – about as often as we should get an
    annual performance review and be updating our resumes – take a few moments to
    answer those two questions. Then, if you have a weakness or overused strength
    that’s hindering your performance as a leader, create a development plan and do something about it. If you’re not
    sure what your strengths or weaknesses are – or want to verify your
    self-assessment (which in most cases is pretty inaccurate), get a 360 degree
    assessment and engage an executive coach to help your sort out the results and
    create your development plan.

    If you can’t do a 360 or afford a coach, then at least
    ask others – your boss, coworkers, and employees – for their feedback. That’s
    what the most successful leaders do – they are always on the lookout for blind spots, and know when and how to
    adapt their behavior to the context of the situation they are faced with.

    Don’t wait for that next job interview to take stock of
    your strengths and weaknesses – do it on a regular basis, as a part of your
    ongoing development as a leader.
    « Executive Presence: What’s Your “Talk Track”?
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    Dan is an expert in leadership and management development. For over 20 years Dan has helped thousands of leaders and aspiring leaders improve their leadership capabilities. Read More

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