What if we’ve been taught the wrong way to succeed?
From the classroom to the cubicle, we’re told to find our shortcomings and fix them. We spend hours trying to turn our C-minus grades into B’s, while our A-plus subjects get ignored. This relentless focus on our weaknesses has become a global obsession.
But here’s the problem: it’s the path of most resistance. Research from Gallup shows that people have several times more potential for growth when they invest in their strengths instead of trying to correct their deficiencies.
It’s time for a new conversation, one focused on what’s right with people.
The Myth of “You Can Be Anything You Want to Be”
We all love an underdog story. Think of the movie Rudy, where a young man with more heart than natural talent fights for years to play a single, heroic down for Notre Dame. It’s inspirational, but it masks a huge problem: we celebrate the triumph over a lack of talent more than we celebrate the cultivation of it.
Unfortunately, this plays out in the workplace every day. A star salesperson is promoted to manager and struggles, not realizing she lacks the natural talent to develop people. A brilliant accountant is pushed into a public-facing role and feels miserable.
The old maxim, “You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough,” is fundamentally flawed. A more accurate version would be:
You cannot be anything you want to be, but you can be a lot more of who you already are.
The key to human development isn’t about becoming someone you’re not. It’s about building on the foundation of who you already are.
The Staggering Cost of Ignoring Strengths
Gallup has surveyed more than 10 million people worldwide about their engagement at work. The results are eye-opening. Only one-third of people “strongly agree” with the statement: “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.”
For those who don’t get to use their strengths, the cost is staggering.
- People who get to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs.
- They are also more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life.
Perhaps the most shocking discovery is the impact a manager can have. Gallup studied what happens when managers focus on an employee’s strengths, focus on their weaknesses, or just ignore them. The results speak for themselves.
The chances of an employee being actively disengaged are:
- If your manager focuses on your strengths: 1%
- If your manager focuses on your weaknesses: 22%
- If your manager ignores you: 40%
That’s right, being ignored is even more detrimental than being criticized. But when a leader intentionally focuses on what you do well, the chance of you being miserable at your job plummets to virtually zero.
Discovering Your Talents: A Recipe for Strength
So, what exactly is a “strength”? It’s more than just something you’re good at. Gallup defines a strength with a simple formula:
Talent × Investment = Strength
- Talent: A natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving.
- Investment: The time you spend practicing and developing your skills and knowledge.
Your raw talent is the critical multiplier. Someone with a natural talent for empathy will always be better at customer service than someone who has to read a manual to understand feelings. Michael Jordan, for all his hard work, could never become the Michael Jordan of baseball because he lacked the innate talent for it.
The challenge is that most of us can’t clearly describe our own talents. To solve this, Gallup scientists identified 34 common themes of talent, creating a language to help us understand what’s right with people. The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment was developed to measure these talents and help you discover your top five.
My Key Learnings: A Summary
After diving into this philosophy, a few powerful lessons stand out:
- Focusing on Weaknesses is Inefficient: Trying to fix what you’re not good at is the “path of most resistance.” It may lead to competence, but it rarely leads to excellence.
- Strengths are a Multiplier for Growth: Investing time and energy in your natural talents provides the greatest room for growth and is the true path to success and fulfillment.
- Engagement Hinges on Using Your Strengths: The data is clear. People who use their strengths daily are dramatically more engaged, productive, and happy in both their work and personal lives.
- Leadership Matters Immensely: A manager who focuses on an employee’s strengths can make the difference between a thriving team member and a disengaged one.
- Self-Awareness Is the First Step: We cannot build upon our strengths if we don’t know what they are. Discovering and naming our talents is the essential starting point.
Don’t Leave Your Potential Untapped
Mark Twain once told a story about a man who died and met Saint Peter. Curious, the man asked, “Who was the greatest general of all time?”
Saint Peter pointed to a nearby soul. “It’s that man right over there.”
Perplexed, the man replied, “You must be mistaken. I knew that man on earth, and he was just a common laborer.”
“That’s right,” said Saint Peter. “He would have been the greatest general of all time, if he had been a general.”
This story illustrates a tragic truth: far too many people go through life without ever discovering their greatest talents. Don’t let your potential go untapped. When you start with your dominant talents and invest in them, you can move from “good” to “world-class.”
Ready to discover what you do best? It’s time to find your strengths.
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