A blind man kept bumping into obstacles in his path. Another man without legs couldn’t walk without support. One day they both met, and decided that the legless man would sit on the shoulders of the blind man, and guide him on the path.

Sarita needed to market herself. She was not good at writing, so she couldn’t use it for marketing. But she was good at connecting with people through videos. So, she created high quality videos, and took a course to improve her video making skills.

Abhishek loved interacting with people, but was not good with numbers. He happily took up a job in customer support, where he would interact with people the whole day.

Parth received feedback that he needed to improve his marketing skills. Marketing was his passion. So, he put in effort to improve his marketing skills.

These are 4 examples of how a weakness can be managed. In the first story a weakness has been managed by finding someone who’s strengths can offset your weakness. In Sarita’s case, she used a strength to compensate for a weakness (Video making instead of writing). Abhishek ignored the weakness (numbers), and happily played to his strength (people interaction). Parth worked hard upon improving his weakness (marketing).

A question people often ask is should I focus on my strengths or my weaknesses or both?

The answer is very clear for strengths. In our professions and in life as well, we must make the most of our strengths. We get the maximum return on investment (time, effort, money etc.) when we leverage our strengths (talents, abilities, knowledge, skills etc.).

It is important to differentiate between ignorable / forgivable weaknesses and fatal flaws while deciding whether to focus on them or not.

Ignorable weaknesses could be a lack of talent / disinclination / dislike / non preference for abilities that are not critical to your success and happiness. In that case they may not really be weaknesses.

Fatal flaws are dangerous. They can literally derail you at work or in relationships and life. Many fatal flaws are associated with a weak character and lack of values. Fatal flaws need to be focussed upon by improving / overcoming / managing them. Ignoring fatal flaws can be fatal. For e.g., lack of emotional intelligence is a fatal flaw for leadership roles.

Certain other fatal flaws include lack of integrity, lack of perseverance, lack of empathy etc. These flaws have to be worked upon or managed else they have the power to snatch away your success and happiness.

Self Reflection

What do you think are your top 5 strengths and top 5 weaknesses (remember it is a weakness only if it is coming in the way of your success, happiness and fulfilment). Take feedback from people you work and live with.
Are you making the most of your strengths? Are there better ways to employ your strengths to get a better return in terms of success, happiness, money etc.
Are the weaknesses easily ignorable or are they a fatal flaw?
How will you manage the weaknesses / fatal flaws?

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References