How to... have conversations about strengths & weaknesses
Understanding Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths & weaknesses generally refer to a person’s character. We all have strengths and weaknesses and should be aware of them so we can make the most of our strengths, and overcome weaknesses.
Strengths are tasks or actions you can do well, or elements of your character that you shine in. It can include knowledge, skills and talents. People use their positive traits and abilities to complete work. relate with others and achieve goals.
Recently, there has been a focus on strengths and developing these, rather than just focussing on developing our weaknesses. Strength based development says we shoud play to our strengths, making these even stronger.
One area to be aware of with regards to strength is that a strength overplayed can become a weakness.
Weaknesses are areas where there are room for improvement. By focussing on these areas we can improve our overall skills, knowledge and behaviours for better outcomes. It is important to be aware of potential areas of weakness and be open to feedback from others.
Things to consider
Useful Questions
This is a useful question to help someone identify potential weak spots that are getting in the way of success
By asking this question you help the other person take responsibility for taking acting to utilise their strengths or overcome a weakness in order to move forward
Often the things that inspire us are things that we see in others but don’t recognise in ourselves. It may be that you possess these things and just haven’t realised; or because you don’t have this skill or ability that you appreciate it in someone else
Often what we notice in others tells us about ourselves. Is there a particular weakness in someone else that annoys you. Could it be becuase you actually have this weakness too?
Our strengths are things that come naturally to us more often than not. Rather than keeping these strengths to ourselves this question can help us thing about how we can share this strength for wider benefit
Our development areas are just that – they need development. The best starting point for help with these is often from someone who has this skill or ability. They may have it naturally or it has something they have had to learn.
Asking others for input can help us identify our strengths and weaknesses if this is something we struggle to do ourselves
Helping someone think through how they have developed a skill in the past, or changed a negative behaviour can help them overcome the challenges they are facing today
