It's been a bit of a relentless round of networking, job applications and interviewing of late. But with halloween coming up (got your costume for the party yet?), I thought I'd pause to reflect on that age old interview question "so tell me what do you see as your strengths and your weaknesses?"
Typically, a lot of people might regards their strengths as attention to detail, focus, and drive; and flaws might be delegation, lack of creativity, and people-management skills. The fact is that often our flaws are often the mirror image of our strengths, so it's important to realize that we should not over-develop our strengths, causing them to turn into flaws. There is always an optimal point: confidence that doesn't border on arrogance, wit that doesn't slide into sarcasm, and diligence that doesn't become perfectionism.
Interestingly, there is some new research discovering just what has derailed some of the UKs leaders under pressure. They identified 11 derailers — strengths which turned into flaws under pressure. These include:
Interestingly, these so called "Dark Side Characteristics" were present in 85 percent of the leaders surveyed...! So I guess it's safe to assume that perhaps we might all have a dark-side..?
But it's the implications which are more signifiant. Particular now, when we are in vulnerable and uncertain times. Consider, for example, a company whose senior executive team is uniformly dutiful: what happens when they encounter a crisis or an all-powerful CEO drives their strategy in the wrong direction? Common sense dictates that they should meet the crisis head on or challenge the CEO, yet the research suggests they are more likely to jointly keep their heads down. I guess we don't have to look to far from home to see some tangible examples...
So in getting back to that age old interview questions -yes, do build on your strengths - but don't let them get so overdeveloped that you too might turn to the dark-side. Unless of course your dressing up as Darth for your forthcoming halloween party...