Career Tips : MAKING YOUR SELF INDISPENSABLE (2) Yesterday in Making Your Self Indispensable we have discussed about a simple guide to becoming a far more effective leader which is: The Interaction Effect, and one we havent discussed yet, Building Strengths, Step by Step. Building Strengths, Step by Step. Identify your Strengths. Ideally it should be done in psychometrically valid way, through a formal process in which you and your direct reports, peers, and bosses anonymously complete questionnaires ranking your leadership attributes on a qualitative scale. But not every organization is able or willing to conduct it, so if its not feasible, you may be able to solicit qualitative data from your colleagues if you can make them feel comfortable enough to be honest in their feedback. You could create your own feedback form ad ask people to return it anonymously. In interpreting the results, people commonly focus first on their lowest scores. What make leaders indispensable to their organizations, is no being good at many things but being uniquely outstanding at a few things. Such strengths allow a leaders inevitable weaknesses to be overlooked. Choose a strength to focus on. Choices between good and good cause us to deliberate and second guess. But developing leaders focus on a competency that matters to the organization and about which they feel some passion, because a strength you feel passionate about that is not important to your organization is essentially a hobby, and a strength the organization needs that you dont feel passionate about is just a chore. Theres a question for looking the competencies, such as : - Do I look for ways to enhances this skill? - Do I look for new ways to use it? - Am I energized, not exhausted, when I used it? - Do I pursue projects in which I can apply this strengths? - Can I imagine devoting time to improving it? - Would I enjoy getting better at this skill? Then focus to your strengths. Source : Harvard Business Review, October 2011.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 08:19:08 +0000