Last week, I had “one of those” weeks. It seemed like every action I took, every decision I made, and most conversations I had did not go the way I wanted them. In other words, the closer Friday came rolling around, the more inept and incompetent I felt.
Have any of you had a similar experience?
If you have not, that’s good for you!
If you have, you know how difficult it is to continue moving forward when it happens. I don’t know about you, but I get “imposter syndrome”…even after being in a leadership position for over twenty years, I get that pit in my stomach that tells me that I am a clueless wonder!
As I pondered my week, I thought about all of my weaknesses…for those of you who read this and know me, you know that I have a lot of them!
So, as I thought about them, I wanted to do a Jedi mind trick on myself. I figured I would think of ways that your weaknesses can actually lead to you becoming a better leader. Please let me know what you think!
1. Your weakness does not disqualify you as a leader. It is easy when times get tough, and things don’t go your way to want to throw your hands in the air and give up. Let’s not do that! My suggestion is to pick one area that you feel is a weakness for you and sit down with your team and ask them for their input and how you can work with them collaboratively to improve.
2. Humility strengthens leadership. It is difficult to learn when you already know everything. Being humble opens your brain to new learning…after all, maybe you don’t know everything! My suggestion for action this week is to just admit to your team that there is a specific area that you are not “all knowledgeable” about!
3. Leverage weakness for a growth opportunity. Continued growth is a mark of a professional. Sitting still and resting on your laurels is a mark of an amateur. Be professional and choose an area of weakness to read an article, meet with a mentor, or attend a conference to strengthen your weakness.
