What if your biggest “weakness” is actually pointing to your greatest strength?
Truth time: I’m not great at doing math in my head. Never have been.
When my husband and I are playing Farkle, I have to count out loud when I’m keeping score. I can’t just look at a 7 and a 9 and instantly know it’s 16. I have to go, “Okay….eight, nine, ten…”
It used to really embarrass me, especially in front of my husband, who has a VERY fast mental calculator.
But as he reminded me as we were playing recently, I’m the one who instantly sees the dice configuration. The one who’s lightning-fast at spotting patterns and sets. The one who can sniff out a strategy the moment I roll my dice.
My strength: I’m highly visual-spatial. I see the patterns far before he does … and he’s embarrassed he doesn’t see them as quickly.
So we agreed to embrace each others’ strengths and support our weaknesses.
This got me thinking about executive teams I work with.
We all bring different strengths to the table, and as a leader, your job isn’t to make everyone play the game the same way. Your job is to help the team get to the goal.
That of course means leaning into and leveraging each person’s unique strengths.
And it also means creating space where someone can take the time to “add the dice together,” so to speak, instead of nudging them to “be faster” or “do it like so-and-so.”
When you have a team member who is working in a space outside of their strengths, try this:
- Explore with them what’s they think is slowing them down. (Great time to use coaching techniques, not give feedback!)
- Let them use the method that works for them.
- Ask what support they need … and give it.
- Make sure the outcome—not the style—is what matters most.
The most effective executive teams I see aren’t the ones where everyone thinks alike—they’re the ones where different thinking styles complement each other to create something stronger than the sum of their parts.
So next time you find yourself tempted to step in and speed things up, pause and ask: Are they really “off track,” or just finding their own way to the solution?
Looking to increase the cohesion, trust, and impact of your leadership team? Reach out and let’s discuss The Compass Team Experience and how I can help.
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