Me, Jingles and the Dreaded Bike
Why am I telling you this? Because this weekend I voluntarily bought and rode a bicycle for the first time in 20 years. And I survived to tell the tale.
The only reason I did this was for the love of a 20 pound mutt that we adopted a year ago. She loves to run. And I don’t.
To distract myself, I started thinking about what kind of lesson this might help to illustrate. After all, this should benefit someone besides my dog and the neighbors who must have laughed at the sight of me lurching around our streets like a drunken sailor. Three thoughts came to mind:
1. Stop trying to fix a weakness – at best, you will go from terrible to merely bad or from bad to mediocre.
I will never be able to coast, relaxed and happy, on a bicycle. If I ride it every day (and it looks as if I might, because my dog enjoys it), my best hope is to become bad at it. Eventually people might laugh less, but I will never look natural on a bike. I will always go pale, knock kneed, and clammy with sweat before I even leave the driveway.
What is your weakness at work? Are you trying to fix it? How many of your conversations with your manager have to do with improving your performance in that area? Do you make excuses and tell her you’ll “try harder” or “work on it”?
Stop doing that! Instead, focus on growing in your areas of strength. In a strong area, you will go from good to terrific or terrific to phenomenal. Doesn’t that sound better than struggling to become mediocre?
2. Acknowledge your weakness, and craft a strength statement to offset it.
There’s something about having other people notice our weaknesses that makes us leap to defend ourselves. Why waste your energy? Acknowledge to yourself and to others that it isn’t your strong suit. Then move on to emphasize a strength.
Weaknesses are not a character flaw. A weakness is a flip side of one of your strengths. What is that strength, and how can you capitalize on that when the conversation turns to a weakness of yours?
I am great at getting things started. I can motivate others, form a team, evangelize a mission, and get things going. As the project gets to the halfway point, my interest and enthusiasm taper off. By the end, I’m struggling to be engaged in the work we’re doing at all. I find myself constantly volunteering for new opportunities, and I’ve found it best to openly talk about this when I take on new projects. If I don’t set the expectations of those around me, they won’t know where to expect the best from me.
The truth is, I’m the best at all the activities at the beginning of the project management lifecycle. Brainstorming, identifying the problem to solve, cultivating a team to address it, building enthusiasm, establishing rapport with stakeholders – all these are very strong areas for me. I’m also not bad at designing a solution and shepherding it through the start of the implementation phase. Talk to me about documenting the solution or making it a repeatable process or establishing consistency and my eyes glass over.
Where do you excel? Craft phrases that articulate your strengths and learn to express them to your coworkers, managers and prospective employers. Let them know where to expect the most from you.
3. Recognize the times when you must achieve competence in a weak area.
Sometimes life demands that we develop skills where none exist. If you can’t partner with someone who is strong in your weak spots and you can’t escape the activity, you just have to buckle down and get it done.
However, don’t crush yourself under the expectation of perfection. Dedicate yourself to getting something done, even if it’s an 80% solution. If you can’t hit a home run, at least get your runner to third base and set your team up to succeed. Strive to be competent. Don’t kill yourself trying to be outstanding.
When you have to do something you hate, there are two things that might help. First, attack it during the time of day when you have the most energy. Procrastination will not help. Bite the bullet. Second, bookend the dreaded activity with work in areas of your strength. Recognize that working on tasks you hate drains your energy. Replenish yourself with things that you love to do.
Today’s Strength Building Challenge
Next time you come face to face with a weakness, stare it down. You know how to handle it now:
- Stop trying to fix it
- Acknowledge it and offset it with a strength
- Strive for competency in weak areas, not perfection
Work on the tasks you hate early, and finish the day with an activity you love. Then smile all the way home. And if you pass someone on a bicycle who rides like a drunken sailor, please be kind.
