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Abstract: This article argues that organizational leaders do not need to be perfect across the board or the absolute best in their field. Rather, focusing on key strengths while empowering teams and fostering collaboration allows leaders and employees to maximize their potential and achieve organizational goals effectively. The article discusses how identifying both strengths and weaknesses is important for self-awareness and leadership development. It highlights how high-performing teams comprised of diverse individuals with complementary skillsets can outperform reliance on a single person's limited capabilities. The essay provides industry examples of leaders who have acknowledged their limitations to build exceptional teams. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining a growth mindset and continuous learning to adapt strengths over time. The conclusion outlines how effective leaders who play to their strengths and empower specialized teams can establish thriving organizations primed for sustainable success.
The modern workplace often propagates the notion that employees and leaders need to excel at all tasks and responsibilities to achieve success. However, research shows that being truly exceptional at everything is virtually impossible and is an unrealistic expectation that can damage employee well-being and productivity.
This essay argues that organizational leaders do not need to be perfect across the board or the absolute best in their field. Instead, focusing on key strengths while empowering teams and fostering collaboration allows leaders and employees alike to maximize their potential and achieve organizational goals effectively.
Leadership Strengths and Weaknesses
No individual is without weaknesses or areas that could use improvement. Even the most talented leaders have gaps in their skills or abilities. Research on leadership competencies has found that identifying both strengths and weaknesses is important for self-awareness and development (Higgs & Rowland, 2010; Weil, 2018). Leaders who understand their strengths are better able to leverage them appropriately but also recognize where others may have complementary skills to support areas requiring growth. An inability to acknowledge weaknesses can negatively impact leadership effectiveness through overconfidence and poor decision-making when faced with tasks outside one's zone of expertise (McKee et al., 2008).
Further, different contexts and organizational challenges may require emphasizing different leadership capabilities. What made a leader successful in one role or industry may not directly translate based on the unique demands of a new position (Kaiser et al., 2008). Rather than insisting on being stellar in every domain, agile leaders accept that their skills will evolve based on experiences and are willing to rely on team members for specialized knowledge as needed. This reflects a growth mindset that values learning and improvement over always appearing perfect (Dweck, 2006).
Building High-Performing Teams
Given the unreasonable expectation of universal excellence, organizational leaders are better served focusing on developing strong teams where members play to their individual strengths. Research has shown that high-performing teams are made up of diverse individuals with complementary skillsets working collaboratively (Katzenbach & Smith, 1993; Hoegl & Parboteeah, 2006). Leaders who understand their talents and limitations can purposefully construct teams with specialists in needed areas like engineering, marketing, finance, and more (Guzzo & Dickson, 1996). This distributes responsibilities optimally rather than relying on a single person's capabilities.
Establishing clear roles and responsibilities according to strengths allows teams to function interdependently with less overlap or redundancy (Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006). Members are empowered and motivated working in their domains of expertise. Leaders who acknowledge what they are not strongest at and bring in others to support those domains signal confidence rather than insecurity (Anderson & Brown, 2010; Kraus et al., 2012). They create an environment where diverse viewpoints and collaborative problem-solving thrive (Neck & Houghton, 2006). This reduces pressure on any one person while increasing the holistic competencies of the collective group.
Industry Examples of Leveraging Strengths
In practical industry examples, some leaders have acknowledged non-technical limitations to empower exceptional teams. As CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs famously said, "I'm actually not that good at design, relative to many of my peers" (Isaacson, 2011, p. 137). This allowed him to hire top designers like Jonathan Ive to drive Apple's technical innovations while Jobs focused on product vision and strategy. Similarly, Jeff Bezos has noted poor interpersonal skills that could hinder management but has instead built a team-based culture at Amazon emphasizing high standards (Stone, 2016). As a result, multiple divisions have flourished under empowered leaders in specific domains from retail to web services.
In healthcare, Atul Gawande, MD acknowledged weaknesses in hospital administration to found Ariadne Labs promoting multidisciplinary solutions (Dartmouth, 2019). Rather than insisting on personal control as a renowned surgeon, Gawande utilizes collaborative research teams across disciplines. In professional sports, legendary coach Bill Belichick does not micromanage offensive or defensive schemes, understanding strategic planning as his forte and letting position coaches specialize in their areas (McCarthy, 2014). This distribution of responsibilities according to complementary strengths leverages diversity and maximizes their collective performance.
Balancing Expertise with Growth Mindset
While specializing in strengths allows optimal performance in core areas, leaders must maintain a growth mindset and appetite for continuous learning. As environments evolve rapidly, weaknesses that were once minor could potentially become more impactful to strategy if left unaddressed (Miller, 2015). Leaders ought to regularly reassess strengths against changing priorities to recognize when new skills may be required (Collins, 2001). Maintaining self-awareness through feedback also aids identifying latent talents previously untapped versus true deficits requiring dedicated improvement (McCauley & Van Velsor, 2004).
Likewise, teams benefit when members cross-train into adjacent domains to enhance flexibility, provide backup capabilities, and spark innovation through varied perspectives (Sawyer, 2007). Focused development plans help strengthen areas of opportunity while capitalizing on existing proficiencies. For instance, general managers in manufacturing expanded logistics expertise during pandemic-related supply chain challenges through task forces with operations specialists (Bick et al., 2021). Leaders who role model growth mindsets set an example for teams that strengths alone do not guarantee long-term success without an openness to adaptation and stretch assignments (Maurer & Weiss, 2010).
Conclusion
In today's complex work environments demanding myriad competencies, the notion that any individual leader needs to excel at all responsibilities is simply unrealistic and sets individuals up for failure and burnout. Research shows that leveraging diverse, complementary strengths across high-performing teams distributed according to specific domains of expertise maximizes organizational performance far better than reliance on a single person's limited capabilities. Effective leaders acknowledge their proficiencies and deficiencies, empowering team members with specialized skills and maintaining a growth mindset to broaden competencies over time. This enables thriving organizations where individuals play to their strengths and collaboratively overcome challenges through mutual support. Leaders who focus on developing exceptional teams empowered by self-awareness of diverse talents establish environments primed for sustainable success.
References
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Additional Reading
Westover, J. H. (2024). Optimizing Organizations: Reinvention through People, Adapted Mindsets, and the Dynamics of Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.3
Westover, J. H. (2024). Reinventing Leadership: People-Centered Strategies for Empowering Organizational Change. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.4
Westover, J. H. (2024). Cultivating Engagement: Mastering Inclusive Leadership, Culture Change, and Data-Informed Decision Making. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.5
Westover, J. H. (2024). Energizing Innovation: Inspiring Peak Performance through Talent, Culture, and Growth. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.6
Westover, J. H. (2024). Championing Performance: Aligning Organizational and Employee Trust, Purpose, and Well-Being. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.7
Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Workforce Evolution: Strategies for Adapting to Changing Human Capital Needs. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.8
Westover, J. H. (2024). Navigating Change: Keys to Organizational Agility, Innovation, and Impact. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.11
Westover, J. H. (2024). Inspiring Purpose: Leading People and Unlocking Human Capacity in the Workplace. HCI Academic Press. doi.org/10.70175/hclpress.2024.12
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). You Don’t Have to Be the Best at Everything at Work. Human Capital Leadership Review, 15(4). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.15.4.13
