Know Thyself - Written By Derek Olsen

A premise to any leadership development effort is that you cannot change who you fundamentally are, therefore much of our development works to expand awareness about ourselves. Even if you could change yourself into some "superior" being, it would most likely be at the cost of the naturally creative, resourceful and whole person you already are.

According to Greek lore, inscribed on the ancient Temple of Apollo, was the phrase "Know Thyself ", Warren Bennis states that this "is still the most difficult task any of us faces.  But until you truly know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, know what you want to do and why you want to do it, you cannot succeed in any but the most superficial sense of the word.  When you know what you consist of and what you want to make of it, then you can invent yourself.".

Your strengths and weaknesses may not be what you think they are. We all have blind spots, parts of ourselves that we don't see clearly. Learning about your blind spots requires a relatively objective perspective about yourself, which often requires being willing to receive feedback. To be given honest feedback requires transparency, vulnerability and humility on your part, so if your weaknesses are in those areas, you may want support.

In the workplace (and at school and home for some of us) attention can be focused on fixing what seems to be broken, or on what's perceived as being wrong with us. Call it an "opportunity for development" or "area of growth potential" or whatever else you want to call it, there's nothing wrong with having a weakness, and it may always be your weakness, so accept it. In fact, your greatest strengths may be a result of your greatest weaknesses. Conversely, your greatest strengths may also create your greatest weaknesses. Keep your eye on your weaknesses and let your team know about them as a way of demonstrating accountability, self awareness and transparency.

In the book Strengths Finder 2.0, Tom Rath says strength is "the result of your natural talent multiplied by the effort you invest developing it". Your talents, or core strengths, have been obvious to the people around you for your whole life. When you were hired, it was your strengths that lifted you above the other interviewees who had resumes equal or better than yours.  They are what people love and appreciate mos about you, they are what you know you were in some way born to contribute.  Our gifts are given to us to be shared by all, so dig deeply and share freely.