Leadership: Discover the Strength of Balance
by Kate Nasser | 5 Comments »
Strength of Balance: Leaders, Can You Develop It?
As a leader, you are hired for your strengths. There are even established respected programs like Marcus Buckingham’s Now Discover Your Strengths to help you identify and hone them and those of your team.
Yet for true success, discover and develop the strength of balance. It prepares you for lasting success in diverse situations.
The strengths that are your extremes deliver current success. They can turn into weaknesses during times of change when they no longer serve the business. Ever wonder why businesses that initiate major change also name new leaders and hire new teams? The current leaders and teams couldn’t adapt. They did not develop counter strengths. They did not have the strength of balance.
The strength of balance gives you long term success with lower risk. It isn’t easy yet it is rewarding. You must spend time and effort to learn counter strengths while working on and enjoying current success.
Very successful people make this effort. They are always developing counter strengths to be ready for the future. They have strength of balance.
Develop Strength of Balance!
Discover The Strength of Balance Image by:Khaz
If you are great technically, discover and develop your people skills.
If you are generally an interactive listener, learn how to listen to introverts.
If you are quiet, practice expressing.
If you are a team member, discover your leadership skills.
If you are a tough practical leader, learn how to inspire. If you are a soft-hearted leader, learn how to assert.
If you are a big picture person, develop some attention to details.
If you are a speaker, learn how to write.
If you are a creative thinker, develop critical thinking.
If you work with those your own age, learn about other generations.
If you are mono-cultural, discover other worlds.
If you are very stressed out, change something to reduce the tension. You need the energy to prepare for the future!
Can you and all your team members stretch and grow to stay vital in the face of any change? Some claim it is the same as trying to turn an eagle into a dove. What do you think? Can you develop the strength of balance?
From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™
Related Posts:
Leadership Success: Think Balance Beam Not Mountain Top
Strength of Balance: Moderation Doesn’t Mean Mediocrity!
©2011-2016 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.
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I invite your questions, welcome your wisdom, and look forward to working with you.
~Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™
Kate,
When I read this I think that it’s not all about balance and mastery but gaining a familiarity with opposites. Once you get familiar, one will be able to see other points of view much better.
We are who we are and we use our strengths to succeed but that doesn’t mean those strengths will always be useful. It’s good to have a few more tricks in our kit bag.
Matt
As usual Kate, I agree with your point, yet one thing keeps pulling at me. You state “The strength of balance gives you long term success with lower risk”. Is it really balance? Or is that by strengthening the areas where you are weak, you increase your ability to relate, to engage, and collaborate with others who are different from you. And since all organizations and teams are made up of those different than us, that makes you a stronger team member or leader, thus strengthening your position and increasing your longetivity as a leader.
Hi Shannon,
By developing the counter strengths you do all the things you mentioned and one more — you develop balance! For every strength there is a counter strength which allows you to balance through all the changes in business, customers’ expectations, teamwork, career changes, economy etc….
We are agreeing on the details and just see the words differently.
Many thanks for your contribution to this post!
Kate
I love that you’re encouraging people to expand and not rely on the tried and true. It’s great to lead from the comfort of strengths but we grow stronger when we stretch into new skills too. Speaking is easy – listening is hard for many. Being intentional about focusing on skill development is key. With you that starting with strengths is a great place to pinpoint other areas to develop.
As I read this, I pictured someone rowing their boat with one oar but when with an oar on the opposite side able to go further with more strength and impact.
Will share!
Alli
Hi Alli,
Love your row boat/oar analogy. It’s definitely a strong image of what happens when you are stronger on one side than the other. The row boat would start to go in circles!
Great addition. Many thanks.
Kate