Has this ever happened to you? You go to a mall. You get the
parking ticket which happens to be a tiny piece of paper. You're a bit annoyed
thinking, "why is there so much mess in the car". So you pick up the
small pieces of paper and on your way to the escalator, you throw everything
away. After about 2 hours, when you're about to go home, you look for the
ticket and you realize, "uh-oh, how am I going to break the news to my
wife without losing my dignity".
My wife knows someone like that. Thankfully, she knows how
to complement my weaknesses with her strengths.
As a leader, it's okay not to be perfect, all-knowing and
all-powerful. In fact, it's not counterproductive if you show your
vulnerabilities to your team and let them fill in where you're lacking.
You can be vulnerable and still be a great leader. Here’s
how:
1) Staff your weaknesses
In short, rely on others.
If you've answered the Strength's Finders test, you know that you've
nailed 5 out of 34 strengths. Instead of trying to duplicate yourself by
finding people who are just like you, look for people who are so not like you,
people who have different strengths than yours, and people who excel where you
fail. And there will be more achievements and successes coming your way.
2) "Only do what only you can do."
Strive for simplicity and minimalism. Only do the things
that you're good at or better yet, only do the things that only you are good
at. If you do all 10 things, you do nothing. Prioritize and only do one or two
things that you're the best at so you can be as effective as you can be.
3) Be honest with yourself.
Why? Because people already know that you have weaknesses
and they're itching to help you. And the fact of the matter is, we were
created to thrive only in the context of a team or a community, with the help
of others and ULTIMATELY with the help of God whose grace is sufficient for us
and whose power is made perfect in our weakness.
