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Focusing on fixing your weaknesses instead of doubling down on your strengths is playing defence. You will never win with this strategy. This is why employees are demotivated, and companies are scratching their heads, needing clarification about where they have gone wrong.
Companies are Good at Selling You Your Weaknesses.
Look at managers and leaders, they allocate tasks based on what they think people are good at rather than based on their proven strengths which can be a problem. Being good at something doesn't mean it is a strength.
Strength is an activity that energises you, and you can productively apply it to almost near perfection.
When people do things that don't energise them, even if they are good at it, they will not be motivated once they mastered the task or job. I used to be good at managing the department, but I am Learner (strength), and in that role, the learning plateaued quickly, so I got bored and hated it at the end. Even though my GM pushed me toward a GM role, I had to leave. There is no continuous learning there for me. That role plateaus, too, so no, thank you!
The obsession with weaknesses is staggering. Our strengths would receive a "You are good at that, so let's not spend time on this" while our weaknesses get hours, days or even months of attention.
The only industry that benefits from this approach is the training industry because they always have something to sell. Instead, they should teach people self-awareness so they can lean into their strengths and figure the rest out independently.
The funny thing is, if you take a strengths-based approach, it helps you overcome the areas of weakness much better. BOOM!
Strength-based performance management is tested and proven. It starts with building self-awareness, then team awareness around strengths and continues all the way to change in HR policies.
Don't be the company that is good at selling its employees their weaknesses. It is a deficiency mindset helping absolutely nobody. Discover employees' strengths and manage around their weaknesses.
Learn about your strengths
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