By Dr. Gaby Cora

Do you work through strengths or through weaknesses?

Years ago I was chatting with a more senior executive in Corporate America. I mentioned my love of medicine and its integration with business and my dislike of the more tedious financial reports. She immediately said I should focus on developing skills in the accounting and financial aspects of my work, leaving aside my forte as I shouldn’t focus on my strengths but on my weaknesses, she said.

I was perplexed, something didn’t make sense in this scenario. Not that I didn’t want to learn more - I was seriously considering getting an MBA, which I later did - but should I spend much time going into business numbers when my forte was obviously in creating opportunities, marketing and integrating novel concepts?

More so, as I reflected on my work as both a therapist and coach, I could easily see the contrast with other professionals who focus on what doesn’t work a lot more than on maximizing what works well. This concept holds true when intervening in a crisis (would you go over and over the critical event rather than addressing it, improving it and moving on to bounce back?), in politics (with constant bickering of both parties, pointing fingers for what was not done rather than joining forces to work together to get things done), in family relationships (where spouses are hateful with one another but unable to let go and move on or when parents are constantly criticizing their teenagers without expecting anything positive) and so on.

Focusing on weaknesses or things to be fixed creates some implicit dependency: “I can’t do this on my own, I therefore need your help.” Identifying what doesn’t work but shifting our focus on improving the situation while learning ways to support that constant improvement with a deeper understanding of working systems helps us focus on strengths.

Food for thought

How about you? Do you tend to focus on your strengths? If you do, do you help others focus on their strengths? Are you able to analyze what’s not working well while not being too critical? Do you get the best out of your work and your employees’ work? Are you in the most positive relationship with your loved ones?