ACCEPTING, UNDERSTANDING AND CHANNELISING WEAKNESSES: MAXIMISING STRENGTHS

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ACCEPTING,UNDERSTANDING AND CHANNELISING
WEAKNESSESMAXIMISING STRENGTHS
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SEQUENCE

• Intro.
• Weaknesses Understanding channelising them.
• Strategies for maximising strengths.
• The way ahead.
• Discussion.

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PREAMBLE

• I dont have lessons to give.
• I only have thoughts experiences to share.
• We can learn from each other.
• There is no one right view .
• Reasonable people can have reasonable
  disagreements on complex issues.

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INTRO

• Closed notebooks open minds.
• Participation.

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STRENGTHS

• STUDENTS
• Obedient.
• Hardworking.
• 90 .
• Co curricular activities.
• Polite.
• Sports.

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STRENGTHS

• WORKPLACE
• Hardworking.
• Dedicated.
• Team player.
• Risk taker.
• Leader.

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FIXING WEAKNESSES

• At work Apprisals to overcome your apparent
  limitations.
• At school Confronted with flaws and given
  strategies for improvement.
• well rounded individuals(robots ! )
• Do these efforts really work ?
• Is being well rounded a worthy or realistic
  goal ?

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EXCERPT FROM ARTICLE WRITTEN IN1997

• It may be of relevance to note that The Indian
  Military Academy, The National Defence Academy
  and The Officers Training Academy are at best
  assembly lines designed to mass produce officers
  at a certain turnover every year and have little
  relevance in inculcating traits required of an
  officer and a gentleman.The point may be
  debatable, but is sadly true.

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• Efforts to fix weaknesses are ineffective.
  The goal of being well rounded is both
  undesirable and impossible to attain.
• - Dean Randall.
• WHAT THEN IS THE ALTERNATIVE ?

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MY WEAKNESSES

• Lets get personal.
• Hyperactive.
• Impatient.
• Prone to anger.
• Stubborn
• Blunt undiplomatic.
• Dont suffer fools gladly.
• Impulsive.
• Cocktail parties.

• In spite of all these and other obvious
  weaknesses , a moderate level of success has been
  achieved.
• HOW ?

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• By discovering that my apparent flaws were
  clues to my true strength.

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Stage 1. Awareness

• Whats your problem?
• What dont people like about you?
• What dont you like about yourself?
• What weakness are you always trying to fix?
• How do you wish you were different?
• What dont you like to do?

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Stage 2. Acceptance

• Weaknesses are clues to our strengths
• Theres nothing wrong with you.
• Makes you different- a freak.Its good to be a
  freak.
• What seems to be wrong with you, is whats
  right with you.
• Frame your uniqueness in a positive way.
• I AM FLAWLESS
• What next ?

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DONT TRY AND FIX YOUR WEAKNESS

• It is a slow process.
• It is painful.
• It distracts from activities where significant
  progress can be made.
• It does not work.

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Stage 3. Appreciation

• Dont try to fix your weaknesses
• It will diminish your strengths.
• It is difficult and frustrating.
• Myth I need to be well rounded.
• Truth I have my unique talents.
• So what next ?

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CHANNELISING WEAKNESSES/CHARACTERISTICS

• As an indl.
• Increase your energy efficiency.
• Permt procrastination.
• Find colleagues who are strong where you are
  weak.
• Find the freak in others.

• As a Mgr.
• Dont try and change people.
• Choose the right person.
• Find out whats with people.
• Let people be freaks.
• Differentiate between equal/identical
  participation.

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• Each one had tasted the corporate world and
  decided that they definitely had to be someplace
  else. Each had a vision of his own and dreamt of
  it every single day.The question was how and when
  were they going to achieve what they wanted to
  because it would be their toughest assignment
  till date.
• Each had become a better person after
  spending time together. Each had made a mark for
  the better on the others lives. What had made
  them a cohesive bunch was not their abilities to
  read each others strengths but rather recognise
  their own deficiencies and feed off each others
  strengths.
• All of them may not sail across the ocean of
  their dreams but at least they would have tried.

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Stage 4. Adaptation

• Myth
• I need to change to fit the situation
• Truth
• I need to find situations that fit my strengths

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MAXIMISING STRENGTHS

• People who cannot manage themselves for
• effectiveness, cannot expect to manage their
• associates and subordinates.
• - Peter Drucker

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Strategy 1Self-Awareness

• Strengths Weaknesses
• Motivations
• Interests
• Abilities

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Strategy 2Self-Control

• Take responsibility
• Cultivate personal integrity
• Build on your strengths

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Strategy 3Continuous Learning

• Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
• Learn as if you were to live forever.
• - Mahatma Gandhi

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Strategy 3Continuous Learning

• Continual learning is the key to effective
  leadership . . . We have to think of ways to
  learn and grow every day because when you stop
  growing you start to decay.
• - Mike Krzyzewski

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Strategy 3Continuous Learning

• A person who WONT read has no advantage over
  one who CANT read.
• - Mark Twain

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Strategy 4Find a Mentor

• Have the humility to learn from others with more
  experience.

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Strategy 5Fail Occasionally

• If you are big enough for your dreams,
• then your dreams arent big enough for you.
• - Erwin McManus

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Strategy 6Encouragement

• Keep away from people who belittle your
• ambitions. Small people always do that,
• but the really great make you feel that
• you too can become great.
• - Mark Twain

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Strategy 7Be a Mentor

• Share what youve learned with others.

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Strategy 8Trust Others

• Choose trust instead of invulnerability.
• - Patrick Lencioni

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Strategy 9Be Caring

• People dont care how much you know,
• until they know how much you care.
• - John Maxwell

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Strategy 10Serve Others

• Every experiment,
• by multitudes or by individuals,
• that has a sensual and selfish aim will fail . .
  .
• Only that good profits, which we can taste with
• all doors open, and which serves all men.
• - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Strategy 10.Serve Others

• This is the true joy in life,
• The being used up for a purpose recognized by
• yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of
  nature
• instead of a feverish, selfish, little clod of
  ailments. . .
• I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the
  whole
• community, and as long as I live,
• it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
• - George Bernard Shaw

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• And
• finally
• Have fun .
• Thanks for the participation