Page 165 - The extraordinary leader

142 • The Extraordinary Leader

strength at a time, make progress that is observable by others, and then move
on to the next opportunity.
Sometimes leaders want to fix something that is very specific and relatively
easy to correct. For example, a leader received feedback about his lack of
respect for other people’s time when he came late to meetings and had the
entire group wait while he was briefed on what had happened prior to his
arrival. He also wanted to work on becoming more inspirational and motiva-
tional. We observed that there are little things and big things. Being on time
to meetings is quite easy to fix if you are serious about it. Becoming more
inspirational is more complex and a far bigger issue.

Can Strengths Be Pushed Too Far?
There is a commonly held belief that strengths carried too far become a
weakness. Kaplan and Kaiser expressed this viewpoint in their article titled,
“Stop Overdoing Your Strenghts” They divided leadership behavior into two
3
categories. They label these behaviors as being “forceful” versus “enabling”
and have defined those two categories as strengths.” They observe that if a
leader overuses what they have labeled a “strength” by being constantly direc-
tive, always taking charge, making every decision and pushing people; the
leader’s effectiveness diminishes.
That conclusion is one most would accept. However, these behaviors do
not fit the usual definition of strengths. Earlier in this chapter we gave our def-
inition. We see being forceful or enabling as behavioral tactics, not strengths.
They are not valued in their own right. Using one invariably diminishes the
other. Neither one is revered for its inherently good qualities. No proverbs and
parables support them. Our conception of strengths is very different.
As we review our list of 16 potential strengths, we can not envision a
situation where doing less of any one of them would be better than doing
more. Can someone be too honest or too skilled at solving problems? Can a
person be too technically competent or excessively innovative? In all of our
data analysis, we found no evidence that extremely high scores ever had
negative consequences.

Different Way to Optimize Strengths

Kaplan and Kaiser suggest that backing off strengths is the right solution. The
person seen as “too forceful” should be more moderate. The “too enabling”
person should be less empowering or less sensitive to others.