3 Things I Learned About The Power of Weakness
Never admit weaknesses. Be strong, confident, in control, and decisive. Weakness makes you look, well, weak. If you show weakness, how can you be successful, lead others, get better grades, get promoted, be a great parent, etc.? After all, isn't that what leading is all about--projecting strength? If you let people see weaknesses, you’ll be ineffective and risk failure.
There is only one true part of the above statement. Your weakness might lead to failure. And that fear of failure and exposing our weaknesses can paralyze you.
Failure is inevitable. You can’t avoid it. But failure often has little to do with exposing a weakness. You have plenty of weaknesses. So do I. And everyone else on the planet. Weakness equates to failure only when we ignore where we fall short or try to cover them up. But it can become our greatest strength when we admit our weakness and work within it.
Early in my career, I worked in the restaurant industry. I was young, energetic, and motivated to climb the ladder—and I did—quickly. I remember making a significant move from one organization to another—a move giving me a huge promotion. I sat across from one of the senior VPs listening to him sing my praises. In his mind, I was the future of the company’s management. I had promise. I would go far. And I would be handsomely rewarded for those efforts.
That was until I was fired less than three years later. I was blindsided. Never saw it coming. But more importantly, after being held on such a high pedestal, only to come crashing down, ruined my confidence. It would be years before I could confidently work without the constant worry that something terrible could happen at any moment.
Talk about destroying your confidence. No matter how I tried to hide the debilitating weakness, it controlled me. I refused to admit the struggle. I refused to admit that I needed help, advice, or wise counsel from other trusted people. Eventually, I fessed up to it and learned to work through it and leverage it turning it into a strength.
Here are 3 things I learned in that process.
First, weakness breeds humility.
Take a minute and consider the person you'd like to become. Do you really want to be the kind of person who thinks they have it all figured out, the person who has no weakness, who thinks they are perfect? Do you really want to be the arrogant one in the room? Admitting weakness is not weak; it's humble. And it's absolutely required if you're going to truly succeed.
Second, knowing and recognizing weaknesses builds community.
It forces a reliance on others, forming teams of people, collaborating, and allowing others to bring their best stuff to the table. If you genuinely want to do or create something great, make it a collaborative effort--relying on each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Finally, leading in weakness boasts the strength of others.
The more we can build one another up, the better. When we highlight the skills, gifts, and strengths of those we are connected to, we produce better work and build stronger relationships. This is just one more way we can affirm others and who they are!
The simple trick is to be keenly aware of not just what you know but of what you don't know. You are uniquely gifted. You have skills others don't have. You have a perspective unlike any other. All of these hold incredible value in every part of your life. But the same is true of friends, spouses, classmates, and coworkers. Never be afraid to admit you have a weakness or lack knowledge in some area. Embrace it. Then find someone to fill that gap and begin to form the world's most outstanding team.
