Performance Management – Why don’t we play to our strengths?

If we were being really honest with ourselves, we’re probably not fantastic at every part of our job. If we were even more honest, we’ve probably learned to fake it a little – or a lot. It’s quite odd that we willingly subject ourselves to the stress of exerting constant effort to either fix, divert attention from or hide some part of our job performance we feel insecure about.  This is instead of celebrating and growing the parts of our job that we’re really good at. In fact, we are so concerned that we will be busted for doing something wrong in an area we either don’t like or are weak in, that research by author Marcus Buckingham shows that 89% of us think that battling with our vices is our ticket to success.

It’s not as though we don’t have a choice. A staggering 74% of us feel we could adjust our job duties to suit our strengths. Yet we don’t.

Why? I think one of the reasons is because we’re more conditioned to run away from the fear of what might happen if we don’t do well, than we are of embracing and celebrating what’s possible if we fully exploited our strengths. The motivation to avoid criticism is stronger than the motivation to bask in praise and adulation. Imagine what we could achieve in our job performance, our businesses and our lives if we all played to our unique talents and strengths?

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