General Lee was an alcoholic, Abraham Lincoln was a racist, and Winston Churchill was both.
In spite of their flaws, the genius of these men in terms of leadership or military strategy is unquestionable.
Sadly in the commercial world, most firms have yet to learn the following lesson…
Interviews, assessments, and a plethora of other tests, all exist to find the hidden weakness which will stop the candidate performing. Of course, if it works, we end up recruiting a team made up of those without noticeable weakness.
The trouble is, that a lack of weakness only produces mediocrity. Strength is distinct, and is completely unrelated to a lack of weakness.
So do you, or your hiring people, currently focus on strength or a lack of weakness?
What is the one key skill for your role where immense strength will make a huge difference for your team?
When playing to strengths, weakness is only even relevant when it hampers the deployment of that available strength.
Thought provoking as always. Points worth considering for recruitment in general.
Very interesting, hadn’t previously thought that way.
Winston Churchill famously said that he hated taking two bites of a sandwich to know what was in it. Unfortunately, recruitment is like an underfilled sandwich, and it can take several bites to get to the filling. People do not wish to show or admit to weakness, in any form and would rather flounder about trying to answer rather than admit that either they do not know or have no experience. Put your candidate at ease, explain what you are looking for and find that foundation you can build on to develop a great employee.
Interesting but in terms of throwing around late 20th century terms such a “racist” I’m struggling to see how racism is a flaw when dealing with Generals or war leaders. Additionally there is no reference as to how Lincoln could have been a racist or indeed Churchill. This entry a bit of a disappointment .
How very true !
I always wondered why management banged on about the things you were no good at and missed the bit you did well – just observe the personal development programme !.
If you summing up the course tell them success will be a full diary .
Because– if you don’t swing the bat you will never hit the ball