Conclusion
SIMPLY KNOWING about Executive Skills strengths and weaknesses in yourself and others is useful only if you do something about it. If you’ve read this entire book (if you’re strong in Sustained Attention, it would have been easier; if you’re weak in Task Initiation, it was likely a while before you started and got to this chapter), you understand strengths and weaknesses and how they’re found in successful people in all types of jobs, departments, and industries. You can tell where they are.
Executive Skills are a real thing, not a theory or speculation about how people might behave when executing or performing certain tasks. Once you come to terms with this fact, it becomes easier to understand and anticipate behaviors in work situations. Linking your new knowledge to the strengths of high performers based on where they work and what they do becomes a powerful tool for personal planning and for jobs and career moves.
For example, you’re in a good situation if you determine that one or more of your top three strengths is among those most required for the job you have. On the other hand, if you’re in a position that not only doesn’t play to your strengths, but also plays to your weakest Executive Skills, you’re in a situation where you have many effortful tasks and, hence, may not be in the best situation.
It’s obviously not practical to leave your job right away just because your strengths don’t match the job. However, there are specific steps you can take to ensure that going forward you end up with more goodness-of-fit situations and fewer effortful task situations for yourself. There are steps you can take on the road to high performance.
Determine your strengths and weaknesses. The first thing is to measure your own strengths and weaknesses. The results are neither good nor bad, since everyone has Executive Skills strengths and weaknesses. It’s knowing what they are that gives you the insight on how to best leverage what you’re likely to be good at. What are your two or three strongest skills and your two or three weakest?
Assess strengths and weaknesses required for your current job. Take a look at the requirements of your current position to determine which Executive Skills are most needed on a regular basis. Do things need to get started right away? That would mean Task Initiation is most needed. Do things constantly change and require readjustment throughout your day? That would be Flexibility. Is the end game what you are really judged on? That would be Goal-Directed Persistence. Look at the behavior needed and match that to the appropriate Executive Skill.
Measure those around you. By identifying high performers in the area in which you work, you can get an idea of likely strengths needed. Is someone with a similar function performing much better than you, and if so, what are the Executive Skills that go with that performance? You can see if these are the same or different strengths from the ones you have. You can do this the other way as well. If you’re a high performer and people around you with similar job functions are not, they probably have a different set of strengths than you.
Determine your current fit. Once you can tell who the high performers are, of which you may be one, you can see how you fit in the entire situation. This gives you a benchmark and shows the strengths of high performance in context in relation to yourself. For example, you can tell if there are few high performers and if their strengths are the same. How do your strengths match in your current role as well as your potential next role, such as in the next logical assignment or promotion?
Determine potential fits. Observe the behaviors of high performers in areas you seek to move to, whether in a different department or as part of the next logical career move, perhaps a promotion. Determine where your strengths most come into play. Use the tables in this book to see where your strengths are a likely fit and strive toward those positions. This approach can also help you avoid moving to a position that’s a mismatch between your strengths and those required for the job.
Suggest to others what you re good at. Promote to others the behaviors that play to your strengths because others may not be familiar with Executive Skills or recognize the inherent strengths you bring to the table. If you’re strong in Time Management, offer to manage the time aspects of a meeting or project. This will be easy for you. It’s okay to say, “I’m pretty good at managing time, so why don’t I take a crack at determining how long this will take?” Those weak in Time Management will appreciate this. If you’re strong in Task Initiation, suggest that you take the lead in starting a project after a meeting or taking the first steps in a team situation. That will be very natural for you.
Make the right move at the right time. Watch for upcoming openings that you know play to your strengths. You can use the tables in the book to match where you’re likely to be a high performer as well as your own observations within your organization. By identifying your potential best fits in advance, you can better plan and focus on next moves, whether internal or external. If, for whatever reason, you’re not working, this knowledge can provide you with a potential career switch to something that’s a perfect fit with your Executive Skills.
Our intent is for this knowledge to help you throughout your work life, from day-to-day interactions with others to long-term career planning. And if you manage others, it should help you determine the right person for the right seat when one becomes open. We hope this book, by looking at where certain Executive Skills are found in successful businesspeople at all levels, can help you work your strengths on your own personal road to high performance.