We all have weaknesses don’t we? John Maxwell encourages leaders to share their weaknesses with their followers/colleagues. Usually they say, “But, John if they know my weaknesses they won’t think I’m the leader I am.” In which John replies, “They already know your weaknesses – they’re just happy you’ve finally figured them out!”
As I said, I’m a student of myself and I’m always looking for ways to improve. I usually find out my weaknesses by asking other people. In fact, I just learned another one from someone last night! I think sometimes we think we’re good at everything don’t we? However, I believe we need a strong dose of reality from people who love and care about us enough to tell us the truth about our strengths and weaknesses.
So here we go:
- Insecurity – I think we’re all insecure to some extent – this has been a tough one to overcome, but I’m doing it!
- Gossiping – I’ve grown a lot in this area – I used to tell everyone everything!
- Over Committing –Not being able to say No (I don’t mean to drugs and things like that haha) I’ve been working hard at saying no to things in the past year
- Lack of Rest – I love sleep – but I feel like I’m missing out on something in life if I sleep over 5-6 hours . . .
- Delegation/Empowering Others- this is one of my greatest leadership weaknesses…I always feel that by delegating and empowering others that I’m bothering them ….thank God I have leaders around me who are lifting my lid in this area!
- Taking time for myself – I hate being by myself! I love being around people! However, I’m realizing the importance of having “Bubba time” and that if I don’t schedule it on purpose – it won’t happen.
- Unnecessary Jokes – Definitely forget to filter things sometimes….
- People Pleaser – I want to make everybody happy…to battle this I constantly have to ask myself if I want to be a leader or a clown.
- Control Freak – Didn’t realize this until this year . . . I’m trying to let go!
- Listening – I’ve recognized that I’m not the greatest listener when I’m talking to people…I’m trying so hard to break this!
- Impatient – I don’t like to wait for things…at all!
- Getting Back to People – I’m not the greatest at calling people back . . .
- Lack of Focus – There are always 10,000,000 things running through my mind at one time so it’s easy for me to try to work on 10 projects at once instead of focusing on one!
- Procrastination – I think we all procrastinate on things we’re not passionate about… for me… it’s school work! haha
- Confrontation – this is another leadership weakness – because I’m so optimistic and love people so much – it’s hard for me to have “hard” conversations with people. This is an area that I must grow in!!!
Now if you know me and you just read these and you’d say – Bubba! You have like 500 more weaknesses you forgot about… don’t leave them all in my comment section! However, I would love your input… so come talk to me about them!
What are some of your weaknesses? Are you willing to admit them and surround yourself with people to help you overcome them?
