Leadership Development Requires More Than Understanding Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Part One: What Must Come Before Behavior Change

Consider This...

A leader steps into a larger role and immediately begins looking for ways to improve.

They:

• read leadership books,
• attend workshops,
• and ask for feedback.

They identify areas where they need to become:

• more decisive,
• more strategic,
• more comfortable with conflict,
• or better at delegation.

They have the right mindset—they genuinely want to grow.

That's a great place to start.

What may be missing isn't the desire to grow, but an effective system for development.

Before deciding what to develop, we should begin with a deeper question—one we don't often stop to ask.

What does it actually mean to develop—and what must be in place before that development can occur?

Because how we answer that question fundamentally changes how we approach leadership development.

Beyond Strengths and Weaknesses

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Gretchen Gavett encourages leaders to think more strategically about their development. Rather than trying to improve everything, she suggests identifying where to invest development efforts by:

• leveraging strengths,
• addressing critical weaknesses,
• and exploring untapped potential.

One idea that resonated with us was:

"Untapped potential refers to opportunities you have not yet explored because you have been highly effective at leveraging existing strengths."

We agree with this perspective.

In fact, it begins to answer our original question:

What does it actually mean to develop?

Great leaders are intentional about where they invest their development efforts.

But before deciding what to develop, they must first understand how development actually occurs.

Development Begins by Defining Success

Leadership development does not begin with changing behavior.
It begins with defining success.

As leaders take on new responsibilities, their definition of success often needs to evolve.

A frontline leader may define success as:

• solving daily problems,
• ensuring work gets completed,
• and helping the team execute effectively.

An executive leader thinks differently. Success becomes less about solving today's problems and more about:

• creating clarity,
• developing leaders,
• thinking strategically,
• and building systems that allow others to succeed.

Until success is clearly defined, it's difficult to know why development is necessary.

More importantly, a clear definition of success gives leaders a target to intentionally aim toward.

For example, a leader may recognize the need to improve communication skills. But, simply telling yourself to "communicate better" rarely creates lasting change.

1. More often than not, it creates frustration because you unintentionally begin trying to change who you are instead of understanding how each situation my require you to adapt.
2. Without awareness of how you and others communicate—and without a clear definition of what “communicate better” actually looks like in terms of success—there is no real clarity on what it means to communicate better.

When success is clearly defined, you have a stronger reason to develop. If your definition of success requires creating tremendous clarity for your team—because it will increase engagement and fulfillment for them while also helping you achieve the results you are trying to achieve more effectively—improving your communication is no longer an abstract behavioral goal. It becomes an intentional effort connected to a meaningful outcome.

(For a deeper look at this concept, read our article Redefine Success.)

Once success is clearly defined...

Awareness becomes one of the essential foundations of development.

Leadership development doesn't begin by asking:
"What behavior should I change?"

It begins by asking:
"How deep is my self-awareness, others-awareness, and situational awareness?"

David Rock's research on attention and the brain reinforces this idea. Where we direct our attention influences the neural pathways we strengthen. The more intentionally leaders observe their thoughts, assumptions, emotions, and behaviors, the more capable they become of interrupting automatic reactions and making intentional choices.

Awareness isn't simply the result of development.
It is one of the essential foundations of development.

Development Isn't About Changing Who You Are