What if everyone around you thrived on creating new ideas, initiating change and forging ahead to greater heights with reckless abandon? To the contrary, what if everyone was complacent and comfortable in the status quo? Can you picture the scene?

My guess is that in the former, everyone would on the verge of cardiac arrest from the chaotic environment, while in the latter, it would be Siesta time, all the time. Neither hypothesis would be very profitable or sustainable in the long term, demonstrating that both skills of leading and managing contribute to the success of any organization.

Simply stated, if everyone leads, no one will manage. If everyone manages, no one will lead. Great leaders know when and how to lead AND manage.

Both leaders and managers are important in their own ways. Without the leadership skills of casting vision and initiating change, forward progress stalls. Without the management skills of implementation and administration, great ideas go nowhere. Great teams have a blend of all types of behavior styles, with each person operating in their strengths for the greater good of the whole.

"To lead or to manage?", that is the question. The answer is "Yes". Know the situation. Know yourself. Know your team. Balance your people knowledge with an understanding of your organizational mission and you'll have a recipe for success!

How do you balance the strengths and weakness of your team? How well do you know your own strengths and weaknesses? What one step will you take today to increase your effectiveness? Share your goals and ideas with us in a comment so we can learn from each other.

All of us are known for something, whether it be for accomplishments, passions or behaviors. One commonality we all share is that most of us want to be known for our strengths rather than our weaknesses.

The tricky part is that any strength overextended becomes a weakness. For example, a dominant director could come across as bossy and egotistical. A fun-loving  communicator might also be known for being a poor listener or for disorganization. A detail-oriented analyzer could be seen as too picky or suffer from "paralysis by analysis". The easy-going stabilizer may spend so much time building consensus that nothing gets done.

For our strengths to help rather than hinder us, it is important to become intimately familiar with them. There are three keys to making the most of our strengths and maximizing our potential. We need to:

1. Know our strengths.
2. Recognize how others might respond to our strengths.
3. Critique our strengths by analyzing how and when they get overextended and manifest as weaknesses.

How familiar are you with your strengths and their impact on others? How do you get "overextended"? Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment so others can learn from you. Self-knowledge is foundational for becoming a person of influence. Get to know yourself better today for a more successful tomorrow.

Coach's Challenge: Make a list of your strengths this week and after each label, identify how the attribute might be perceived in a negative light. What do you need to change?