Leadership Development Class at Kellogg

Conventional wisdom in leadership development classes is that you should just about always discover and focus on your strengths instead of your weaknesses, assuming they are aligned with the goals of your organization. Because no matter how much you work on your weaknesses, chances are you’ll make more progress on the things you’re good at. Not everyone in the leadership community agrees, but in some ways it’s a reasonable approach. And it’s also something we’ve been talking a lot about in my leadership development class this quarter.
One interesting class that some people take at Kellogg is called Leadership Coaching. This course is a unique opportunity for students not only to discuss personal development goals and grow as a leader but also to do that with an experienced coach who facilitates the ten person class. As part of the class, we recently took a test created by Gallup, named Strengths Finder, version 2.0.
Similar to the Meyers Briggs test, the results are intended to tell you more about what you’re good at, so you can untap natural talents you never knew you had, or so you can optimize the ones you already knew about.  Even better is that the test serves as good reminder about how important it is to know your own strengths and weaknesses.
Below are the five strengths the test gave me. And CLICK HERE for a full list of possible strengths on the test.

1. Individualization
2. Achiever
3. Activator
4. Communication
5. WOO (Winning Others Over)

In the end, I enjoyed taking the test, though I probably enjoyed the Meyers Briggs test a little more. Likewise, I also enjoyed getting some of my “Strengths” though I was quite shocked that one or two of the other didn’t show up on the list.

But more important than the test you decide to take and more important than the actual strengths the test gives you, is that you start the process of thinking about them. Because self-reflection is probably the most important leadership trait you can have.

According to Kellogg Professor Harry Kraemer, “If you are not self-reflective, how can you truly know yourself?” writes Kraemer. “If you do not know yourself, how can you lead yourself? If you cannot lead yourself, how can you possibly lead others?”

Friday, May 6th, 2011 Business School, Leadership

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Jeremy C Wilson is a JD-MBA alumni using his site to share information on education, the social enterprise revolution, entrepreneurship, and doing things differently. Feel free to send along questions or comments as you read.

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The contents of this blog are mine personally and do not reflect the views or position of Kellogg, Northwestern Law, the JD-MBA program, or any firm that I work for. I only offer my own perspective on all issues.
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