In their book entitled Now, Discover Your Strengths, Buckingham and Clifton (2001) note, “We wrote this book to start a revolution, the strengths revolution.” In the introduction, they urge readers to “suspend whatever interest you may have in weakness and instead explore the intricate detail of your strengths.” The StrengthsFinder Profile tool introduced in the book has been widely used within the leadership community. In a previous book, First, Break All The Rules, Buckingham and Clifton (1999) identified 12 questions from hundreds in an extensive gallop poll as the ones that best “define the outcomes of a productive culture and predicted employee turnover, productivity, profitability and customer loyalty.” They recommended asking these questions of employees as part of a manager’s performance evaluation. Question #3, At work do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? underscores the notion that individuals can perform best if their work allows them to utilize their strengths.
While identifying and using our strengths effectively is highly important, the flip side of the picture is equally important to sustainable career success. We know that if overused or overplayed, strengths can become weaknesses or liabilities. Over the past two decades, Drs. Robert and Joyce Hogan and their colleagues have explored what they refer to as the Dark Side of personality where overplayed strengths can seriously hinder career progression and can potentially derail the success of leaders, particularly those at the executive level. The flip from effective use of strengths to dysfunctional use occurs during times of stress, overwork, fear, fatigue, or pressure. For example, a confident leader might flip from confident to arrogant or from logical to argumentative. Awareness of such tendencies is of high value in assisting leaders to make full use of their strengths and talents without overplaying them.
A number of current personal style assessments identify the shadow or the dark side of personality. The Lumina Spark assessment is a strong tool in identifying how individuals might behave and be perceived when under pressure or stress. In such situations, overextension of strengths may become liabilities. The unique format of Lumina presents results under three circumstances: the underlying persona, the everyday persona and the overextended persona. Awareness of overextension tendencies along with discussion of adaptive strategies, facilitates adjustments in mindset and behaviour to support career success.
Select References
Buckingham, M., & Clifton, D. O. (2001). Now, discover your strengths. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. (1999). First, break all the rules. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Kaiser, R.B., Le Breton, J.M., & Hogan, J. (2015). The dark side of personality and extreme leader behavior. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 64(1), 55-92. Doi: 10.1111/apps.12024
Kaplan, R.E., & Kaiser, R. B. (2013). Fear your strengths: What you are best at could be your biggest problem. San Francisco, CA: Centre for Creative Leadership, Berrett-Koehler Pubs, Inc.
Effron, M. (Ed). (2016). The dark side issue. Talent Quarterly.
Furnham, A. (2016). The elephant in the boardroom. The causes of leadership derailment. Doi: 10.1057/9780230281226. London, UK: Palgrave MacMillan.
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