Managing yourself is more than making yourself more
organized and focused. You also have to manage your strengths. Why? Because
when you overuse your strengths, you create your biggest problems. You get
yourself in deep doo doo without anyone to blame. It’s all you.

For instance, if one of your strengths is to pursue
quality, you are thorough, taking time to be accurate. You check and recheck,
working slowly and methodically so your outcome is as near to perfect as you
can get it. The problem is that you take so long getting to perfection that you
are seldom timely. So you hear, “Do you ever meet a deadline?” And they are
right.

Or, if your strength is to be motivational, you enjoy
spending time inspiring others by persuading, being humorous and encouraging people
to catch fire. You’re known as the spark plug. The problem is that you can
become a nuisance because your chatting keeps people from working. In fact, you
probably hear, “Do you ever do any work yourself?” And they are right.

You may be task oriented, always striving toward a goal
or result. You are laser-focused and won’t let it go until you accomplish it.
But you become so intent on the task that you aren’t very attentive to your
people. You are accused of being insensitive and demanding, without caring
about others. So you hear, “Do you ever consider your staff’s needs?” They’re
right, you know.

You may be the one who gets along with everyone. You’re
easy to talk to and are approachable and friendly. People seek you out to
complain, tell a story or just to yak. You want to retain your friendly
demeanor, so you allow people to take advantage of you and your time. Rather
than speak up, you inwardly resent them. Do you ever tell people what you
think? Probably not.

Everyone has strengths. Manage them well and they will
serve you well. Just remember that, left unmanaged, they can get you into
trouble also.