First, the latest issue of the T. T. Mitchell Consulting Newsletter, Winning At All Costs, is now available.

As I write this post, my wife is at Onondaga Lake State Park on a power walk with her friend. Supposedly, they plan on walking the entire length of the trail 3 times, which is about 12 or 13 miles, which means it could be some time before I see her. The purpose is exercise; she and her friend have set some weight goals, and figure that if they can do these power walks that it will help them in the long run.

However, I see this weight loss thing a different way. I have some goals myself, but how I work on addressing them is much different. My way is to try to get 15 to 30 minutes on the trampoline, do 10 to 20 stomach crunches on the exercise ball, and try to eat smaller portions when I do eat. No, I'm not giving up dessert, but I am cutting down; a man can only do so much. 🙂

There's another reason I'd rather do things my way. I just can't conceive of taking more than 3 hours away to go for a long walk. I'm just not made up that way. I have this yearn to get back to work, or pleasure, on my computer, and, unless I'm engaged in a much different way, walking just won't get it done. Going to dinner with friends, or to the casino to play some poker,... different story.

Let's relate this to our work and our lives in general. We all know some people who can sit down at their desk and go at it for a straight 8 or 9 hours, while someone else works in spurts and needs to take some kind of break every 30 or 45 minutes. We see some people who have piles and piles of paper and files on their desks, and others who can't stand having more than one thing on their desk at a time. And, there are some people who thrive in meetings, whereas others cringe as soon as they hear the word.

Every person has their strengths and tolerances, but sometimes they're not necessarily cognizant of their patterns. The same goes for managers who oversee employees; one of the skills needed for competent management is being able to assess these same two things. I use tolerances rather than weaknesses because I don't believe that everything is cut and dry opposite. Not every work pattern that doesn't conform to the norm indicates weakness.

Can you define what your strengths and weaknesses are? Can you define those of others you work or interact with? If you can, you're a leg up on everyone else.