Human Resources: STRENGTHS-BASED LEADER DEVELOPMENT CAN DIMINISH LEADER EFFECTIVENESS

[Greensboro, NC] / MAY 13, 2009 -- It turns out leaders regularly take their strengths too far and are totally unaware of it, according to a February 2009 article in Harvard Business Review. Although the prevailing wisdom in management development says that we should focus on our strengths, authors and researchers Robert E. Kaplan and Robert B. Kaiser recommend that leaders also identify which strengths are overused in a piece titled, “Stop Overdoing Your Strengths.” Kaplan and Kaiser are both with the leadership consulting firm of Kaplan DeVries, Inc.

Kaiser and Kaplan's 10-year study showed that versatility—having a well-stocked repertoire of yin-yang skills, which you neither overdo nor underdo—accounts for half of what separates the most highly regarded leaders from the least well-regarded leaders.

“Most of us can readily see strengths overused in other people—like the direct leader who verges on abrasiveness, the inclusive leader who tries too hard to please everybody, the operational leader who gets lost in the details, and so on. Yet most management feedback tools would simply tell them they rate high on directness, inclusiveness, or operations,” say Kaplan and Kaiser. “They don’t get the warning that they may be practicing a tendency at too high a level. In an unspoken way, the feedback tools of the day promote the idea that more of a skill is always more of a good thing.”

The Harvard Business Review article describes the business costs of strengths overused and suggests ways to determine if leaders are overusing their strengths.

“When coworkers give you the highest rating on a leadership behavior,” say the authors, “this may indicate you’re taking a behavior too far.” They also suggest asking yourself what areas you secretly pride yourself on—these can be clues to blind spots.

The co-authors’ 2006 book, The Versatile Leader (Pfeiffer/Wiley), explains their research and practical advice in depth.

Kaplan DeVries Inc. was awarded a patent for the versatility-based 360 feedback tool, the Leadership Versatility Index, in 2007. This is a highly unusual development in the Human Resource field.

For more information, call Bob Kaplan at 336.288.8200. View or purchase the Harvard Business Review article: http://www.kaplandevries.com/index.php/publications/more/218/.

Background Information:

Kaplan DeVries, Inc. (http://www.kaplandevries.com) provides intensive leadership consulting to CEOs and “C-level” executives, general managers and functional heads. Bob Kaplan and David DeVries, formerly of the Center for Creative Leadership, run the firm. Kaplan DeVries consulting engagements are designed to bootstrap leaders to highly competitive performance levels. The Leadership Versatility Index is hosted by Performance Programs, Inc.

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