Boston College
The Well-Practiced Manager
Professional Development
Fall 2010
Resource for
Boston College Managers
and Supervisors
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From the Director:
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Finding New Resources in Strengths
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As we have settled into another
exciting school year, we are all
striving to accomplish more with
the resources we already have.
This can be achieved if we look
at those around us with a new
perspective.
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Judy was hired to manage the
front desk. She has an endearing
charm on the phone but lacks the
organizational skills to keep
the filing cabinet in order.
Tom is assigned to writing
grants. The final proposals are
solid, but he is frequently slow
to complete them, sometimes
missing deadlines altogether.
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Every office has people who have
natural abilities and talents that
allow them to perform exceptionally
well at certain tasks. The key is to
identify those strengths and to help
develop them.
Both through our Employee
Development offerings as well
as career specific professional
development programs there are
many resources available to us
to improve our skill sets. As an
educational institution our goal
is the on-going education and
development of all members of
our community.
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Best wishes for a great year,
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ane
Bernie O’K
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There is another way. Instead of focusing on the
weaknesses of ourselves and our employees, we can
pay more attention to and play up our strengths.
If we figure out the natural talents we and our
employees possess and develop them, we will excel
much faster than trying to fix what is wrong.
Everyone has talents that predispose him or her to
doing well on certain kinds of tasks. Some make great
presentations but flail on phone calls. Others stammer
in front of an audience but are powerful negotiators.
They key is to identify those talents and to figure out
how they can be used within an employee’s current
job description or whether the job description should
be altered.
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Bernie O’Kane
Director, Employee Development
2-3332
okane@bc.edu
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In this issue, we offer tips on how
to identify those strengths in
yourself as well as your employees
and how to use traditional and new
found resources to create a work
environment that is more productive
and more satisfying for everyone.
n situations such as these, the
most obvious response is to
address the problems these
employees are having. Give Judy books
on how to get organized and send Tom
to a time-management seminar.
This would likely improve things somewhat, but it takes
tremendous effort to make even incremental changes in a
natural weakness. Meanwhile, you have lost an opportunity
to tap into potential resources.
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When new projects come up, you may find that
you already have all the resources you need
within the office. These are opportunities to help
employees to grow while accomplishing
more with what you have already available.
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continued
take a different approach
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Identifying
In some cases, our strengths are obvious.
There are parts of our job that come easily
to us and that we enjoy. We may do them
so naturally that we do not recognize them
as talents.
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Often, people naturally choose a career path
that plays off of their talents and strengths.
However, there may be other natural abilities
that have been ignored or undiscovered.
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A talent is a natural
ability or inclination.
It becomes a strength
with knowledge
and practice.
Strengths
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The first step is to be on the look out for
these talents and strengths. Take notice of
what you like to do, whether or not it is
directly related to the job you have. Do you
like to spend time on the phone? Are you
comfortable with long conversations? Do
you like meeting strangers? Are you the one
organizing outings for your friends and family?
Then, do the same for your employees.
What tasks do they do exceptionally well?
Take note when they take on a new type
of assignment. If they did well, did they
enjoy it? What sorts of activities do they do
outside of work? Are they using strengths
that could benefit the office?
This requires being open to redefining what
employees do and allowing them to take on
new roles. It may also mean allowing people
to take a different approach to accomplishing
a task that is more in line with their abilities.
Instead of telling someone how something
has to be done, is it possible to just define
the outcome? Keep in mind that when
people are using their strengths, they will
be happier on the job and perform better.
Weaknesses
Managing
Even if people can be perfectly matched to
a job that utilizes their strengths, there are
areas in which they will struggle. Every role
comes with responsibilities that are not
within an individual’s natural talents. A lot
of time, money and energy may be spent on
trying to fix people’s weaknesses to improve
their performance.
It is not realistic or effective to just ignore
weaknesses. There may be things that you
can do to help employees improve in certain
areas, but rather than wasting efforts on
changing these weaknesses, it is more
effective to manage them. This may require
creative approaches.
Employees could be partnered with someone
who is strong in the area where they are weak.
Perhaps certain tasks could be delegated
to someone who could do them better.
Or, systems could be developed to help
employees do better in those areas while
focusing on their strengths. It requires an
individual approach based on the situation.
In Judy’s case, the filing could be shifted
to someone else and she could be assigned
other tasks more suited to her outgoing
personality.
Employee Development Office
Department of Human Resources
More Hall 315
617.552.8532
employee.development@bc.edu
www.bc.edu/ed
In Tom’s case, it may be a matter of
finding what his strengths are. Is it in
the research, analyzing the grant
requirements or in writing?
Is there a way for him to do
more of what he is good
at while someone else
does those things that
are holding him back?
continued
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Managing Students
Many of us have the opportunity to work with students in various roles.
Like most of us, they concentrate more on fixing what they do poorly rather
than developing the areas in which they do well.
As a manager, you have a unique opportunity to help them tune into what
their talents are and learn how to maximize those areas. All of us have
different styles. The challenge is to recognize the advantages of each
different style.
Talk with students about how they best learn, what their favorite study
methods are, what sorts of activities are they drawn to. This will give you
clues about their natural talents and abilities. When possible, assign them
resources resources resources
to tasks that will utilize those talents and help them develop into strengths.
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As a manager, you have a
unique opportunity to help
them tune into what their
talents are and learn how
to maximize those areas.
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Resources:
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Strengths Based Leadership
By Tom Rath and Barrie Conchie
Gallup Press
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Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps
to Achieve Outstanding Performance
By Marcus Buckingham
Free Press
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