👣 Step 42: Make Weaknesses Irrelevant

I'm building an app (seriously! I'll keep y'all updated as it progresses), and I've been learning a lot more about the tech startup space.

UI/UX. Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A/B/C funding rounds. APIs and JSON. React Native, Netlify, Supabase, Figma, blah blah blah.

I've found where my weaknesses are. I'm very good at:

• Creative thinking (envisioning the app in my head)
• Understanding target market assumptions and needed functionality (what users are looking for and what the app needs to do for them)
• Marketing (creating the story and messaging)

I'm bad at coding. And everything else associated with the technical side of the process. I understand APIs and authentication to a baseline level. But after that, you lose me.

I've found where my weaknesses are. So I'm going to focus on what I'm good at and find someone who is good at what I'm bad at.

In the CliftonStrengths world, this is called the "strengths-based approach."

If you know me, you know I'm an avid CliftonStrengths lover (I facilitate this for Sigma Chi via our Servant Leadership curriculum and even have my Top 10 Talent Themes in my personal email signature). CS teaches a different skill development technique than in the past.

In the past, we learned the conventional approach: identify a weakness and improve it. Once it's adequately improved, identify a new weakness and improve that one. We'd focus on the C in Math and not the A in English. Weakness fixing.

The strengths-based approach is completely different. Identify your strengths and double down on them while managing your weaknesses. Strengths building.

Notice it's "manage your weaknesses" and not "ignore." Your weaknesses are there, but it benefits you far more to focus on your strengths that bring you genuine value/growth and sharpen those instead of getting a weakness up to an acceptable baseline before moving on to the next.

Don Clifton (inventor of CliftonStrengths) has this gem:

You need to know your strengths and weaknesses so you can most effectively invest your time and energy to receive the positive outcome you want.

For my app, this looks like doubling down on strategic thinking, product, and marketing while finding someone who can complement me with design and software development.

For leadership, this can look like finding someone who's great at planning and analyzing while also bringing in a strong strategic thinker, and backing them up with someone who loves to get things done.

That's how you build a team that works best for everyone and allows everyone to shine. Plus, no one puts energy into things they're bad at and just focuses on what they're already good at.

Take this into your personal life and identify your strengths and weaknesses. What are you putting time and energy into, and are those wise investments?

Life's not a school report card.

If you're great at public speaking and bad at flying a plane, don't fly the plane.

Go speak and find a pilot.

See you next Thursday, Steppers.

We will succeed,

Grayson

​graysonstepanek.com​

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Song of the Week:

RockWave EsDeeKid PREVIEW   ​

EsDeeKid came back with an absolute monster of a track. Such a strong evolution of his sound, cleaner mixing, and an absolutely knocking beat. Whenever his next album drops, best bet it'll be on repeat. Highly recommend his album Rebel - he's the first British rapper I've fully clicked with.