Because executives tend to be problem solvers, they typically focus on weaknesses when they want to improve their performance. This approach can be helpful but there is another that can be just as effective: recognizing strengths. A senior manager whom the author interviewed said this about a top person: "If he saw his own strengths and internalized them, a lot of his weaknesses would go away." In this report, the author explains why it is critical to recognize strengths in order to improve performance and why it is often difficult to get that notion across to executives. For practicing managers and those who develop them, this report offers sound but often neglected developmental principles for overcoming weaknesses.

Robert E. Kaplan is founding partner of Kaplan DeVries Inc., a foremost consulting and research firm that specializes in assessment for selection and development. Robert B. Kaiser is president of Kaiser Leadership Solutions and a thought leader with over 150 publications and presentations to his credit.