Dialing In: A Strategy To Maximize Your Current Job

How many ways are their to be really effective at your job? Probably a lot more than you think. In my work as a manager, I have observed sales people reach the pinnacle of success with quite different strengths and ways of going about their job. This is possible with most jobs including the job of running the country. Let’s consider our first four presidents. Did they have similar strengths that led to similar ways of operating in office? Not at all.

George Washington was the military strategist who projected an image of consistency and stability. He had no great gift as a visionary but his cool even temperament served us well as he united a young country. The second president, John Adams was a phenomenal orator and skilled debater. It was said that he could hold Congress in rapt attention for hours as he waxed on eloquently about his positions on Britain, France and so on. He was at his best when voicing his opposition to a real or perceived foe.

Thomas Jefferson was completely different yet. Unlike the orator Adams, Jefferson hated public speaking. In fact, he hated it so much that he refused to give the traditional State of the Union message to Congress each year. He was a grand strategist that loved sitting at his desk, thinking and writing. He wrote out the State of the Union speech and had his assistant read it.

James Madison was different still. He was a very precise thinker and the consummate networker. He loved roaming the floors of Congress, meeting one on one, collaborating and building alliances to accomplish his goals for the country.

All three could rightly be held up as examples of great presidents. But each understood their strengths and weaknesses proceeding to shape the job around who they were. List any other four great presidents in history and you’ll see much of the same principle at work. Lincoln, the melancholy who suffered great bouts of depression worked quite different than the energetic Theodore Roosevelt.

On October 19, 2009 USA Today ran a similar story about the nine current US Supreme Court Justices. Politics aside, they perform the same job quite differently.  Chief Justice John Robert’s sharp questions come quickly. John Paul Stevens prefers to let his colleagues jump in first. Stephen Breyer is known for his hypothetical questions. Clarence Thomas believes a lawyer should be able to make a case without interruption and thus remains mostly silent. Antonin Scalia is the wise-cracker in the group. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a stickler for precise facts.

Check out our job-shaping links to the right.  Their are a number of resources that will help you think about ways to shape your own job around your unique strengths.