Author: 
Tracy Golden, PhD
Assistant Professor of Social Work, Utah Valley University
Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, started her company with
$5000. and a frustration about panty lines showing through white pants. That was over ten years ago. Today, Blakely is the youngest woman to make
the Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires on her own, with no help from an
inheritance or a husband. Her advice? “Hire your weakness.”
As an early career professional in the field of disabilities,
you may wonder why I would choose Sara Blakely’s story as an opener. It’s simple – she was successful,
extraordinarily so. And if we want to be extraordinarily successful
we can learn from people who do things well even if our ideals, mission
statements and bottom lines are as different from Sara’s as AUCD’s are from
General Motors. Sara (and countless
leaders before her) knew something many of us are loathe to admit: as leaders, none of us will ever be complete. If we are visionaries, we often overlook
details. If we are task masters, we
forget the simple power of encouraging words.
If we are passionate, we might burn out before projects are done. All of us shine, but none of us shines
perfectly. We all need to complement
ourselves with people who can do certain things better than we can. As an early career professional, instead of
fighting this idea, embrace it. You will
save yourself countless heartaches and mediocre projects.
It is almost un-American to suggest that we should look
around to find others who complement us rather than dedicating ourselves to
lifelong self-improvement. Americans
are by nature “do-it-your-selfers”. But by the time we have found ourselves in
positions of leadership early in our careers, it is likely we are well aware of
what we do well, and what we do not do so well. Rather than turning to the next leadership
training course or New York times bestseller on the habits of amazing people, you can become better and more effective much
more easily and quickly by shifting your thinking and finding people who
already are better than you at certain things.
Do not fear that they will replace you, for they have weaknesses,
too. They need you just as much as you
need them.
As a leader, take stock of yourself. Analyze your assets and liabilities and begin
to fill in the gaps with capable others.
If you are yin, find yang. If you
are meat, find potatoes. If you are sun,
find rain. Whether
you collaborate, share a leadership position, or divvy up responsibilities along
traditional lines of hierarchy, figure out what you cannot do, and find someone
else that can. When you join forces, you
just might become unstoppable.
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