What is Your Greatest Weakness?

Examining your weaknesses or failures can be a painful process. I tend to immerse myself in it and rarely do I see beyond the outcome. I merely relive it. Rare is the man who can examine his own short-comings with any measure of competence. Perhaps that is why the question, “What is your greatest weakness?” continues to be a vital part of the interview process. In five words there are two distinct activities required; examination and evaluation.

Knowing your own Achilles’ weakness is one thing, demonstrating how you have overcome the short-coming or minimized its impact is what makes the question important. There are many experts on the art of the interview. They will tell you, when asked this question, “Pick something that is not within the scope of the responsibilities for the position at hand, so as to reduce the likelihood that your self-disclosed weakness will impact the interview.” I say, “Hooey!” I say address the question head-on, let them know you are addressing the question head-on. “…As it relates to this job, I would say that my weakness falls in (name it).” Then address how you plan to overcome that deficiency. They likely already see weakness from your resume, especially when it’s the number of years of experience, lack of professional qualification, PMP, CISSP, etc., which a great many veterans face as they enter the civilian work force.

For me, it’s getting started. I can see sixteen different approaches to the same problem; cascade my way through dozens of permutation, the more I examine the situation the harder it is for me to start. Engaging is always the most difficult hurtle for me to cross. I try to overcome this by applying what I learned as a Staff Officer.

Military Staff Officers face this all the time. Getting approval from higher-authority to engage is very similar to the problem I face in my own head. Staff Officers are taught to get approval to commence an activity by first stating the problem and then providing two or three reasonable Course of Action (COAs). Each with its own Pros and Cons, and when provided without a particular bias, the exercise usually yields a solid plan. I force myself act as my own staff officer, prepare several COAs and then ask myself to make a decision. Better yet, I require myself to make a decision – because I can do that, I am after all, my boss.

Self-appraisal, as I have done by identifying a particular frailty and then assigning it as most or greatest, is also a difficult task and is ripe with bias. By assigning a value to a particular short-coming infers that I have a whole host of weaknesses of which I have measured. Truth is… there are many of I have not evaluated at all. More Truth, my wife would likely share with you a list that I have yet to consider.

There is a resilience and maturity that comes from examining one’s losses and failures that is rarely gained when you are standing at the top of the podium.

The most important thing in life is not to capitalize on your gains. Any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your losses. That requires intelligence; and it makes the difference between a man of sense and a fool.
- William Bolitho

More Hills to Climb

I pause to reflect on this day, one in which a good friend, Lieutenant Scott A. Moore, ends his time in uniform and to be piped-ashore for the last time. It is my hope, as he reaches the top of one hill where he deservedly may pause to reflect on his accomplishments, that he recognize the blessing and be filled with the joy in finding more hills to climb beyond.

Nelson Mandela turned 95 this week. Many around the blogosphere are stopping to pay tribute to his legacy. Here is one of my favorite quotes:

"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended."

Apply this to your own life without comparison. You need not compare your life to Nelson Mandela (or anyone), in order to reflect on your accomplishments and find meaning. His life was chosen for him, yours was chosen specifically for you. A colleague, mentor and friend, Sean Heritage, has a blog “Connecting the Dots” one in which he started here on Blogger. Sean borrowed the title of his blog from a speech by Steve Jobs:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path; and that will make all the difference.” See the full speech here:


With his blog, Sean aims to connect the dots of own his life in order to see the meaning, in doing so he reminds all of us to do the same.

So, be brave – face the hill before you, and climb. When you feel you can go no further, stop and look back. I pray you see just how far you have come and that this will give you the courage and strength to turn back toward the hill and continue on.

Making the Transition

When it comes to making a job transition, especially from the military after a full career, one of the best pieces of advice I received came from a former Commanding Officer of mine, Steve Ashworth. Steve took me to lunch about six month before I was due to retire and proceeded to once again give me Orders. “Don’t decide on a position until you have interviewed at least 20 times.”

I found this hard to fathom, as I hardly expected 20 companies would want to interview me. But his mandate stuck with me during the succession of interviews that came. I thought a lot about what he meant and it soon became clear. After one interview, you will feel like Sally Fields at the Oscars, “They like me, they really like me!” After three you will begin to understand that they all like you, after a dozen you realize the choice is YOURS even more than theirs. By no means should this put you in a position to be cocky and arrogant, rather by making yourself interview for multiple opportunities, especially when they are with different companies (large and small) with different requirements, you will get past the, “Wow they want to interview me” and hopefully arrive at the point where you can objectively evaluate each perspective employer and make the best decision for you and your family.