How to ensure your boss lets you play to your strengths

My boss wants me to take on more of a communications role and thinks it will boost my promotion prospects by counteracting a weakness. But I am not comfortable with the idea. What can I do?

Susy Roberts, executive coach and managing director at Hunter Roberts, a people development consultancy, says:

Your boss's desire to move you to a role you do not want because of a perceived defect is indicative of the obsession many managers have with rectifying shortcomings instead of letting staff play to their strengths. I am all for stretching people, but only in areas where they can genuinely develop. By trying to force you out of your comfort zone, your manager will destroy your confidence more than anything else.

I see too many examples of managers trying to force successful but introverted people into behaving like extroverts, when all this does is demoralise them to the point that they end up becoming sick with stress or anxiety. If, as I suspect is the case, you are more introvert than extrovert, you will sometimes struggle to think on your feet and prefer time to consider and reflect on what you say to people.

You may not relish talking to large groups or being in the limelight - the total opposite of what will be required of you in a communications role.

When we do things we are good at and enjoy, we become more productive, successful and motivated than when we force ourselves to do something with which we struggle. Research by the Corporate Leadership Council, an analysis group, shows an emphasis on strengths in appraisals is linked to a 36 per cent improvement in performance, whereas an emphasis on weaknesses is linked to a 27 per cent decline.

Find out what it is your boss thinks the communications role will do for your career success and discuss other ways of achieving it, more in keeping with your strengths. If they think the communications role will help you create more personal impact, perhaps you can talk about other roles that will stretch you in this direction in a less uncomfortable way. This could involve using your analytical and reflective abilities to produce well-written content that can be shared with others.

Most of all, you need to help your boss understand that the company will gain far more from you if it adopts a strengths-focused approach that allows you to become outstanding at the things you are already good at, instead of just trying to make you competent at tasks that make you feel uneasy.

Send your questions to Janina Conboye at [email protected]

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