At What Are You Awesome?

I'm not a manager. Far from it. In fact, I don't really have any authority over, well, anyone at work except maybe vendors. I suspect that our summer part-time help is probably higher up the org chart than I am. But I digress...

But I was thinking today about my performance evaluation, which was two weeks ago. On the written self-evaluation, one of the questions asks you to list your weaknesses and what measurable goals you can make to show that you are growing. Or something like that.

It strikes me as completely ridiculous to focus only on one's weaknesses and shortfalls, which is primarily what performance evaluations tend to be. And job interviews, sometimes. When I was interviewing at Germania (and a couple of other places, as well), one of the questions I was asked was "what would you say is your greatest weakness." What a bullshit question. How in the world does that really tell you anything about the candidate, other than to see how well they can lie to your face? There's no way I'm going to go into a job interview and tell them that I hate working on sunny days or pretty much any day in October. I'm not going to tell them that I have a bad habit of getting sidetracked (much like this post has) when I'm working on something because I found something more interesting to do. No way I'm going to mention my habit of procrastination. And I'm sure not telling them about that wet underwear contest in Juarez.

And that got me thinking about what I would do if I were a manager and had the ability to hire and fire. How would I do things differently?

For starters, the very first question I would ask in an interview is "at what are you awesome?" Who cares what you suck at? I'll find out soon enough if you suck at something. I want to know what you love to do. I want to know what drives you. I want to know what you consider your absolute best skills to be. Now that's valuable information. That will tell me if you fit on our team and where. It will tell me how passionate you are about what you do. And it's a great way to start a real dialogue about the job you're applying for, instead of just reading talking points off of some worksheet.

My answer is: "I'm awesome at looking at things at a slightly different perspective than anyone else. I'm also good at seeing something in my head and making it real - whether that means on paper or on a computer screen. I'm good at Photoshop. And I have awesome opinions."

And I'm proud of my opinions, which is something most people seem to have a difficult time saying. Most people run from their opinions. I embrace mine. In the creative field, your opinions are the only thing you have. They are the basis of creative decision. If you hate a color - embrace it. If you love a typeface - embrace that, too. Not everyone will agree with you, but that's also good. If everyone agreed the world would be a pretty boring place.

So embrace your awesomeness. Own it. Love it. Know what your weaknesses are, but don't dwell on them. Learn to overcome them, if you can, but take your strengths and make them strengthier. It's not arrogance. It's good marketing.