Introduction

All of us would like to know the secret of great leadership. Well, here's the secret: It depends. It depends on what you are naturally good at, what you are terrible at, and what you decide to develop—those Hidden Skills that are in the middle.

My name is Thuy (pronounced TWEE) Sindell. I've been an executive coach since the late 1990s, and I am also the president of Skyline Group's Coaching Division. I've worked with hundreds of business leaders over the years, and this is my opportunity to share with you the patterns and themes I've observed and the ways I've supported leaders in their growth. I have a no-nonsense style, so you can expect the information in this book to be direct and to get you quickly on your leadership path.

My name is Milo Sindell. Thuy and I work together, have written four books together, and we are happily married. I head Skyline Group's C4X Division, which is our hybrid technology coaching solution, as well as drive the direction and market position of Skyline. I have a passion for helping leaders make an impact on the world. I wrote this book to provide a proven methodology for lifelong learning and professional development to both current and emerging leaders.

We have worked with many companies—from hi-tech companies to insurance companies and everything in between. We have helped employees to increase their effectiveness in various departments and in positions like engineering and sales. Across professions and industries, we have noted certain patterns in human behavior and, more important, consistent processes for identifying and developing the right skills at the right time to get you to your next level. We are talking, of course, about your Hidden Strengths.

Research has shown that effective leaders evolve and grow throughout their careers, whereas failed leaders get stuck in a pattern of overusing their strengths to the point of staleness. Our emphasis on the relationship between constant learning, increasing agility, and long-term leadership success is not new. What is new is our system for creating a growth mind-set, identifying learning opportunities, and setting the stage for your ongoing professional evolution as an aspiring or current leader.

Many leaders and aspiring leaders usually concentrate on trying to leverage their Natural Strengths (the top 20 percent of skills) or minimize their Weaknesses (the bottom 10 percent). Our tendency as humans is to focus on the extremes. We distill things down to what we don't do well and try to fix them, or we rely on what comes easily and lean on our strengths.

Let's use Barbara, a woman we worked with a few years ago, as an example. Barbara believed that if she could only “fix” her weakness of being a poor presenter, she would be a great leader. Great leadership, however, depends on who you are, your environment, and what you are being called upon to achieve. There is no one weakness you need to fix to get there or one formula that works for everyone. Personalized learning is the key. That's why executive coaching is such a fast-growing solution to developing leaders.

What we have found in our executive coaching experience is that the most fertile ground for leadership and professional growth is the 70 percent of skills that fall in the middle of your range. These are your Hidden Strengths; you are not great at them (yet), but you're certainly not failing in those areas either. This is where your Hidden Strengths are hiding out, waiting to be unleashed.

We want to raise people's awareness of their Hidden Strengths. Everyone has them, and everyone can develop them! We know from experience that constantly identifying and developing your Hidden Strengths are the keys to career and leadership development in today's evolving work environment. In this book, we share this highly effective results-oriented approach to leadership.

Imagine if you stayed locked in the belief that what worked well yesterday will work well today—and tomorrow and the day after that. You would eventually figure out that doing what you always do leads to professional stagnation. Alternately, the Hidden Strengths methodology shows you how to tap into and transform underdeveloped skills for ongoing professional development throughout your career.

The first part of this book introduces the concept of Hidden Strengths and explores the immense potential of this middle range of skills as a source for continued growth. The second part is a guide to assessing and getting familiar with your Hidden Strengths, your Natural Strengths, and your Weaknesses. The final part is a road map for determining which of your Hidden Strengths best supports your goals.

One last thing: Hidden Strengths is a book for leaders and aspiring leaders—basically, anybody who is motivated to learn more about themselves and how they can grow in their careers. We see leadership as a mentality. It involves being proactive about how you present yourself to the world whether you're an individual contributor, a middle-level manager, or a CEO.

When leadership is a state of mind, you prime yourself to grow and succeed, no matter your level or position. In other words, leadership development is professional development. And at each stage of your career, identifying and developing your Hidden Strengths are the means to unleashing the crucial leadership skills you already have. There's a gold mine of opportunity in the middle!