Understanding Your Strengths and How Coaching Can Help You Leverage Them

As a CEO sifted through another 80-hour week, she realized her schedule was packed fixing problems – but none of her calendar was devoted to the strategic visioning she excelled at. This scenario is common: senior leaders often feel compelled to “fix” weaknesses while their greatest strengths sit underutilized. In high-stakes executive roles, understanding what you naturally do best isn’t a feel-good exercise – it’s a leadership essential. Studies show that leaders who leverage their core strengths lead more engaged teams and drive better business outcomes . In fact, focusing on strengths can be a far more effective path to improving performance than obsessing over weaknesses .

In this article, we’ll explore why knowing your unique talents matters at the top. You’ll learn how to identify your key strengths, see how other executives unlocked hidden capabilities, and discover how executive coaching can help you leverage those strengths for greater impact. The goal is to provide clear insights – backed by research and real examples – to help you lead with confidence and purpose.

TL;DR

•Great leaders know their strengths and use them – this boosts performance, engagement, and confidence .

•Focusing on strengths (instead of fixating on weaknesses) is proven to accelerate leadership growth and effectiveness.

•Strengths-based coaching helps senior executives identify their top talents, manage blind spots, and apply strengths to real challenges .

•Case examples show how C-level leaders transformed their leadership approach by leaning into what they do best.

•Actionable tips: use assessments (e.g. Gallup CliftonStrengths) to pinpoint strengths, seek feedback, align roles to strengths, and partner with a coach for sustained growth.

Strengths-Based Leadership: From Fixing Weaknesses to Leveraging Talents

For years, leadership development focused on patching up shortcomings – think performance reviews zeroing in on “areas for improvement.” But a paradigm shift is underway. Positive psychology and strengths-based leadership approaches (like Gallup’s CliftonStrengths) argue that maximizing your strengths yields far greater returns than only fixing flaws. Gallup’s research is compelling: when employees use their strengths daily, they are six times more likely to be engaged at work . In other words, people excel when they spend more time doing what they naturally do well.

“A person can perform only from strength. One cannot build performance on weakness.” — Peter Drucker. Senior executives are no exception – trying to be world-class at everything often leads to mediocrity (and burnout), whereas doubling down on your authentic strengths can elevate your leadership from good to great.

Case in point: A technology VP always struggled with public speaking and poured countless hours into Toastmasters. Yet his real superpower was innovative problem-solving – a strength that was getting minimal attention. After a candid conversation with an executive coach, he shifted focus. He delegated more presentation duties and carved out weekly “innovation sessions” to tackle complex product challenges. The result? His team’s product breakthroughs accelerated, and his renewed energy was palpable across the organization. By leveraging a natural talent instead of fixating on a weakness, he delivered bigger results and felt more in his element as a leader.

Insight: Embracing a strengths-based mindset doesn’t mean you ignore weaknesses. It means leading with your strengths while managing weaknesses so they don’t derail you. A seasoned executive coach can help balance both – mitigating critical skill gaps and honing the gifts that set you apart. In fact, many executive coaching programs use assessments to illuminate a leader’s strengths and development areas , ensuring a well-rounded growth plan.

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
— John Wooden.

This wisdom rings true in the C-suite. Instead of over-focusing on what you lack, identify what you uniquely contribute. Then make those strengths the cornerstone of your leadership style.

Actionable Advice: Pause and list your top 3 leadership strengths – the talents that have fueled your success (e.g. strategic thinking, empathy, decisiveness). Ask yourself: Am I using these enough in my current role? This reflection is the first step to realigning your time and priorities to play to your strengths.

Identifying Your Unique Strengths (and Blind Spots)

Knowing your strengths sounds straightforward, yet many executives have blind spots about their own talents. High achievers can be surprisingly unaware of their superpowers if feedback is scarce or people assume “you already know.” An executive coach acts as an objective mirror, using tools and insights to help you truly see yourself. For example, 360-degree assessments – gathering input from peers, direct reports, and bosses – often reveal strengths leaders didn’t realize were so distinctive. (Tandem’s Leadership Development Program uses a 360° assessment to pinpoint each leader’s strengths and growth areas .)

Formal assessments like Gallup CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder) or personality profiles can also provide an “aha!” moment. A finance executive might discover her top strength is “Relator” – indicating an exceptional ability to build trust – which explains why cross-functional teams always gel under her guidance. Armed with that knowledge, she can lean into relationship-building as a strategic asset. Many coaching engagements start with such assessment tools to give leaders concrete language for their talents. In fact, using assessments to gain clarity on your strengths and weaknesses is fundamental for growth .

Yet identification is only half the battle. The other half is awareness of how those strengths show up – and potentially overplay. Harvard Business Review notes that sometimes a leader’s greatest strength can become a liability if overused . For instance, if your strength is decisiveness, in overdrive it may come across as autocratic; if it’s empathy, overdone it might slow tough decisions. A skilled coach will not only highlight your talents but also flag when the volume might need adjusting. As one Tandem coach put it, increased self-awareness means recognizing your strengths and your blind spots or triggers .

Case Example: A COO prided herself on her analytical mind (indeed a strength). But colleagues shared anonymously that her insistence on perfection was delaying execution. Through coaching, she saw the link: her analytical strength had morphed into overanalysis. By learning to dial it back – setting clear decision criteria and deadlines – she retained the benefit of thoughtful analysis without paralyzing her team. The experience taught her that even strengths need calibration.

Actionable Advice: To identify your own strengths, start by soliciting input. Ask 5 trusted colleagues, “What do you see as my biggest strengths as a leader?” You might be surprised by patterns in their answers. Also consider taking a well-regarded strengths assessment to get a data point. Write down your top 5 strengths from these sources. Then reflect: how do these strengths manifest in my day-to-day work? Do any ever go into overdrive? This exercise builds the self-awareness needed to leverage strengths wisely.

Leveraging Strengths for High Performance Leadership

Recognition of a strength is empowering – but the real leadership magic happens when you apply those strengths intentionally to achieve goals. High-performing executives align their work and teams to capitalize on what they do best. In practice, this can mean redesigning your role or habits to spend more time in your strength zone. Research shows that building on strengths improves not only individual performance but also team output and overall organizational success . When leaders make strengths usage a priority, they create a ripple effect of engagement and excellence across their teams.

Consider an executive who is a visionary innovator but has a weakness in day-to-day execution. If she continues burying herself in project management (because it needs to be “fixed”), the company misses out on game-changing ideas only she can see. By contrast, if she reallocates her time – delegating execution details and doubling down on innovation strategy – the company gains new revenue streams and she stays energized. As Forbes puts it, investing in strengths-based development amplifies existing talents and can “ensure organization-wide success” . In other words, when you lead from your strengths, everyone wins.

Case Example: The CEO of a mid-size firm realized his top strength was connecting dots between industry trends and company strategy. However, his weeks were consumed by operational meetings. Working with a coach, he restructured his schedule: handing off some operations oversight to a COO and setting aside weekly “white space” for big-picture thinking. He also began hosting quarterly innovation forums, where he could use his connector strength to spark cross-departmental ideas. Within six months, employee engagement climbed and two new strategic initiatives launched – both outcomes of the CEO actively leveraging his core strengths. His board noticed the change, commenting that he seemed “more visionary and proactive” than ever.

Another often overlooked aspect of leveraging strengths is complementing your weaknesses. Savvy leaders surround themselves with team members who shine where they themselves are weaker. Rather than feeling insecure about those gaps, top executives treat it as smart strategy – they lead with their strengths and let others lead with theirs. As one leader famously quipped, the secret is to “hire people better than you and then get out of their way.” By creating a complementary team, you free yourself to focus on where you add the most value. The best executives spend the majority of their time in their sweet spot and orchestrate their team to cover the rest.

Actionable Advice: Take a look at your calendar or to-do list for the past month. Mark each item with an “S” if it was a task that taps one of your top strengths, and a “W” if it was an area of weakness or energy drain. What’s the ratio of S to W? If the balance is off, proactively adjust. Delegate or defer where possible on the “W” items – this isn’t shirking duty, it’s ensuring high-value focus. Then make a concrete plan to use a key strength more: volunteer for a project that needs that talent, or redesign a routine task to approach it using your strength. Small shifts can significantly boost your impact and job satisfaction.

Coaching as a Catalyst to Leverage Strengths

Even self-aware leaders benefit from a partner in their corner. This is where executive coaching becomes incredibly valuable – it’s like rocket fuel for strengths development. A seasoned coach provides a confidential space to dig into what truly sets you apart, and to strategize how to deploy those strengths in your toughest challenges. Unlike a mentor or boss, a coach is an unbiased collaborator dedicated to your growth. They can objectively identify patterns in your leadership, call out untapped strengths you might take for granted, and hold you accountable to using them.

“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance.”
— John Whitmore.

Great coaches do exactly that – they help you unlock more of your potential by leveraging who you already are at your best. For instance, strengths-based coaching builds on what you do well, which boosts your confidence and resilience as you tackle growth areas. One burned-out executive was skeptical about coaching until his coach highlighted a core strength he’d lost sight of – his creativity. By weaving creative thinking exercises into their sessions, the coach reignited his passion for problem-solving and helped him channel it to address a major business issue. The executive not only solved the problem innovatively, but also felt re-energized in his role .

Coaching also provides structured action plans. It’s not just talk – a good coach will work with you to create a concrete development roadmap that leverages your strengths for your goals . At Tandem Coaching, for example, clients co-create a “leadership blueprint” with their coach that explicitly ties their goals to their key strengths . This ensures the plan is motivating and authentic to the leader. Coaches then help break big goals into actionable steps and practice new behaviors in real scenarios. Along the way, they serve as a sounding board and accountability partner. That means you’re far more likely to follow through on changes than if you attempted it solo.

Finally, coaching combats the isolation that often comes with senior roles. CEOs and VPs don’t always get honest feedback from within their organization. A coach, however, will tell it like it is – providing an outside perspective to help you see yourself clearly . Maybe you didn’t notice that you light up when solving people problems (hinting at a strength in empathy or mentoring), or that you’re at your persuasive best in one-on-one settings versus big presentations. These insights can be game-changing. With greater clarity, you can double down on approaches that work for you and avoid scenarios that don’t.

Case Example: A CFO I worked with was highly analytical and detail-oriented – excellent traits for a finance chief, but he worried that he lacked the “charisma” of some peers. Through coaching conversations, it became clear that his quiet, thoughtful style was actually a strength that inspired trust. We reframed his narrative: instead of trying to be a rah-rah cheerleader at town halls (which wasn’t him), he leveraged his authenticity and preparation. He started holding intimate roundtable discussions with small groups of employees, where he used active listening and thoughtful answers to connect. Employees reported feeling heard and confident in leadership as a result. The CFO’s self-doubt faded as he saw that leaning into his natural style worked far better than mimicking a flashier persona. Coaching helped him refine a strategy that leveraged who he was – and the organization was better for it.

Actionable Advice: If you haven’t already, consider engaging with a qualified executive coach (or mentor) to accelerate your development. Many top leaders credit their coach as a critical factor in their success. In fact, 78% of senior executives in one global survey reported that they highly value coaching’s impact . In your first coaching session, specifically ask to explore your strengths and how to best apply them to your current objectives. Come prepared with one or two challenges where you suspect a different approach – one tapping into a buried strength – might yield a better outcome. The fresh perspective could be the key to a breakthrough.

Conclusion

Understanding and leveraging your strengths isn’t a “nice-to-have” – it’s a power move for any executive looking to lead effectively and sustainably. When you operate in alignment with your natural talents, you amplify your impact, inspire your teams, and often find more enjoyment in the hard work of leadership. We’ve discussed how identifying your unique strengths (and blind spots), focusing your role around those strengths, and utilizing coaching as a catalyst can transform your leadership effectiveness.

Now, it’s time to turn insight into action. Take a moment to reflect: What are my top strengths, and how can I lead with them more fully this quarter? Jot down one specific way you will apply a strength in your next major decision or project. Small changes accumulate into significant growth.

Remember, even the best athletes have coaches – not because they’re weak, but because they want to maximize their strengths and reach their highest potential. The same is true for leaders. With the help of executive coaching and a strengths-focused approach, you can elevate your leadership from competent to truly outstanding. It’s an investment in yourself that pays dividends in every direction – your organization, your team, and your own fulfillment as a leader.

Consider how an executive coach might partner with you in this journey of leveraging your strengths. Many C-level and senior leaders find that having a dedicated coach helps them stay accountable, gain new insights, and continuously grow. By leveraging your strengths with intention – and maybe a bit of expert guidance – you set the stage for your next level of success as a leader.