The concept of strengths-based leadership has been popular for several years now. The basic idea of a strengths-based approach is that instead of spending time hand wringing over how to improve areas of weakness for you, people you manage, or others on your team, you focus on building up your/their strengths. When I was finally diagnosed with ADHD last Spring, I felt that it was important to get coaching around how to structure my life in a way that’s supportive of how my brain works rather than trying to “fix” the things that are just part of having ADHD. 

I was fortunate enough to work with Rene Brooks, founder of BlackGirlLostKeys, as my ADHD coach. Rene helped me realize how much of my time was spent struggling with tasks that I, simply put, sucked at. By refusing to acknowledge and reshape my work to limit my weaknesses, I didn’t have time to focus on my strengths. So often, when we talk about using a strengths based approach, we rarely discuss acceptance of our weaknesses.

It is so ingrained in us that we shouldn’t talk about what we aren’t good at, unless we’re talking about how we’re going to “fix” or “improve” those qualities. 

One of the products of white supremacy culture is the concept of individualism and “survival of the fittest.” White supremacist ideologies about individualism trick us into believing that we should disconnect from our own humanity–our own innate gifts y challenges–and strive to conform to a particular ideal. This traps us in the false mentality that through hard work, we can succeed as individuals. This belief is undoubtedly created to serve capitalism. And it’s clearly hindering many of us in developing to our full potential, at the detriment to ourselves, our families, and our communities. 

As I continue to unpack my internalized beliefs–that I should dedicate time and energy to “fixing myself” or improving my areas of weakness, rather than moving more deeply into my unique strengths–I’m reminded of the southern African philosophy of ubuntu. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, “Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness… My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.” 

Simply put: I’m able to develop my own unique abilities because I know that my weaknesses are someone else’s strengths. I am not in this alone. 

Nii Armah Sowah, Senior Instructor at CU Boulder and founder of 1000 Voices Project, uses the example of a hand when explaining the concept of ubuntu. He says, “no single finger can lift a thing.” Fingers work together to accomplish a task. Each individual finger has a unique role to fill. 

Before individualism and the nuclear family were accepted as norms, every adult had a different role to play in uplifting the community. Not good or bad. Better or worse. Just different. Interdependence was essential. 

Imagine my job is to gather berries, but I keep bringing back poisonous berries because I’m not good at telling the difference. It would benefit the entire community, including me, for me to have a different role. Instead of exerting energy trying to improve my abilities–extracting time and focus from other community needs–they would instead put someone in that place who can actually tell the difference between edible and poisonous berries. They would put my own inherent gifts into motion to benefit the community. Acknowledging and accepting that weakness would free me up to use my talents and strengths in a way that actually benefits everyone, and also reduces my own shame and anxiety.

Our vision at Center for Health Progress is a future where “Health care systems value humanity and wellness over profit and center the power of historically and systematically oppressed communities.” The work to make that vision a reality is not individual work. If we want to see systemic change, we all have to be in the places we are strongest and that means we have to be honest about our weaknesses as individuals, communities, and organizations. We have to continue to move deeper into our humanity, and our interdependence, in all areas of our lives and our work.