What is Your Biggest Weakness? Identify and Conquer

This past December, I was fortunate enough to hear a brilliant woman speak at the Women of the Channel event hosted by The Channel Company. Carla Harris of Morgan Stanley gave one of the most inspiring and empowering keynotes I’ve ever attended.

One of the things she talked about was the need to take risks. If you consider yourself a true leader in this century, you must be able to take chances to show that you’re comfortable with change.

Two common questions posed during most job interviews are “What is your greatest strength?” and “What is your biggest weakness?” It’s probably the millennial in me, but I’ve never had a hard time listing off my strong points. It’s the weaknesses that I have to dig for.

I’ve learned that I likely feel this way because of my lack of experience. You can’t clearly identify your strengths or weaknesses without any professional business experience. In the professional world there are many outside factors that can impact your performance and, unless you’re involved in a similar situation, you won’t know how you will actually respond to a problem, setback or triumph. In other words, a true test of a person is how they react during the bad or difficult times, not when things are going well. Without experiencing some situations, you really don’t know how you’ll react.

It’s been almost three years since my interview at Datto, when I identified my biggest weakness as “rushing to the finish line.” While this is true — and my mother has always told me “Haste makes waste” — my fast-pace work ethic has actually turned into a positive quality. Everything at Datto moves at the speed of light, or what we call Datto-time. I guess I’ve found the right place, where my so-called weakness has become a strength that helps, rather than hinders, my performance.

Now, after almost four years of professional experience, I’ve honestly be able to target my biggest shortfall: adapting to change. I must admit it’s caused me stress in the workplace, whether it’s related to a line of command or new processes. As a result, I’ve become resistant to change. In my personal life, I’ve never been scared of making adjustments. As a matter of fact, I usually embrace it and it has become clear that my professional and personal qualities may not always align.

Going back to the keynote, her ideas about taking risks and embracing change really resonated with me. While listening, I reflected on my own professional experience. I was finally able to recognize that my struggle with change is a true weakness, one that I’m now determined to conquer and capitalize on.

“We have all been pumped full of fear. Fear has no place in your success equation. Fear is false evidence of things appearing as real. It’s not really there. Failure will always bring you a gift — experience.” —Carla Harris, Morgan Stanley

Samantha Ciaccia is a champion of the CompTIA Future Leaders Community and Channel Engagement Manager of Datto Inc.