Example Of Devils Advocate Essay

Balancing skills across the four quadrants of the CVF is surely not an easy task. It is quite common for people to show superior performance in one of the quadrants, while lagging behind in the qualities associated with the others. Therefore, specialization and focus on one quadrant may seem like a logical step for many of us. However, there are numerous reasons why it is advisable for a person to leave his/her comfort zone and to work on balancing skills across all quadrants.
Strategies for personal development can be compared to those of companies. While success is strongly linked to the ability to leverage on personal strengths and to overcome weaknesses, it is also connected to adjusting to the current environment, to its opportunities and threats. Thus, one’s skills and expertise are only as good as their fit for the existing tasks and jobs. Therefore, the first reason for broadening own skills is the need to keep up with the market and to adjust to the requirements of the employers in order not to find oneself out of the job market because specific capabilities are no longer demanded.
Secondly, balancing skills across all quadrants can broaden one’s career choice, which is especially important in the beginning of the professional path. Rather than search for a perfect job match for a narrow set of skills, one can significantly widen the opportunities by acquiring additional capabilities across the quadrants.
While a wide range of skills is crucial for any occupation, it is especially important for leadership positions. Managing different tasks and people requires a certain degree of flexibility. Thus, it may be important to create highly formalized procedures for routine operations, while empowering employees to be creative in performing strategic tasks. Moreover, leaders should be able to find approach to all members of his/her team, even if they have a completely different set of skills and working patterns. That is why it is crucial for a manager to expand own capabilities beyond a narrow scope of a particular quadrant and to strive for becoming a well-rounded person.