One of my strengths is I'm very organized. I have good filing and tracking systems and can find things easily.
As a manager, I frowned on subordinates who had cluttered desks or relaxed ways of organizing things. I pressured them to do things my way. For example, I use a Franklin Organizer. I believed in this system so much I required my entire department to attend their workshop and use the system.
After doing this I sensed some people were uncomfortable with the Franklin Organizer and basically started using it as a calendar and place to store slips of paper and business cards.
The funny thing is that despite using this system the wrong way, these associates were very successful using their own home grown organizational systems--if you can call it that.
What I learned from this is that it's more important to get results and to be effective at what you do instead of how exactly you go about it.
After this experience I gave people more freedom to organize their work space and projects. I learned my organizational strengths actually slowed some people down and cramped their style.
Hope this helps. Best of luck with your interview.
Michael
Jan 10, 2010 Rating
I had this one too. by: Anonymous
While interviewing for my current employer I was asked this same question. At first I was really surprised by it. I took a deep breath and a moment to think. I took my answer from a personal experience. Here is how I answered: I think that one of my strengths is the ability to get many things done in a short time however, while in a chairman position for a volunteer organization I was in charge of a large camping outing. My strength of being able to do many things in a short time period turned into a weakness when I started taking on the responsibilities of the other volunteers as well as my own. To overcome this problem I learned to trust in others to do their part in their own time.
