Introduction

Like a gigantic pendulum swinging, there has been a dramatic shift in the world of leadership development. We have moved from a focus on fixing weaknesses all the way over to a focus on building strengths. Without question, it is the most profound change in this realm to occur in the past 50 years. While the idea was talked about by Peter Drucker in 1967, it has only been in the past five years that it has taken hold. We strongly doubt that the pendulum will ever swing back. There is too much good research supporting the fundamentals that underlie this shift in thinking.

The emphasis to date, however, has been on discovering strengths. This is an obvious and extremely logical beginning step. Books have been written about the importance ...

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