1. How to Magnify the Impact of Your Strengths » 16 Competencies Guaranteed to Deliver Results when you combine the right competencies, they have a very powerful effect on leadership effectiveness ... John H. Zenger is the CEO, Joseph R. Folkman is the president, and Scott K. Edinger is the executive vice president of Zenger Folkman, a leadership development consultancy. They are the authors of The Inspiring Leader (McGraw-Hill, 2009). Source: http://hbr.org/2011/10/making-yourself-indispensable/ar/1 http://zengerfolkman.wordpress.com/2011/09/

2. "A person can perform only from strength," wrote Peter Drucker. "One cannot build performance on weaknesses." Yet improving one's strengths is less straightforward than fixing one's weaknesses. Doing more of what you already do well will only lead to incremental improvement. A better approach is to improve skills that complement that core strength. How do you identify those skills? John H. Zenger, Joseph Folkman, and Scott K. Edinger studied 250,000 360-degree surveys of 30,000 leaders to identify skill combinations that result in higher performance. In this slideshow, we'll look at seven core strengths and their complementary skill sets.

3. In sports, cross-training creates an interaction effect – two activities combine to produce an improvement in performance greater than either activity could have produced on its own. This approach to leadership development is similar. Take the core strength "driving for results." As you examine the list of complementary skills, you'll see some things you already do well and some that need improvement. Upgrade your overall ability by focusing on the latter.

4. What about a broad but essential core strength like integrity? While at first it might seem tough to just "be more honest," (assuming you already think of yourself as honest) the cross-training approach provides a practical path forward. For instance, if you're an honest person who lacks assertiveness, you may not have the necessary influence over others' behavior.

5. Similarly, an innovative person who wants to be even more innovative should choose a complementary skill to work on, rather than just doing even more of what they're already doing. Solicit feedback from your manager and your peers about which complementary skill you should focus on; people are notoriously bad at evaluating their own strengths.

6. When choosing an area to develop, make sure it's something that's important to the organization and that you'll enjoy working on. If you're exhausted, rather than energized, by the prospect of tackling a certain skill, just look for a different one to focus on. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up to fail.

7. Unsure how to get started developing your chosen skill? Ask colleagues with abilities you admire for advice. Most people are flattered to be asked and enjoy sharing their wisdom.

8. You should start to see improvement in as little as one or two months. If you don't, the approach you've been trying isn't working. That's fine; just take a step back, re-evaluate, and try a different method of improving that skill. Don't give up — keep working on it and getting feedback from your colleagues.

9. The most effective leaders have four core strengths, according to the research by Zenger, Folkman, and Edinger. But don't assume this means you have to be well-rounded; in fact, it's okay to have some weaknesses as long as you have a core strength that is truly outstanding. Once you've mastered one complementary skill, repeat this process with another. Keep working on the same core strength until it's the best it can be.