15 Examples of Strengths and Weaknesses of a Person

The strengths and weaknesses of a person are the set of virtues, powers, capabilities and positive traits, on the one hand, as well as their shortcomings, defects, disabilities and negative traits, on the other. There is no universal scale to measure strengths and weaknesses, but this distinction responds to the specific needs of a situation or context. For example: patience and haste, commitment and selfishness, charisma and antipathy.

Thus, what in a given situation may be a defect or something reprobate, in another may be considered a virtue or an example to follow. It all depends on the framework employed for it.

At corporate languageFor example, this nomenclature is often used to address the advantages and disadvantages of a worker or employee, considering strengths those aspects that contribute to what is expected or even exceed expectations, and weaknesses those that are below the minimum expected.

In general terms, strengths will make the person stand out positively, while weaknesses will produce the opposite effect.

Examples of strengths and weaknesses

1. Honesty (strength) and dishonesty (weakness). Given that trust is a social good common to the various areas of human endeavor, people prone to lies or misrepresentation are usually considered negatively in ordinary conditions, since they jeopardize the trust that can be placed in them.
2. Patience (strength) and haste (weakness). In many human realms, waiting, meticulousness or stubbornness will be necessary, and those who quit easily will be regarded as less. This is one of the most frequent teachings of Zen meditation.
3. Commitment (strength) and selfishness (weakness). These traits are essential when it comes to teamwork or to establish various forms of society, from a football team to a love relationship. Commitment translates into the ability to put the common good before the individual, while selfishness implies the opposite.
4. Courage (strength) and cowardice (weakness). Courage is understood not as the absence of fear (which points more to naivety), but rather the ability to face them and still undertake what is desired. Cowardice, on the other hand, implies the impossibility of facing situations of risk or stress, preferring flight or early resignation.
5. Responsibility (strength) and irresponsibility (weakness). A responsible person is, broadly speaking, the one who takes responsibility for the consequences of his actions and does not allow others to bear them for him. An irresponsible person, on the other hand, is capable of letting an innocent person suffer punishment in order to preserve their well-being.
6. Punctuality (strength) and lateness (weakness). The ability to value other people’s time is a highly valued strength in certain interpersonal or work settings. An unpunctual person may lack the tools to manage their own time, they may be lazy or disorderly, while a punctual person promises, from the outset, the opposite.
7. Organization (strength) and disorder (weakness). Especially in the various systems of work or collective construction, the capacity for personal organization and even collective organization is a precious strength, since it outlines highly necessary administrative capacities in a closed system. Clutter, on the other hand, is usually more creative but, at the same time, more uncontrollable and considerably less predictable.
8. Creativity (strength) and flat thinking (weakness). Creativity is a spontaneous and natural gift of the human being, which allows him to approach various situations of need or challenge in original and unsuspected ways. A good dose of creativity can be the definitive push forward, while a flat-thinking person (flat) must follow the forms and paths previously traced by others.
9. Proactivity (strength) and apathy (weakness). It is about the entrepreneurial capacity of a person, their autonomous energy management and the desire to do things: something essential to take on new challenges and grow. Apathy, on the contrary, tends to numbness and conservatism.
10. Confidence (strength) and doubt (weakness). Confidence and determination are usually rewarded, as attitudes of leadership and vanguard, to the detriment of doubt, since it can be paralyzing. However, in some areas, such as the intellectual one, doubt can be a great strength on the path to excellence.
11. Charisma (strength) and antipathy (weakness). Fundamental in a leader, charisma supposes the ability to spread enthusiasm to those around us and to add them to one’s cause. Antipathy, on the other hand, produces the opposite. A charismatic person enjoys the initial moment in his favor, since he “falls” right from the start.
12. Concentration (strength) and dispersion (weakness). In the productive sphere, concentration is usually rewarded as it yields more immediate results than dispersion, which can be useful in conditions of extreme simultaneity of processes, but usually delays the fulfillment of the tasks to a minimum.
13. Humility (strength) and pride (weakness). This assessment has roots in various moral and even religious imaginary. Pride, as a reflection of inner frailties and insecurities, is a defense mechanism that attacks first the other whose opinion is feared. Humility, on the other hand, points to a form of inner confidence.
14. Respect (strength) and abuse (weakness). The awareness of the forms and considerations in dealing with others not only promotes a similar treatment towards the person from the outset, but also establishes a bond of trust and sympathy that, on the other hand, abuse and its urgencies destroys.
15. Empathy (strength) and indifference (weakness). A great Christian value, empathy supposes the ability to suffer with the other and show compassion in situations of weakness of others. Indifference, on the contrary, can be one of the forms of cruelty or selfishness, since it values ​​its own well-being far above that of others.