Mike Prendergast “Stop Fixating on Your Weaknesses..”

Stop Fixating on Your Weaknesses, Build On What You Do Best. 

I just got back from the Vidare Fundraising 25 Conference in Nashville. Thanks to Bill, Dave and the team at Vidare for putting on a great couple of days.  You always want to come away with key takeaways at conferences and this message in particular stuck with me.

John Barrett with John Barrett Leadership shared this powerful thought. I’m paraphrasing here, but John says “Most of us neglect our strengths, wing it, and pour too much time into fixing our weaknesses. The result? You only improve your weakness marginally. And let’s be honest, no one walks into a restaurant and says, ‘Give me an average hamburger.’”

Hmmm. He’s got a point and now I’m also hungry for a good burger…  

When I take my wife, Teresa, to dinner for our anniversary, I take her to a fancy steak restaurant for the prized Prime Rib or T-Bone, not for the hamburger they put on the kids menu.   They are good at making steaks and they continue to perfect it.  I doubt they spend much time working on their burger.   But you don’t see this as a weakness because the steak is so excellent it outshines the slightly better than McDonald’s burger they offer for kids. 

If you want to make real impact, lean into what you’re great at and build on it.

That’s exactly how legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi operated. Barrett told of how Coach Lombardi would review more game film with the team after a win than after a loss. Why? Because the man who the Super Bowl trophy was named after knew that maximizing your strengths covers a multitude of weaknesses.

How much time have we wasted trying to make something we do poorly, mediocre or average at best?  When we could spend that same time making something we do good even greater. 

I’m not saying don’t improve on your weakness, I’m saying pour more into your strengths than you currently do. 

If you’re great at storytelling on air but struggle with making liners sounds meaningful, lean more into story telling.   Continue to learn how to better craft your hook, your story and your payoff.  This will likely lead to ways to make your liners more compelling.   

My strength is analytical assessment, breaking down what a station is doing, understanding why they’re doing it, and finding a better way to do it. I love diving into music rotations and spotting a fresh scenario in my head. A way to revitalize a station’s overall feel without tearing it apart. Same with imaging, how you position your station can make all the difference in reaching your audience.

I spend a lot of time with this and learning more tools and processes to help improve this.  

On the flip side, I’ll be the first to admit I am an incredibly average air talent.  And believe it or not, it’s not because I have a life long stutter.   I actually don’t stutter on air.  It’s weird I know but it’s the same reason why Jason Gray or Mel Tillis do not stutter while singing.  Being on air is performing for me, like singing is for them, and I just don’t stutter.  I’ve simply never been able to be great at being an on air jock.  Average isn’t bad, I can fill in and keep the ship afloat, but if I poured all my time into becoming a slightly above average air talent, where does that get me?  No one sees me and says “he’s an average jock” or “he’s the stutter”, they see me as the long time CCM program director who (hopefully) has led well.

I’ve known plenty of exceptional air talent whose technical boardwork was average or mediocre at best.  But their strength to communicate and deliver the station’s message way outweighed their weakness in running a tight board. 

Sure, it’s wise to work on weaknesses. But if that comes at the expense of sharpening your strengths, it’s time to rethink the approach. If you’re an 8 out of 10 at something and with more focus can become a 10, that beats spending all your energy trying to turn a 3 or 4 into an average 5 or 6.

Your strength will forever outshine your weaknesses.  

Legendary home run hitter Babe Ruth held the home run record from 1921 to 1974.  Even casual observers know who Babe Ruth was and what he was known for, but not many know he also was the all time strikeout leader until passed in 1964 by another legend Mickey Mantle.  The power of his strengths vastly outshined his weakness. 

Here are a few of practical ways to find and strengthen what you are best at:

Invest in Specialized Learning

Instead of spreading yourself thin on every skill, invest in training, workshops, or coaching that enhances what you’re already good at. If you’re a strong communicator, sharpen storytelling or audience engagement techniques. If programming is your thing, deepen your knowledge of music flow, rotations, and imaging.

Study Your Wins, Not Just Your Misses

Like Coach Lombardi watching game film after a win, review your successful shows, promotions, or programming decisions. Analyze why they worked, whether it was timing, tone, creativity, or strategy, and pour into those strengths.

Collaborate with Complementary Strengths

Build partnerships with team members whose strengths fill in your gaps. This lets you stay in your lane and excel, while leaning on others for support in areas where you’re not as gifted. A great team multiplies individual strengths instead of masking weaknesses.

In conclusion, pour into your strengths. Get better at what you’re good at. Improve, refine, and see how far it takes you.

Better to grow from good to great… than from poor to mediocre.

Mike Prendergast has spent 30 years in Dallas/Fort Worth radio including the last 20 years in CCM as Program Director of KLTY.   He is partnering with stations and networks as a programming consultant, fractional program director or music director and has room on his roster for you.    

Reach out to Mike at 214-676-7460 or MPrendergastTX@gmail.com if he can serve your station or network.