Everyone has their own natural behavior style. This hard wiring is the result of personal DNA. Ideally, performance is optimized when the job is matched with one’s natural skill set.
Though leaders should strive to fit jobs and direct reports’ skill sets, rarely is there a perfect match for a person and a job. Most people are required to adapt their natural skills to those required in the job. However, those people with a more developed critical thinking or problem solving aptitude are better able to adapt their natural skills for short periods of time to accomplish the job at hand.
When evaluating talent or considering job fit, leaders should pay particular attention to critical thinking skills and aptitude. An increased critical thinking ability provides much more job flexibility and likelihood for success, especially when the tasks within one job set are quite diverse.
Empowered leaders evaluate their direct reports’ critical thinking skills and have more successful performers.