The Gallup Organization’s groundbreaking book on management, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, says that while the greatest managers have very different styles, there is one crucial insight that they all share:

“People don’t change that much. Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough.

It’s not that great managers ignore weaknesses. But they’re far more interested in helping employees find the right roles and goals to maximize their strengths.

This is good news if you’re a high school student because you don’t have to rely on a manager.

If you much prefer being a participant in the club over being the leader, forget about running for an office just so you can put it on your college application. Instead, find a way to make big contributions in the trenches. Colleges will be impressed with that, too. And you never have to submit a request for manager approval.

If you’re much better at English than you are at math, it’s not a good idea to just blow off all your math classes. But instead of slogging through tutoring to raise your grade in pre calc from a B to an A, why not divert that time to reading more books, writing more poetry, or taking advanced literature classes at a local community college? You’ll achieve more and be happier doing it.

If stepping on a stage lights you up a lot more than stepping on the soccer field ever has, you have the option of trading playing time for stage time.

I’m not suggesting that you should only do what comes easily to you; ambition and work ethic are important. And the Gallup book doesn’t suggest that employees should be complacent.

But strengths can almost always be accentuated far more so than weaknesses can be improved upon. If you’re not in roles that bring your natural strengths to the forefront, make some changes. It’s one of the benefits of managing yourself.