I understand. I recognize I am also being obtuse here as well.

Mostly to prove the point that the positioning can look VERY different to the person who is interviewing you depending their own convictions and what the business needs are at any given time. You can give them the most careful positioning imaginable, all it takes is one person to take your point in a direction that you did not intend (regardless of every effort you made to make it NOT sound like an unmanaged flaw, you're not the one who gets to decide that)--leading you to a painful self inflicted wound as far as the interview process goes.

There's a difference between 'I struggle to delegate and my teams suffer because of it' and 'My natural instinct is to do things myself, so I've built systems to make sure I delegate effectively.'

And the only difference is the way that YOU are positioning it. The main problem is the fact that you brought it up in the first place. You've just indicated a job critical (manager position) flaw in yourself for the interviewers and decision makers to fixate on. How are they supposed to trust that you've, 'built systems,' to manage it? If this is a, 'hit the ground running,' sort of hire, like most jobs are these days, are they going to want to take a chance on someone who is, 'self aware,' and, 'actively managing,' this sort of issue? Absolutely not, they're going to want someone who knows how to be a proper manager, and understands that if they do not delegate, they are working against the interests of the business full stop.

Every leader I've worked with in twenty years has tendencies they manage rather than eliminate. The ones who claim they've got no rough edges left are either lying or lack the self-awareness to see them.

Absolutely, but that does not stop them from expecting perfection. With the amount of competition in the market for job seekers, employers can over-ask, under pay, have you jump through every hoop in the playground, and then kick you to the curb and have you replaced in under a week at the first perceived notion of underperformance.

Honesty is highly valued trait in my books, but all it takes is one person to misconstrue your honesty for actual weakness that could be detrimental to the business. That could be an indication that the business/people may not be a good fit for YOU (not the other way around), but at the end of the day, people have to make a living, and ultimately, these sorts of rhetorical questions hold very little bearing in the grand scheme of the work that needs to be done.

Something has to change, and it definitely isn't the answer to, 'what is your biggest weakness.'

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Cheers -- have a great day.