Strengths at Work
Long fascinated with Buckingham and Rath’s work on strengths, I got to attend a local coach group of organizational development folks. The topic was using StrengthsFinder 2.0 for leadership development. Wake Forest shared their experience with the group of having their leadership take the Gallup assessment as millions of others have done and then identifying everyone’s top strengths on a large grid.
It’s interesting to see a composite of a group when you have 34 different themes or strengths available. You can see if there are any similarities or commonalities in this profession.
I’d like to take it further though.
The concept, as Rath so vividly states, it that from the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to our shortcomings than we do our strengths. From grade school report cards (didn’t your parents want you to bring up your lowest grade?) to required courses in college you HAD to pass in order to get your degree ( even if the subject was so foreign to you) to performance reviews at work that focus on “development plans”, we have all experienced the joy of having to improve in areas we’re just not that passionate about. Even Einstein was labeled a poor student because of his shortcomings! What about what we are good at along with our passion too? Why take the road of most resistance?
The key to human development is building on who you already are!
I have VISION. What if we did focus on everyone’s genius and gave them a chance to use that talent often? What would happen then? Join me as I explore this topic and please do comment. I want to hear all you have to say about this approach!!
What are strengths ?
Let me explain the differences in terms. Talents come naturally, but strengths are earned.:
- A strength is the ability to have near perfect performance in a specific task to produce a positive outcome over and over again. At work, it can be the ability to consistently recommend the perfect products and services for a customer’s needs-that is a strength! At home, it can be the ability to always meet your family’s grocery needs on a tight budget.
A strength is made up of the following:
- Skills: your basic ability to perform the steps of a task. We aren’t born with them; we acquire them through formal or informal training and practice.
- Knowledge: What you know. Again, knowledge doesn’t naturally exist within us; we acquire it through formal or informal education.
- Talents: The ways we naturally think, feel, and behave. Talents must come into existence naturally and cannot be acquired like skills and knowledge. We all have unique talents within us.
Your most powerful talents represent the best of your natural self and are your best opportunity to perform at levels of excellence through strength. You have dominant talents which are always at play and you have supporting talents when their support is needed, although they aren’t as powerful. Your lesser talents seldom contribute to strength.
You can take the Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment by buying the book, $11 at Amazon, and using the code at the back of the book for the online assessment. Also keep in mind your yearnings (from childhood on that lead you to a particular activity or environment time and time again), rapid learning (that spark that comes when you’re in a new challenge or environment), satisfaction (the psychological fulfillment that results when you engage your talent and get energized),timelessness (“flow” state where you lose track of time because you are engaged at a deep, natural level), and glimpses of excellence (flashes of outstanding performance).
If you’ve ever worked with a coach, you may have been asked to recall these times in order to figure out your life purpose. They are important clues to your greatest talents and potential for strength.
What is next? Are you IN?
If you’ve been wondering how to harness the power of strengths in your business or personally, let me know your interest.
On an individual basis, self awareness is a powerful cornerstone for growth. Coaches can help you on this journey.
In business, imagine how strengths can provide you with a huge competitive advantage. When employees get to use more of their strengths, they are more engaged, productive and easier to retain. It’s a win-win for everyone because this can create a culture of happiness and intrinsic satisfaction.
Soft Solutions is embarking on using a strengths-based approach in leadership by providing a talent portal for labor deployment. Creating an ad hoc team on a short-term mission can enable powerful results in quicker time if the right strengths are used on the team.
Interested? Email Corliss@HRMomma.com for a free consultation of how this can be accomplished at your organization.
