Five Strengths Tips
The fastest way to better results in your life is to invest in your strengths.
I’m a strengths facilitator, so let’s talk about you building on your strengths to help you have a more engaging and productive day.
We all hear people talking about how the pressure of work makes it difficult to do things really well. They go on to say how they feel stressed, undervalued and that the organization is under pressure to perform. I try explaining that by focusing on improving strengths (as distinct from correcting weaknesses) they will shift their thinking and create more opportunity to do what they are good at. Often they feel too busy to try something different themselves, they just want less pressure. Well, logically if you keep focusing on the problem the same way – it will keep on being a problem.
My work for 17 years as a communication facilitator has confirmed my belief that each of us have unique talents and these will support us through anything and get as great results - if we know how to recruit them. Our greatest room for growth is in our strengths. When we are using our strengths, we enjoy things more, life are easier, we get better results.
When we are engaged in what we are doing, we get more done, want to do more. The Gallup Organization have undertaken extensive research on employee engagement. When looking at the effects of managers on their staff, their surveys found that if your manager focuses on your strengths – acknowledges what you are good at and encourages it, you are only 1% likely to be disengaged at work. What really yells here is the fact that a manager who ignores you has such a strong negative effect on you - much worse than someone who picks up on your mistakes. What this suggests is that we have more effect on those around us than we realise.
If your manager primarily: The chances of being actively disengaged are:
Ignores you 40%
Focuses on your weaknesses 22%
Focuses on your strengths 1%
Their research and that of the positive psychology movement overwhelmingly supports the positive results of the strengths approach. One of the Gallup team, Marcus Buckingham found: “On high performance teams people say they call upon their strengths more than 75% of the time.” If we can find the way to use our strengths more, the payoff is tangible.
In my strengths workshops over the past 7 years, the participants practice telling others about their strengths. They describe their strengths in increasingly persuasive ways. Consistently, the energy in the room goes way up – the roof comes off! Given permission we love talking about what we are good at – it energizes us and changes our perspective.
Strengths – a pattern of behaviour thoughts or feelings that you are drawn to, energized by and get great results.
We look forward to doing those things that are our strengths and get at times utterly lost in them. Time flashes by. I’m talking about strengths you can make a living out of. But it’s not just what you do – as in a skill like coding or helping other see how to solve problems themselves. It could be how you use traits like interpersonal understanding.
We all want to enjoy our lives, be productive and connected to the world in a useful way. We have the resources to make it happen – it’s a matter not just of what you do, but how. The ‘what’ are skills like implementing new processes, assessing risk , the ‘how’ reads more like helping others solve problems themselves or being consistently optimistic. Your strengths are the most direct ticket to excellence that you have.
Last week, as I struggled to understand technical aspects of on line marketing, my colleague said “this is your strength”. New technology is so not my strength – I felt lost. “No” he said, “this is your strength – change, adapting to change”. Oh yeah, he is right – getting into online marketing is a change and one of my strengths is adapting to change. Looking at it this way really helped. So if I look at getting into the online space through my strength ‘change’ well yeah, I can do it!
The strengths approach resonates with me because I know when faced with difficulty in life, I have looked to what I ‘can do’ to get me through, not at the problem. Focusing on ‘why’ (why me?) never seemed to help. “what can I do and what have I got to build on” always moves me to a better space and ultimately to get the job done faster.
Having had to leave work to recuperate from a sudden illness I needed to find a way to use my skills and expertise without the crippling hours. I needed to be engaged and add value.
So, I designed a business around what I'm good at. I articulated my strengths and acknowledged my limitations. And it took off before I new where I was. I made up the term communication facilitator and used models that I developed and worked for me. I had never heard of anyone else doing this.
What I've found is that people learn fastest when they focus on what is working. Focusing more on what they are good at, shifts the brain circuitry into innovative possibilities that work toward a goal rather than being exhausted by defensive responses to what is wrong. I see and experience how a strengths approach gets better results with less pain every day.
Identifying your strengths in your own language is practical and makes them easier to relate to and share. However, another perspective and language can give you further insights. I recommend you use your own language and insights first and if you want to get a different angle try doing the http://strengthsfinder.com questionnaire.
5 tips on how you can get more out of the strengths you have
In order to get more out of your strengths, you’ll need to give them some attention.
1. Identify your Strengths.
o Switching your brain focus from what is wrong, to what you do well, changes the brain circuitry, energizes you, makes you more innovative and resilient. Write down your 3 key strengths. Now brainstorm how you could use them in more ways in you life.
o Ask others what they see as your strengths. Start having more conversations about strengths, one on one or in meetings. Talk more about what is working and how to build on it.
2. Invest in your strengths each day.
o What can you do today to utilize your strengths more? Write down 3 actions.
3. Identify the strengths of those around you.
o Tell your colleagues what you notice are their strengths. Describe their gifts, the specific traits that they use well and how they benefit others. Acknowledge their contribution. Just 30 seconds - make it specific.
o See your strengths as currency – how can you trade what you are good at for someone else’s help in their area of strength?
4. Surround yourself with others who recognise and reinforce your strengths, and are building on their own strengths.
o If, when you think about it individuals like this seem hard to find
– change that situation.
5. When you are overwhelmed, go to your strengths.
o Focus on what you can do and are good at. Find ways to build on what is working. This is the fastest way to get you back on track. Even focusing on the small things that you know you can do, can make a really big difference.
Identifying your strengths in your own language is practical and makes them easier to relate to and share. However, another perspective can give you further insights. Try doing the http://strengthsfinder.com questionnaire for another angle and to grow your focus on what works in your life.
Changing your habits
We all know how easy it is to focus on what is wrong not what is right, it’s the culture we were raised in. If you want a practical tool to help you change your habits you can’t go past BJ Fogg - a very innovative and original lecturer at Stanford who is known particularly for his work in behaviour change. BJ Fogg has a free online 5 day challenge to help you learn how to change habits. It is fun simple and really deepens your understanding of behaviour change. http://tinyhabits.com I can’t recommend it highly enough. I loved it.
So give it a go. Make a commitment to give more attention to your strengths this week. I’d love to know how you build on your strengths? To leave a comment click on 'Comments' below and share.
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