Fuel Your Strengths. Self-Directed

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Victor White
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1 Fuel Your Strengths Self-Directed

Studies show that people who get to play to their strengths on a regular basis are more engaged and produce stellar results. This is a bit of a mind-shift in our remedial society.

3 A strength is defined as a combination of natural capability, hard work and a deep satisfaction when there is an opportunity to utilize it. There is a growing movement to focus on shifting to strengths-based management. Why? Studies show that people who get to play to their strengths on a regular basis are more engaged and produce stellar results. This is a bit of a mind-shift in our remedial society. We are often given messages that we should be focusing on our weaknesses. Many performance review conversations focus on development opportunities with little attention paid to what we are actually really good at and what we enjoy doing. The reality is that weaknesses will likely never be turned into strengths. You will see far better results if you invest time and energy in building your strengths rather than trying to become less bad at a weakness. In this session, you will have the opportunity to explore your strengths and how you can bring a more strengths-based approach to your own leadership. Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What s a sundial in the shade? -Benjamin Franklin PRE-WORK INSTRUCTIONS Complete all exercises in this guide and be prepared to discuss and share. FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS 1 The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

Research on Strengths Gallup polled 198,000 employees from 36 countries who were asked: Do you have the chance to play to your strengths every day?

4 Research on Strengths Gallup polled 198,000 employees from 36 countries who were asked: Do you have the chance to play to your strengths every day? Those who strongly agreed were: 50% more likely to work in teams with lower employee turnover 38% more likely to work in more productive teams 44% more likely to work in teams with higher customer satisfaction scores In their book, How to be Exceptional, John Zenger et al. studied the results achieved by leaders who focused on improving their strengths versus those that focused on weaknesses. Leaders who worked on their weaknesses did become more effective, moving on average from the 34 th to 46 th percentile range in overall effectiveness. But leaders who built on their strengths moved on average from a 41 st percentile rating to 77 th percentile three times the improvement of those working on weaknesses. Source: Jump from Excellent to Exceptional, Harvey Schachter, The Globe and Mail, Sept. 19/12 2 FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

Working to a strength will energize you and the results will be

5 Strengths Defined You are likely capable of solid or excellent performance in many areas. A true strength stands out in two areas. Working to a strength will energize you and the results will be consistently outstanding. FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS 3 The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

6 Work Inventory 1. List the types of things you do in your job. Be as specific and thorough as possible. 2. When your list is complete, identify each of your items as either a Strength (S), Low Passion/ High Capability(LH), High Passion/Low Capability(HL), or Low Passion/ Low Capability( LL). Activity S, LH, HL, LL Activity S, LH, HL, LL 4 FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

7 I loved it! Review the activities that you identified as strengths. Expand on each activity you identified in more detail below. NB: If you didn t have any S situations in the past week, consider what aspects give your job the most juice. Example: I felt strong (in the zone, energized, happy) when I had a client meeting to resolve delivery issues. I felt strong (in the zone, energized, happy) when I I felt strong (in the zone, energized, happy) when I I felt strong (in the zone, energized, happy) when I I felt strong (in the zone, energized, happy) when I FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS 5 The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

8 Articulate Your Strengths Using the previous exercise, get even more specific about what you love in this activity. Look for patterns and commonalities between the situations you ve identified. Consider what talents and skills you are using when you are involved in this work. Example: My strength is my ability to combine my communication and empathy skills to work with difficult clients so that their problem is solved and they look forward to working with us again It s a strength because I Consistently perform it at a high level Get high personal satisfaction from the activity Produce superior results when I use this strength Keep getting better the more I do it Feel in the zone and time just melts away 6 FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

Tune-in to Your Strengths With a clear view of your specific strengths, you will be able to move the dial on your job and career to do more of what you love vs.

9 Tune-in to Your Strengths With a clear view of your specific strengths, you will be able to move the dial on your job and career to do more of what you love vs. things that you re good at that give you no energy. People who end up doing what they love don t just land into dream jobs. They are relentless about moving the needle, activity-by-activity, job-by-job. 1. What activities can you stop doing that don t play to your strengths? 2. What can you start to do that can further play to your strengths? To grow the time I use my strengths, I will Stop Start Continue FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS 7 The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

10 Strengths and Your Team What can you do as a leader to be more strengths-based? Action Ideas Use the space below to capture any thoughts from the learning clinic discussion. 8 FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

11 Great Strengths Reads Soar with Your Strengths by Donald O. Clifton and Paula Nelson Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton Go, Take Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath Strengths Based Leadership by Tom Rath & Barry Conchie Do What You Are by Paul Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger FUEL YOUR STRENGTHS 9 The Executive Roundtable TM. All rights reserved

Question. Recognizing and Utilizing Your Strengths. Question Objectives Agenda

Question. Recognizing and Utilizing Your Strengths. Question Objectives Agenda Question Recognizing and Utilizing Your Strengths What work activities do you love performing? Flow Feel expert Rapidly learn Can teach Identify and share at table. At work, I have the opportunity to do