A Blog About Strengths

Complementary Strengths

2011-10-24T05:07:00.000-07:00

For many people , having discovered one's strengths, the greater challenge is to create a plan for making them even stronger. This recent HBR acticle offers some practical advice and advocates focussing on developling complementary strengths.

Sparks!

2011-10-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

My colleague Mike Pegg introduced me to the term SPARKS, defined as "An individual's deepest passions and interests that give them meaning, focus, joy and energy.."....their strengths?

Peter Benson coined the term as a result of his research among American teenagers. Here is a list of their 10 most common sparks.
1. Creative Arts
2. Athletics
3. Learning (e.g., languages, science, history)
4. Reading
5. Helping, serving
6. Spirituality, religion
7. Nature, ecology, environment
8. Living a quality life (e.g., joy, tolerance, caring)
9. Animal welfare
10. Leading

Peter says, "Children want to be known for their sparks. When you see these sparks in them, affirm them. You shall know them by their sparks." Great stuff.

Standout Strengths

2011-06-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

If you are a fan of this form of online assessment tool it is worth investing half an hour in completing Marcus Buckingham's latest online strengths discovery questionnaire - Standout. You can also find a neat review of the tool at Positive Psychology News Daily.

Reviewing Performance

2011-05-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

Supporting individuals and teams in identifying learning from critical incidents is a key skill in coaching. For most on the recieving end this can be a tough experience where learning from mistakes becomes the priority for many participants. With a little more thought however, reviewing performacne can be a positive experience aimed at building on success (as well as what has gone wrong). Take a look here for ideas on geting started.

Ten Mentoring Messages

2011-04-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

We all have mentors at various times in our career. I have been fortunate to have hung-out with, worked for, been influenced by, and loved, a few. My life, professional and private, would look very different without them. Here’s my shortlist of learning from a few cool people who have stretched me over the years, and still do:

1. Courage
David Maister in True Professionalism writes:
‘There are relatively few new ideas in business, if any at all. How often can you repeat the basic advice of “Listen to your clients, provide outstanding service, train your people, look for and eliminate inefficiencies, and act like team players?” The problem, clearly, is not in figuring out what to do. Rather, the problem is to find the strength and courage to do what we know to be right.’

I love this thought. I have lost count of the number of times that I have ‘sat on’ something until the pain got so great that I just had to act. With a bit of courage I just might have got going on that project sooner.

2. Smart people bring clarity
Our lives are cluttered with jargon and complexity, whether it is working through major business issues or managing the family logistics. People who speak plain English and have the ability to see past the irrelevant are to be cherished.

Jeffery Pfefer and Bob Sutton in the excellent book The Knowing Doing Gap, find that one of the five principle reasons why great ideas in business never get off the ground is because ‘talk substitutes for action’. They urge us to beware of ‘status seeking through jargon.’

3. Pot-fillers and Pot-drillers
If you are passionate about something - then show it. The author of The Leadership Challenge, Jim Kouzes says, ‘You can’t pay people enough to care.’ Business needs people who share what they are thinking and wear their heart on their sleeve. Tom Peters encourages us to hang out with people who ‘vibrate’. People who transmit energy. Mike Pegg calls them ‘Pot-fillers.’

Take care not to share all your problems at the water-cooler though. Boyd Clarke and Ron Crossland in The Leaders Voice tell us: ‘It is naïve to believe that we should share all of our emotions all of the time. We once heard ‘Don’t tell people your problems. 80% don’t care and the other 20% are glad you have got them!’

4. People who can execute have value too
Vision, creativity, innovation and ‘blue-sky’ thinking are often regarded as being in short supply in business. People who have these skills in their armoury have long been the stars. What leaders who really get results are doing is making heroes out of people who can get stuff done: people who can execute projects; people who have an eye for detail; people who live and breathe quality.

I recently overheard a young leader (ear-marked for greatness by the folks at the top of the organisation), defending the lack of progress of his ‘mission critical’ project to a colleague. He said it ‘just evaporated!’ We all know how he feels and it does happen. But it should happen to us only once.

5. Be there!
Be early for appointments and be prepared. Show-up for the early morning meeting even if it is against the odds. Get to the power-breakfast even if you have been up all night partying with colleagues – maybe you have go straight from the party to the office to pull it off! It seems like small stuff but people will be looking for clues as to whether they can trust you.

Bill Beswick, Sport Psychologist and Assistant Manager at Middlesbrough F.C., summed this point up best: ‘Winning is about what we do today’.

6. Give stuff away
Be generous when you can. Give away your knowledge, your time, your cherished book, the link to your favourite website, anything to get a new relationship rolling. David Maister, Professional Service Firm guru, says: If you want to get something from another human being you must first do something for them. In other words you can’t win influence unless you first invest in the relationship.’

7. Look for the talent in others
Sure, it’s cool to demonstrate mastery yourself. But learning to look for and expose others to the talent of friends and colleagues not only feels great but get you results as well.

Phil Jackson, winning coach of both Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers, once said to Michael Jordan early in his career; ‘The sign of a great player is not how much he scores, but how much he lifts his teammate’s performance.’ The ‘Bulls’ and Jordan never looked back. Even the greatest performers revel in the talent of others.

8. Take the best and leave the rest
Read, scan, listen and watch those who have experience and wisdom. Not everything they say will work for you, but the gems can be life changing. Tom Peter’s talks about his desire to have one person leave every one of his 600 person, one-day seminars with a thought that gives them the energy to go on and do something different. Mike Pegg shares a vast amount of knowledge and material with his students, on the basis that somewhere in there is the trigger to set you off and running. There is not a gem on every page – you have to go look for the bit that matters most to you.

9. Don’t try to imitate
Listen, watch and learn but at the end of the day you have to be ‘YOU’ to be credible and authentic. Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan get to the heart of this in Execution: ‘Who you are is the same as what you do and say. Only authenticity builds trust, because sooner or later people spot the fakers.’

10. Lighten –up
I got this message (AGAIN!) loud and clear from a wise and trusted source just a few days ago. I know I can become obsessive with the search for meaning in everything I do. The constant search for success can drain us and take-away the real essence of who we are. By all means work hard but be sure to play hard as well! Don’t take yourself too seriously.

When Tom Peters tragically lost a mentor to illness early in his career he reflected, ‘What a rotten thing to do to a mentee!’ I know where he’s coming from.

Pushy Parents

2011-02-17T05:59:00.000-08:00

As a parent who is constantly challenged with getting the balance right between positive reinforcement and correction (and frequently feeling the effects of getting it badly wrong!), I read Brian Moore's article on 'Pushy Parents' in The Telegraph this morning with great interest. Great coaches work this balancing act within the world of sport and business everyday. It is heartening to read such an honest account of his recent experience in trying to do the right thing for his children, by a sportsman of such renown.

Lessons of Life

2011-02-11T03:44:00.000-08:00

Quite simply - wonderful! Take 7 minutes out of your day to refresh your memory of these magic moments from film.

Those who simplify — and those who complicate!

2011-01-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

I started reading and listening to Dan Pink when he published The Adventures of Johnny Bunko a few years ago. It is essentially a book that brings the work of Bernard Haldane on strengths and career to life for teens and is, of course, beautifully put together and illustrated. More recently, Drive takes us on a journey through the history of motivational theory and has some great practical advice on how to find your own sources of motivation and help others to do the same. I love this post on his blog from a few weeks ago – it got me thinking about how I am being at home and at work and the choices I make every day. How about you?

Drucker on Strengths

2010-11-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

Continuing on the subject of the history of the strengths philosophy, if you haven't read Managing Oneself, Peter Drucker's seminal work on the subject, written for the Harvard Business Review in 1999, I suggest you do so. How about this to whet the appetite:

Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong. More often, people know what they are not good at - and even then more people are wrong than right. And yet, a person can perform only from strength. One cannot build performance on weaknesses, let alone on something one cannot do at all.

Strengths Philosophers

2010-11-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

It was a great pleasure to attend the inaugural meeting of The Strengths Foundation last week at the HQ of QVC in London. We heard from 3 speakers who told their story of how taking a strengths approach to leading and developing people had transformed their business. Against the current economic backdrop, to have delivered the level of change that we heard about, create a more positive place to work and deliver bottom line results is astonishing and a great illustration of the power of applying a strengths lens to change.

We also heard about some of the history of the strengths movement and given that my research had taken me no further back in time than Bernard Haldane (1945) , I left inspired to find out some more. A quick search on google took me to, guess what, The Strengths Foundation website and this page on strengths philosophers in particular.

The Strengths Foundation

2010-09-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Mike Pegg has once again performed a minor miracle with his new site, the Strengths Foundation . The Foundation aims to share the strengths approach. It aims to provide a stimulating resource that people, teams and organisations can use:
• To build on their strengths
• To set specific goals
• To achieve their picture of success.
The Foundation is 'agnostic' inasmuch that it offers a portal that provides people with an overview of the many approaches to working with strengths and in this sense it is unique. Although still in its infancy the site is packed with resources and information. Take a look.

Van Commenee

2010-08-17T03:48:00.000-07:00

I love Sportsweek (Radio 5, 8.30am on Sundays). This weeks programme featured an interview with Charles Van Commenee (the whole programme can be found at the BBC website but you cannot get to his bit in isolation). He was asked to respond to various articles that have featured in the press about his tough approach to coaching. He did a great job describing how he adapts his approach based on the strengths of each individual, as you would expect.

Here are a couple of the articles that have been in circulation in case you haven’t seen them: one highlights other tough talking coaches; the other disputes the effectiveness of a tough approach in sport and contrasts the styles of Van Commenee and Andy Flower in particular.

…this has reminded me of the requirement to truly understand the strengths of each person we coach if we are to effectively stimulate them to perform to their potential in organisations. A 'one size fit's all approach' will always limit the scope of what an individual can achieve through coaching?

Awareness

2010-05-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

While wrestling with the tricky issue of helping a client to reach the point where he felt he would benefit from soliciting some feedback around his leadership performance, I came across a recent blog post from Tom Peters on the subject of self-awareness in leaders. It led me towards the conclusion that the ability to understand, exploit and develop our strengths, and commit to a plan for managing our weaknesses, may just be the most essential of all leadership attributes. Tom appears to have never agreed with Jim Collins that in reaching for the top, ‘Level 5’ leaders demonstrate a high degree of humility along with their strong will. However, a willingness to listen; take feedback on the impact of our behaviour; and to recognise that our talent is often not enough, surely requires a degree of modesty and respect. Our performance and the performance of others depends on this?

Mastery

2010-03-31T04:34:00.000-07:00

Encouraged by a colleague I committed to reading Dan Pink’s 'Drive' over the last few days. Not really a hardship as it is superb and relevant. It seems Dan is another one of these authors (like Gladwell and Robinson) who are brilliant at pulling together old ideas and putting a new and entertaining ‘face’ on them. Pink draws heavily on George Leonard’s work on 'Mastery' (but strangely does not appear to acknowledge him). I went back to this wonderful book again and re-discovered a section in which he encourages learners to love the learning ‘plateau’ and to expect it. It struck me that helping people to enjoy the process rather than continuously striving for the final product could be a key for me in supporting them as they develop their strengths and discover new way to get them into action . As Leonard says, life for people who can do this can be ‘especially vivid and satisfying.’

Performance and Strengths

2010-03-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

My colleagues at K2 Performance Systems have created a first class blog highlighting issues that connect elite performance in sport with the workplace. In this recent post they provide us with a simple question that captures the essence of the relationship between strengths and performance: How easily can you list your strengths? Take a look.

Sir Alex

2010-03-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

I have never really been a lover of Manchester United and consequently Sir Alex - my brother was a fan when we were growing up so how could I be! However, it was great see him show a little humility this week when describing how the team had used Wayne Rooney poorly last season in a recent Daily Telegraph article. Asking a £30m player to play out of position for the best part of season, and leave much of his core ability under-utilised, strikes me as poor management. In the article he also refers to AC Milan's misuse of David Beckham in their recent encounter at the San Siro - playing him in the centre of midfield and failing to exploit his natural ability to deliver with pace and accuracy from the right. Such high profile (and expensive) errors serve to remind us that talent management must start with understanding peoples strengths and creating a plan for exploiting them on behalf of the team (or business). Rooney's game and the teams results indicate that they have it right now, but it may just be a little too late for Beckham?

2010-01-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

Tom Peters brought the term Excellence into our consciousness some 25 years ago now. In a new blog post on Tom's site, Seth Godin kicks off an insightful dialogue on what we mean when we use the term. For individuals and organisations who are serious about striving for Excellence a good place to start might be to explore and and identify where our existing talents lie - what we have a unique flair for. We can then plan to exploit these strengths in the knowledge that we have a solid and dependable foundation upon which to build.

Synonyms?

2010-01-25T11:50:00.000-08:00

I found this excellent list of synonyms for strengths the other day: backbone, body, brawn, brute force, clout, courage, durability, energy, firmness, force, fortitude, hardiness, health, lustiness, might, muscle, nerve, physique, potency, power, powerhouse, robustness, security, sinew, soundness, stability, stableness, stalwartness, steadiness, steamroller, stoutness, strong arm, sturdiness, substance, tenacity, toughness, verdure, vigor, vim, vitality and zip.

Having reviewed some rather dry definitions of strengths in the business literature recently I thought this list brought the essence of the term to life brilliantly. I wonder if there are others words that might strengthen the list and take us towards a definition that might excite?

Partnerships Based on Strengths

2009-12-11T01:58:00.001-08:00

If you are planning on creating a new partnership, or looking to develop an existing arrangement, don't go any further before reading Gallup's latest research on this subject. The most effective partnerships are those built around each others strengths! It is all common sense of course but is is common practice?

The Strengths Trap?

2009-12-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

In a recent article in the Washington Post, John Rosemond illustrates clearly a concern that often gets expressed when we work with people on developing their confidence and begin by highlighting strengths – how can I take this seriously when all my life I have been ‘taught’ to deal only with my weaknesses? Although Rosemond refers specifically to how we as parents deal with our children in a realistic manner when the overwhelming message is that we need to be encouraging and emphasise the positive; the same applies in business. It’s all very well to switch the emphasis away from shortcomings to strengths in the annual performance review, but this switch needs to include a realistic appraisal of strengths that includes a detailed review of personal achievements and, preferably, some feedback from those who work closely with the employee in question. To do anything less would surely be to fall into precisely the same trap that Rosemond highlights, wouldn’t it?

Negative Self- talk

2009-11-23T03:55:00.000-08:00

In his recent blog post Dave Shearon tackles the issue of dealing with negative emotions within Postive Psychology head on. One way to do this, he suggests, is by 'learning to contest and re-direct negative self-talk'. As someone who has struggled with this art I thought, 'easier said than done' - that is until I came across the work of Julie Ness Bell on Performance Intelligence at Work. In this easy to read text she outlines the The 5 Essentials to Achieving The Mind of a Champion, and offers this practical model - 'Recognise, Re-focus, Routine' as process for applying our attention to the elements of performance that are more likely to help us achieve a positive outcome. She says:

...especially in today's tough economic times, many corporate leaders are stalled by fears of failure. This approach robs us of any chance at greatness, but this three-step method (R3) overcomes this challenge by creating new habits in the brain. Recognising self-talk, learning to refocus attention on different aspects of a situation, and establishing new thought routines ensures that those debilitating tapes will stop being replayed in your head.

A quick scan through related work on the web reveals an large amount of papers and texts from the world of Sports Psychology that offer similar models and ways of 'thinking'. I wonder whether Positive Psychology pays enough attention to the world of sport as it searches for new ways to bring its theories to life?

A Strengths Based Portfolio Career?

2009-10-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

In their new book, And What Do You Do? Barie Hopson and Katie Ledger offer individuals the opportunity to reflect on how they might construct a portfolio career based around thier strengths. One of the ten steps they highlight builds on Bernard Haldane's work on Motivated Skills. The central premise being that a strength is not a strength at all unless we have an appetite for using it. The website for the book provides more background material, a free look at the introduction and a whole lot more.

Articulating Strengths Together (AST)

2009-10-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

Need to discover your strengths? Then consider doing it in a group setting rather than via a computer screen. Jearald Forster, long time colleague of Bernard Haldane and strengths 'thought leader' at the University of Washington in Seattle, shows you how in his new book called Articulating Strengths Together (AST). The purpose of the AST is to guide you and three others through a series of activities that will give each participant a list of his or her most valued personal strengths. This process was adapted from the longer Dependable Strengths Articulation Process (DSAP), which was developed by Bernard Haldane during the second half of the 20th Century. The interactive process offered in the AST follows a carefully developed sequence of activities that can be completed in about three hours.

The book also explores the possibilities of identifying objective strengths through internet-based inventories. These objective approaches are compared with the subjective approach of the AST. The advantages of the subjective approach are tied to the fact that strengths articulated through the AST are anchored to personal experiences that can be recalled because the strengths were originally identified when considering real-life experiences.

Strengths and 'Narcissism'

2009-07-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Advocates of strengths approach in coaching have long had to deal with criticisms levelled at its ‘Pollyanna’ nature. Much of this questioning has been legitimate but has missed the point that the approach does not ignore weaknesses, rather it asks people to acknowledge them and manage them. New criticisms suggest that focussing on strengths in children can lead to a ‘narcissism’ which leads to a confidence which lacks substance.

In this article, author and Coach Chris Trout reminds us that spending time to accurately identify your strengths is the key to building confidence and resilience that will stand up under challenge.

Benjamin Zander

2009-06-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the privilege of listening to and watching Benjamin Zander speak live for the first time. As a long time fan of his book The Art of Possibility I went with high expectations but was completely blown away by the experience. To those familiar with positive psychology and a strengths approach, many of his messages will not be news. However, he brings these messages to life in a unique and compelling way which leaves you in no doubt about our own potential and the possibilities for those who look to us for leadership and support.

Look here for a taster.

A Balanced View?

2009-04-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

In his book Curious? Todd Kashdan outlines his case for us developing a sense of curiosity over and above simply learning from our most positive experiences. He argues that we need to pay equal attention to the times when we are in our element and the times when we may feel negative and uncertain, if we are to create a ‘rich, meaningful existence’. The book is a joy to read.

You can get a look at the premise of the book in this interview. Within the piece he says:

We don’t talk enough about the value of introspection, being curious about the self. You can’t do goal-setting or strength-spotting without introspection. And you can’t get there without curiosity.

Strengths and Motivation

2009-04-06T03:23:00.000-07:00

Self-determination theory suggests that optimal functioning and well-being results from three basic psychological needs – autonomy, competence and relatedness. Through reflecting and analysing achievement patterns and identifying strengths, people appear to develop a sense of choice in their career and a degree of confidence in their ability to deliver results in appropriate contexts.

Through a strong coaching or mentoring relationship people can also explore their career choices and construct a stronger motivational base for their endeavours. A sense of relatedness to a coach or mentor may for some be the missing ingredient in their motivational pie – the extra stimulus to take action rather remain introspective?

Knowing Your Superpowers

2009-03-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week Seth Goddin blogged brilliantly on the subject of the importance of being able to introduce yourself in a memorable way if you are interested in developing your business network. Whilst this borders on shameless self promotion he does make a valuable point. Having the confidence to do this however requires a degree of self knowledge few possess. Taking the time out to explore what you are uniquely good at, and developing the proof that these skills are real, may be the start point for developing this confidence?

Over-Playing Your Strengths?

2009-03-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

In the February issue of Harvard Business Review, Leadership Consultants Robert Kaplan and Robert Kaiser argue that although encouraging leaders to focus on their strengths may be a ‘reasonable approach’, it can be taken too far. This issue may be particularly prevalent where leaders rely on feedback in the form of 5 point rating scales. The final report may highlight one of their strengths as consensus building, for example, which when over-done can lead to procrastination and inaction.

Such objective measurement tools, particularly in relation to understanding strengths, appear to only provide part of the picture. Better then to ensure that data on strengths is supported by evidence found in past achievements and verbal peer feedback. A ‘strength’ that doesn’t help deliver a positive outcome and that is not valued by others, may not be considered a strength at all?

In Your Element?

2009-03-04T02:26:00.000-08:00

In his latest book, The Element, Sir Ken Robinson says “One of the things that always struck me was that many adults were unaware of what their true talents might be – what they’re really capable of doing.” As I read this I was struck by the familiarity of the message and then by how few people choose to do anything about this. Bernard Haldane once said:

"Many individuals would rather not know what is strong about them, the strengths that point to growth and reveal potential. A greater degree of responsibility is required to take hold of success rather than to stay in the safe area of complacency and complaint".

Sir Ken suggests that this complacency develops as result of schools and organisations not providing the opportunity and conditions for people to find out, not just what they are good at, but what they love to do.

Watch Sir Ken outline his take on creating these conditions at: http://www.thersa.org/events/vision/vision-videos/sir-ken-robinson-the-element