Building on strengths in yourself and others
Is your organisation taking a strengths-based approach to development?
Why We Should All Be Building on Strengths in the Workplace
Building on Strengths seems like a logical, straightforward activity for individuals and organisations, but traditionally it hasn’t been so simple.
“What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
is a question that many people still dread. Unfortunately, this is because the business world has a reputation for being weakness-focused, whether looking for reasons to overlook job candidates or shed staff during downturns. This standard interview and appraisal question is all too easily interpreted as
“what are you bad at?”
Our Open Personal Impact Courses and One-to-One Remote Skills Training are great ways to begin to look at your strengths.
While there is nothing wrong with identifying weaknesses, it is counterproductive to give this more attention than building strengths. Organisations need to spend as much, if not more time on making sure their employees’ outstanding qualities are working for the optimal benefit of themselves and the business.
This is what we mean by taking a strengths-based approach to development, and it’s something Impact Factory has championed from the day we began. Every training course we run focuses on identifying and building strengths within delegates for the benefit of themselves and their employers.
What is a Strength?
This question is not as simple as it sounds. Generally speaking, we tend to think of strengths as the skills and capabilities that make someone the ideal choice for undertaking a role or task. But strengths don’t have to be as clear-cut as creativity, leadership, communication or business development.
A strength can simply be a unique quality that enables someone to look at things from a different perspective. Whereas a skill or capability can result in a well-executed task, a unique perspective can deliver the kind of innovation that disrupts markets and pushes companies ahead of their competitors.
Bear this in mind as you assess yourself and others for their strengths, as what truly makes people exceptional may not be immediately apparent. In fact, your organisation may already have a breadth of untapped strengths that it could be capitalising on.
The Strengths Audit
Have you undertaken a strengths audit of your organisation? If you haven’t, then now is the ideal time to perform one.
A tailored personal impact training can be a perfect way to put people in touch with their own and others’ strengths.
The post-pandemic world has upended a great deal of traditional models, from the way we work to how we buy goods and services.
This is driving organisations to rethink many aspects of what they do and how they do it. Now, more than ever is the time to be building a strengths-based organisation.
Identifying Strengths
When it comes to identifying strengths, surveys are not the best way to do it. Asking someone about their strengths can immediately trigger ‘pitching mode’, where we have a tendancy to say what we think people want to hear. That doesn’t necessarily mean we lie, but we may exaggerate.
Also, bear in mind that many people have very little idea what their true strengths are. Some may even mistake their weaknesses for strengths, while others mistake their strengths for weaknesses.
The best way to identify and build strengths is in groups. Leaders of small organisations and line managers of small teams should lead the process, assessing their people for what stands out about them.
In many cases, a person’s strengths will be clear, but a little detective work may be needed for others. Informal chats can be good for exploring strengths, whether with the person directly or asking what they think the best qualities of colleagues are.
Try to avoid discussing strengths in formal appraisals or reviews. While this may feel like a logical time to do so, it runs the risk of being interpreted as a leading question.
Unfortunately, even the happiest and most confident employees can view appraisals as mini-interviews where they have to justify their continued presence in the organisation. A question about strengths may make them uneasy, particularly for those who are unclear about what their strengths are.
Applying Strengths
With an understanding of your people’s strengths, you can rethink how roles and tasks are allocated. This not only encourages strengths-based leadership but also strengths-based collaboration across the organisation.
Strengths-based collaboration can take many forms. For example, you can offer people opportunities to take on slightly different responsibilities. You can even draw colleagues in for ad hoc input to apply their talents to a specific challenge.
Another valuable characteristic of building a strengths-based organisation is openly championing each other’s strengths. If employees know what their colleagues are good at, the level of collaboration and quality of output can increase substantially.
Naturally, there will be some trial and error as people apply themselves in new ways. However, you will be surprised at the level of instant motivation and success that can come from people feeling valued. Just remember to tell team members why you are asking them to take on new roles or tasks. It’s because they show aptitude that makes them stand out.
Building on Strengths
Simply using someone’s strengths appropriately is one of the best ways to build them, particularly if applied in diverse ways. This enables people to build their strengths outwards so they become confident applying them to a breadth of situations.
Naturally, professional development is ideal for building strengths, but courses don’t have to be strictly aligned to capabilities. In fact, a little latitude is much better for building strengths that are applicable to a wide range of situations.
For example, if someone shows a strength when presenting, why not send them on a general communications course? You might even consider business development training as they could become one of your rising stars when it comes to pitching to and influencing customers.
