E-couragement: Got Strengths?
“It appears that the epidemic of active disengagement we see in workplaces everyday could be a curable disease…if we can help the people around us develop their strengths.” StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath Corporate America has spent entirely too much time and money focused on weaknesses. It seems to be enamored with them…and that’s stupid. Spending all our time between annual reviews painfully sweating over weaknesses causes people to disengage. It is suicide for the soul. Stop it; I tell you, stop it right now! This is not for you.
Linda and I were at our weekly coaching session. She was a manager at a local medical practice, and our goal for this session was to review an assessment she had completed that named her dominant strength themes. As we discussed the assessment outcome, I acknowledged how her strengths played a powerful role in her success with the current challenges she was facing. I paused as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. She wiped her eyes with a tissue and said, “I’ve never focused on my strengths before. I never really knew I had any.”
What a shame…and what a common experience! You see, like most people in the American workplace, Linda was keenly aware of her weaknesses. Indeed, they had been pointed out for most of her life, and as a result, she was hyper-conscious of where she failed. Through a weakness-centered development focus, she had hit a barrier in her career; weaknesses had “paralyzed” her. What she needed most was to be introduced to her strengths and her unique abilities. Linda needed to understand how to focus on and utilize her strengths in a way that created successful outcomes for her.
I’m not promoting that we should ignore our weaknesses. I am saying that the corner on that market is secure. We get that part! We’ve heard about our lack and limitations for most of our lives. It has been well documented—sealed in our permanent files like a ticking time bomb. It’s time to give equal opportunity to discovering, embracing, and utilizing the talents that will lead to our success, not our demise. This is the approach that releases energy and fuels accomplishment.
Engaging leaders know their own strengths and they know the strengths of those they lead. Engaging leaders build a successful and inspiring culture by focusing on and applying those strengths. Goodbye weakness focused workplace. Rest in peace.
Leave your comments: In what ways have you been successful in applying your strengths at work? As an engaging leader, how are you discovering, embracing, and utilizing the strengths of your followers?