We are all familiar with the old adage “play to your strengths”, but most people are not clear about what their strengths are and how to capitalise on them.
A strength has two elements “delivering a high level of performance and experiencing a sense of energy when you are doing it.” In other words, a strength is something you are not only good at, you are also passionate about doing it. During strengths-based coaching the focus is on what is already working and because strengths are part of basic human nature – every individual has strengths and deserves respect for having them – the areas of greatest potential are considered to lie in the areas of your greatest strengths.
A traditional process of change guided by coaches and psychologists focuses on identifying your weaknesses and fixing them. When we solely focus on our weaknesses we are usually performing activities we are NOT good at and it de-energises us, contributing to higher levels of stress, frustration, and doubt.
We are happier, more confident, and are 6x more likely to be engaged with our job when using our strengths.
Research by positive psychologist, Alex Linley acknowledges that you can develop from working on weaknesses, however, improvement is only possible when you are also working on your strengths.
Peter Drucker (1967), regarded as the “Father of Management Theory”, claimed that “the effective executive” builds on strengths, their own strengths, the strengths of superiors, colleagues, subordinates, and on the strengths of the situation.
Talented people are very good at reflection (good thinkers). They also exploit their strengths through strong self-awareness, which is turned into their advantage. While talented athletes and corporate champions often fail, they learn quickly to convert setbacks into opportunities. They also have an urge for personal growth, meaning and purpose in all that they do, and a general feeling of being on the move.
Research by Capp (2010) shows that by building on strengths an organisation will:
Improve individual performance: Individual performance is significantly improved by a focus
on strengths, and undermined by a focus on rectifying weaknesses. The traditional approach of molding individuals to jobs and focusing development effort on correcting weaknesses have proved unsuccessful.
Increase openness to change and the ability to deal with change: The use of strengths generates positive emotions which facilitate performance by broadening people’s mind sets, encouraging them to discover new ways of thinking and acting, building resilience and the ability to deal with the after-effects of negative events.
Increase diversity and positive inclusion: An understanding of strengths encourages people to value difference. The person who appears so different to you has a vital role to play and may release you from your non-preferred tasks. Teams made up of people who differ tend to be more creative and to perform better.
Improve teamwork: A focus on strengths in teams allows for the efficient allocation of tasks and, with greater role flexibility, encourages co-operation. The positive emotions generated by the use of strengths enable social integration.
In my work as a performance psychologist, my passion involves identifying and maximising individuals’ strengths towards achieving their goals.
As an accredited Realise2 practitioner, I can profile your unique strengths, as well as your weaknesses and learned behaviours. Together, we utilise this information to guide an action plan to revive your energy in the work place and proactively prevent stress and burnout.
Get in touch today to find out more about how I can help you play to your strengths this year.
