Want to Become a Strengths-Based Organization (without knowing CliftonStrengths)? Here’s How!

As founder of A Modern Way to Work, I was introduced to Gallup’s CliftonStrengths by my first supervisor. He was a big Gallup advocate, bent on instilling passion and respect for their impactful workplace practices in his own team.

Not surprisingly, A Modern Way to Work has been a strengths-based organization since its inception.

But what does that mean, exactly?

From a practical perspective it means that everyone on our team:

·       Is intimately familiar with their personal strengths

·       Uses the CliftonStrengths tool with most of their clients

·       Binges regularly on the Gallup Theme Thursday podcast!

It also means that we all live our strengths, every day.

Here are 3 of the key ways we do that.

1. We focus on what’s right with people

In a society obsessed with fixing people’s weaknesses through personal development plans, we spend most of our time improving those areas where we already excel. We’re really good, in other words, at owning our personal realms of excellence, without getting too fussed about where we don’t naturally shine.

Adopting this lens of always focusing on what’s right with people doesn’t just help each of us feel celebrated for our talents - it makes room for exponential growth. And it means that when we work with other people, we’re naturally attentive to what’s inherently great about them and their business.

2. We spend most of our time doing what we enjoy

In addition to working on what we’re good at, we spend the majority of our time as individuals working on things that we like. It’s not uncommon, in fact, for our team to initiate ‘work trades’ with one another.

For example, if one of us is facing a task we don’t particularly want to do, we might ask if anyone else feels jazzed enough about it to take it off our plates. In many cases, that task will be something another team member really enjoys. And they’ll happily take it over in exchange for a chore they’ve been avoiding themselves.

As a group, we firmly believe that it’s absolutely acceptable to be open about what you don’t like doing – and to propose a solution for never doing it again.

3. We remind ourselves that different people have different strengths

When difficult conversations or conflicts arise – as they occasionally must in a group work environment - we try to ask ourselves what strength the other person possesses that’s causing us to feel so annoyed.

Being a strengths-based team means recognizing that, in many cases, what bothers us about somebody else’s ways can be explained by a difference in strengths. Everyone’s strong points are unique. And that can lead to different perspectives, and distinct ways of solving a problem.

Here’s an example.

Have you ever felt frustrated working with someone who takes extra time to think through an idea? It’s not unusual for people who are heavily positioned in the Executing domain of CliftonStrengths to feel held up by people whose strengths are largely Strategic.

Understanding that what bothers you about a teammate is also most likely their greatest talent can help you find a new way of looking at what each person brings to the table.

INTRIGUED BY THIS REFRESHING APPROACH TO BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN YOUR TEAM?

You’ll be happy to know that you can benefit from applying strengths-based principles in your own organization – even if you don’t use the CliftonStrengths tool.

Here’s how:

• Start by asking your employees to estimate what percentage of time they spend doing work that they love and are great at (you may be surprised by their answers)

• Next, allow each employee’s response to spark a bigger conversation around how they’d like to be spending most of their time – then make an effort to assign or establish tasks based on what they’re actually good at (even if those tasks fall outside their “official” role)

• Finally, prepare your employees to deal more effectively with conflict by encouraging them to a) identify what they appreciate about their colleagues, and b) recognize that many disagreements are simply the result of being good at different things

With nearly 25 million people currently using their CliftonStrengths to thrive inside and outside the workplace, we know first-hand that being a strengths-based organization increases performance and productivity.

If you’d like to learn more about the pivotal role understanding other people plays in implementing meaningful business solutions – feel free to contact us. We’d love to connect!