Lean Into Your Strengths

Sadly, yet proudly, our 4th-grade travel basketball season has come to an end. It was one of the most exciting seasons with families coming together and cheering the kids all the way to last night's championship game. Despite our loss, the kids played their hearts out, the coaches did the same.

There was ONE thing that was clear this season - the kids leaned into their strengths and that is what made them a phenomenal team. On top of that, the coaches recognized and coached the kids on how to master their strengths and how each player could contribute value to the team.

Our son Gavin is tall. While he continues to improve his skills in shooting, his natural talent, abilities, and strengths came out when he played defense. This season he got a lot of rebounds, blocked a lot of shots, and continuously boxed out.

Now and then he would get a bit down on himself if he missed a shot. It's something he continues to practice on his own, but my husband and I strongly encouraged him to lean in big time on his strengths in playing defense. We even helped him come up with a few names that he could call himself "Rebound King" and "Defensive Monster" because when you put a name to an identity that you strive to be, you tend to get even more pumped stepping into that role.

So why don't all organizations do the same? Really lean into the strengths of their people or their teams. In many cases, most managers and leaders don't fully understand the strengths of their team, they observe an individual's performance and make more general statements like "he is a great communicator" or "she is a great salesperson." A lot of times individuals are given a task that they are not naturally great at and they are expected to provide an amazing output. For instance, why would a company send one of their team members to be the face at a conference to meet new customers when they are not strong communicators or have Woo (Winning others over) as their strengths? Why would you have someone who is a high influencer and prefers networking and building relationships sit behind a desk analyzing spreadsheets for hours?

The point is when we are not leaning into our natural talents and abilities, the work becomes frustrating and harder. It's not as easy to do and we don't feel like we are productive or "working the zone." Being challenged is a great thing, but having someone who doesn't have the natural strength to do the work required will quickly lead to burnout and frustration.

When we fully understand an individual's strengths and they have more opportunities to leverage their natural strengths, then we can become great at building high-performing teams, you will have a more engaged workforce, and your company's retention rate will be higher because people will enjoy their work much more.

Finally, what's the lesson learned from a 4th-grade travel basketball team?

• Is it time to start fully understanding the strengths of the individuals on your team and start cultivating a culture of "strengths" vs. focusing on "weaknesses?"
• Or maybe you just want to know EXACTLY what YOUR strengths are so you can feel more excited about the work you do and work more frequently "in the zone!"

Whatever it may be, let's start with a conversation and send me a personal message. Every engagement starts with strengths.

Yours truly,

Nicole Carline (Top Five: Strategic, Positivity, Communication, Woo, Responsible)