Personal Strengths: Insights!

Welcome to November's edition of Personal Strengths Insights.

This month, we will signpost you to our podcast episode on Empathy. This is the strengths which help you see things from?other’s?perspectives. The podcast will help you identify ways to optimise your Empathy, avoid common pitfalls with overusing it or not using it at all, and ways to work with others to share your Empathy!

You'll?also find an invitation to our upcoming workshops and we'll finish up with some tips to start enhancing happiness and wellbeing at work.

The tips and strategies we share this month will help you develop in a way that is authentic to you. We look forward to supporting you on this journey!

Strength Focus: Empathy

This month's podcast explores the invaluable strength of empathy. When we dial into our Empathy, we can easily see things from someone else's perspective. We easily put ourselves in someone else's shoes.

Individuals with empathy as a strength are energised by considering stakeholder's perspectives on tasks and projects at work. They add huge value ensuring solutions are well considered from lots of parties' viewpoints, resulting in the solution landing well as individuals challenges to the solution will have already been considered.

To further stretch this strength, look for opportunities to support those who dont have the empathy strength, you can help them through questioning to encourage them to consider their stakeholders perspectives - something they wont do naturally.

If empathy is in overdrive (displayed to the extreme) it can lead to individuals making assumptions, as they believe they know what others are thinking as they think they can see it from their perspective. Make sure you ask questions to confirm those assumptions before acting on them!

Want to tap in to empathy some more? Click here to tune into this month's empathy-focused podcast as we dive deeper into flexing this strength.

Personal Strengths Coaching Workshops...

Have you attended one of our workshops yet? This month there are two complementary opportunities to take a deeper dive into understanding strengths.

Firstly on the 19th November, I will be running a session on?The Power of Nature, Nurture, Reflection and Planning of Strengths!?Personal Strengths Coaching's solutions have been designed to incorporate the best interactions my clients have used over the last four years to support their people. In this session, I will be sharing the step-by-step breakdown of the process to implement my strengths?solutions into your business!

Click here to book your place today!

Secondly, on the 26th November?I will be running our?Enhance your team dynamics through strengths! workshop. This is the workshop if you want more energised people and focus on relationships not just tasks. If you want to learn more about the strengths that will help you have more productive relationships within your teams at work.

Click here to book now to secure your place!

Are your team wasting its assets?

Are your team making the most of what each of your team members can bring? Are they using those assets to reach their potential? The teams I have supported through team workshops understand exactly what each member is bringing. And how that impacts the team's performance.

1?? Team members understand what their team are reliant on them for.

They step up and shine as there are some things only they bring to the team and knowing that means you take pleasure and confidence in stepping up and using those things more often! Having that knowledge within the team builds trust that individuals will step up

2?? The team's manager learns each of their team member's strengths.

Who will bring what to the team and who can they delegate and assign each task to. They know the team member will flourish by using their strengths. The feedback I receive is this knowledge enables the line managers to lead not manage. Understanding their team's strengths means they trust in them to use them to support their team in achieving their objectives.

3?? The team members learn who they can rely on when they are procrastinating and struggling to move forward with tasks and projects.

Who they can buddy up with and share strengths with when they don't have what they need themselves. The acceptance that we aren't all strong at everything at the beginning of our process, followed by details about who is strong at what results in individuals embracing support from colleagues rather than seeing it as a weakness. Whether your team just doesn't know each other as well as you'd like, hasn't considered each other in terms of strengths and what they are uniquely bringing or whether they have been through a restructure and you have a newly established team. Imagine what you could achieve if you optimised the strengths each team member was bringing and none of the team's assets were left unnoticed!

Click here to book a 30 minute discovery call to develop your bespoke solution!

Top Tips: Workplace Wellbeing and Happiness

A strengths-based approach not only boosts team performance but also enriches wellbeing and happiness at work. Martin Seligman, in his book Flourish, identifies the PERMA model as a framework for understanding wellbeing and happiness through five key components:

1. P - Positive Emotions: Experiencing joy, gratitude, hope, and other positive feelings contributes to happiness.
2. E - Engagement: Being fully absorbed in activities and finding flow enhances life satisfaction. This includes using your strengths in ways that challenge and excite you.
3. R - Relationships: Strong, supportive relationships are essential for well-being. Positive social connections contribute to emotional support and a sense of belonging.
4. M - Meaning: Finding purpose in life and engaging in activities that align with your values provides a sense of significance and fulfilment.
5. A - Accomplishment: Setting and achieving goals allows a sense of success and competence, boosting self-esteem and motivation.

Whether you’re familiar with PERMA or it’s new to you, here are some tips to enhance wellbeing and happiness at work:

• Journal about Positive Moments: Write down three things each day that made you feel positive - relate one to work. Reflecting on positive moments builds gratitude, a key part of the PERMA model.
• Stretch a Strength: Identify one strength you use at work and find a new way to apply it this week. Stretching strengths in fresh ways increases confidence and motivation.
• Build Social Connections: Reach out to a colleague for a coffee or conversation. Positive social interactions foster a supportive work environment.
• Reflect on Values Alignment: Consider your core values and how they align with your role. When work aligns with values, it can bring greater meaning.
• Set a Small, Specific Goal: Choose a manageable work goal and set a deadline. Reaching goals builds confidence and a sense of accomplishment.

I hope you found these insights on strengths helpful.

Don't forget to book or share our Enhance your team dynamics through strengths! workshop on 26th November we'd love to spread the word on strengths!

What step from the PERMA model will you start with to enhance your wellbeing and happiness at work?

We wish you an energised month ahead!

Please reach out if you have any other questions about optimising strengths. We look forward to connecting again soon.

Warm regards,

Nic