The Strength Strategy: A Fresh Perspective on Leadership

Remember those Parent-Teacher Meetings from school? Often, they highlighted what needed improvement, the areas where we were falling short.

Fast-forward to corporate life, this continuous inadvertently -? we are in the 'fixing' mindset. We are often told to identify our weaknesses and develop strategies to overcome them. We shift our focus and energy to improve a weakness, rather than strengthen our strength.

?Where’s your focus: strength or weakness?

If you focus only on your weaknesses, you’ll always have plenty of “problems” that need solving. It can be demotivating. So instead of focusing on weaknesses, why not focus on your strengths?

Studies and research by Martin Seligman's work with positive psychology and Gallup's on strength-based approaches in the workplace have shown that employees feel more confident, self-aware, and productive when focusing on strengths. In turn, this leads to higher employee engagement, increased performance, and significantly lower attrition rates.

The research becomes more meaningful when we reflect on our relationship with our strengths. Take a moment, close your eyes, and think of a time from your childhood when you excelled, how did it make you feel? It would mostly be joyful moments, moments filled with positive energy and confidence.

Given this, it’s clear that the leadership approach of focusing on weaknesses is outdated. Instead, leaders should create an environment where their teams can thrive by leveraging their strengths.

As a leader, you can empower people significantly by bringing out their strengths. Leadership that motivates people to discover and use their talents can maximize success for everyone in your workplace.

Here are some practical actions for you (or your leaders) to begin today, to leverage a strength-based approach.

• Develop awareness and identify team strengths? - Begin by understanding the unique strengths of each team member. Use tools like Gallup Strengthfinder, VIA character strengths, feedback sessions, and one-on-one discussions to identify where each person naturally excel.
• ?Leverage individual strength for collective success ?- I strongly believe in Together - Everyone - Achieves - More (TEAM). Align strengths with team goals. In any project, whether it is writing a proposal or getting into a negotiation, align tasks that play to each member’s strengths, ensuring that everyone contributes in a way that maximizes their impact and helps achieve the overall goal.
• ?Prioritize? Training and Development on Strengthening Strength - Training and Development opportunities should not just be to improve the team's weakness. Encourage your team to take up areas they already are good at, this will ensure they go from good to great.
• Celebrate strengths and team wins in performance review - During performance reviews, shift the narrative from focusing on weaknesses to celebrating strengths and achievements. Recognize and reward contributions that highlight team members' strengths, and discuss how these can be further leveraged for future success. Celebrating wins fosters a positive, motivating environment.

Strength based leadership does not mean ignoring the weaknesses. The idea is to empower your team by amplifying their strengths.

?“Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths.” — John H. Zenger

I encourage you to start today. Lead yourself first and then lead others. Take a moment, and put in the comments section your top three strengths or? if you would? prefer, tag a friend or colleague? and list a few of their strengths! This way, we can empower ourselves and each other to maximize our success based on our strengths.

#leadership #executivecoaching #leadbystrength #strengthbasedleadership