Work To Your Strengths

What part of your job do you not enjoy?

How often do you have to do it?

What about the rest of your team - how do these two questions apply?

One of my favourite activities when explaining personality profiles and or Gallup Strengthsfinder testing. It is to get people to write their full name and signature on a piece of paper.

I then asked them to do the same thing again but this time use their other hand.

Almost immediately people start to laugh and comment on how bad it is going to be; they hide what they are doing, talk themselves down and show others how terrible it is.

The purpose for doing this exercise is to show people that we have natural strengths and abilities and that in any form of profiling, all we really trying to do is highlight where somebody is naturally strong. I expand on the exercise by asking if they managed to  write their name with both hands.  Everybody agrees that they managed to do it and then I ask them what the difference between the two experiences is.  Unsurprisingly,  people comment that it takes longer, it requires more focus, it's not as neat and tidy, often has mistakes and it doesn't feel as natural. When we are doing work that does not use our natural skills, abilities and talents, we experience the same results -  it generally takes longer, isn't done as well and requires a lot more focus. 

I then make a second observation: asking them to reflect on their actions when I asked them to do the activity the first time and they correctly observed that they just did immediately what they were asked to do.  I then asked them to reflect on their reaction when I ask them to do the second activity ie use their other hand.  People are quick to note that there was a lot of laughter and comments and excuses as people did this second activity. 

For me this is one of the key benefits of working in the area where you are naturally stronger, more proficient and more capable. Not only do you get the job done quicker and more accurately, but you also enjoy it more and find it easier - so you get into your flow a lot quicker.  More importantly, however,  is that when we work in an area we are not naturally strong in, our internal negative voice often criticizes - which is why people will very readily tell people that they're about to do a bad job. It's a bit like saying “Hey look, I know I'm about to do something badly so I'm just going to call myself out before anybody else points out that I'm not as good as I could be”.  Our self image and our self esteem are often under attack when we are working in areas where we know we are not naturally strong. 

This is not to say of course, that we should not stretch ourselves and learn new skills.  It is more to help people realise that when we work in the area of our strengths, we are more comfortable and capable. Teams that are structured around team member strengths operate at a higher lever with greater engagement and output. Do you need to review your team?

Here's to your success!