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KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
Volume 62, May 2006
Publisher: © Key Associates, 2006
ISSN # 1545-8873
http://www.mkkey.com
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This Issue: On "Strength-based Organizations"
This is a monthly electronic magazine for anyone
who wants to be
a better leader, coach, facilitator,
or simply, to tune up their people skills. It is a
complimentary publication, devoted to the
next
evolution of Quality Thinking.
View Earlier Issues --See our new website (http://www.mkkey.com)
Contents:
"Wasted strengths are sundials in the shade."
- Benjamin Franklin
"More grows in the garden than the gardener sows."
- Old Spanish Proverb
". . . one of the goals of life is to try and be in touch
with one's most personal themes -- the values, ideas,
styles, colors that are the touchstones of one's own
individual life, its real texture and substance."
- Gloria Vanderbilt
"To give style to one's character --a great and rare art!
He exercises it who surveys all that his nature presents
in strength and weakness and then moulds it to an
artistic plan until everything appears as art and reason. . ."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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CAPITALIZING ON THE STRENGTHS AND
PERSONAL STYLES OF EMPLOYEES.
BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN PEOPLE AND
HELPING THEM SEE THE BEST IN OTHERS.
POINTING TO WHAT IS GOOD AND
SUCCESSFUL IN THE WORKPLACE.
DEVELOPING STRENGTH-BASED
ORGANIZATIONS, WITH UNPRECEDENTED
TRUST AND COOPERATION.
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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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According to a Gallup Poll, only 20% of the
workforce feels they are playing to their strengths
on the job (Buckingham & Clifton, 2001). So often
we gear the personal growth of our employees in
the direction of overcoming their weaknesses and
filling in their learning gaps. Why not build on the
natural capacities and talents that people bring to
the job? Select people based on talent required.
Study of the talents of your best performers.
Spend training time on enhancing strengths.
Grow careers up strength ladders. Notice and
appreciate what is good and true in your organization--
and language that.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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If everyone is so unhappy on the job, what can we do?
Martin Seligman (2002) says we are going through
a shift from a money economy to a satisfaction
economy. He offer a prescription for more "flow"
(what occurs when your challenges perfectly mesh
with your abilities to meet them):
* Identify your signature strengths.
* Choose work that lets you use them every day.
* Recraft your present work to better use your strengths.
* If you are the employer, chose employees whose strengths
mesh with the work they do.
* If you are the manager, make room to allow employees
to recraft their work within the bounds of your goals. (p. 176)
I get confused on the nomenclature. What's a
strength--
is it the same as a talent?
You have to have talent to have a
strength, write Buckingham
and Clifton (2001). They define the following:
A STRENGTH is near
perfect performance in an activity. "The
acid test of a strength is if you can imagine yourself doing it
repeatedly. happily and consistently."
A TALENT is "any recurring
pattern of thought, feeling or behavior
that can be productively applied."
You need KNOWLEDGE to get into the
game (although this
does not guarantee excellence. Knowledge is of two kinds:
factual and experiential.
A SKILL is a sequence of steps that operationalizes
knowledge.
Skills will help you get better at something, but they work best
when combined with a natural talent.
Does this affect performance appraisals?
Of course. The term "Performance Development" is
probably
more on target, since the aim is to grow employees, tap their
strengths, add new skills, expand their capabilities within the
organization, and increase job satisfaction. Either the supervisor
or the employee can identify areas or goals to achieve growth,
to prepare for a new job or assignment that will require
additional or expanded skills and or competencies. The process
is owned largely by the employee, and the supervisor assists
in the role of coach/partner. Together they would develop action
plans with goals, defined outcomes, and timelines. The employee
would lead the assessment of progress under the plan. This
is regular and predictable, not just once a year.
"Strength-Based Development" for employees, as outlined
by the Gallup Organization, is an eight-step process:
1) identifying the strengths of each employee;
2) finding the right job fit for all employees;
3) developing great managers;
4) increasing employee engagement in both their work and in the company;
5) as a result of the employees' engagement, increasing the customer
loyalty;
which leads to
6) sustainable growth;
7) increased net assets; and
8) increased delivery of the organization's mission.
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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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Review of the "Strength Revolution"
described by Buckingham & Clifton (2001)
http://www.coachingandmentoring.com/BookReviews/discoveryourstrengths.htm
Former Keyzines on related topics:
Volume
15, June 2002 - Motivation
Volume 28,
July 2003 - Pride in Work
Volume 31,
October 2003 - Optimism
Volume
32, November 2003 - Renewing Ourselves
Volume 36,
March 2004 - Valuing Diversity
Volume
42, September 2004 - Convening People
Using
Appreciative Inquiry Tools to build a strength-
based innovation culture
http://www.ovationnet.com/webportal.htm
A learning plan
for 12 posts of strength-based leadership
http://zingeronleadership.blogspot.com/2005/12/12-days-of-strength-based-leadership.html
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OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES
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Free assessments using numerous surveys,
including 240-question "VIA Signature Strengths"
and a 24-question "Brief Strengths Test"
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/questionnaires.aspx
Find your strengths:
Clifton Strengths Index (180 paired items) takes
30-40 minutes. Must have a code from a Gallup
Strengths publication. http://www.strengthsfinder.com
Positive Impact Assessment (also requires a code
from the book by Rath & Clifton (2004)
http://www.bucketbook.com
Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (online personality assessment)
http://www.advisorteam.com/temperament_sorter/register.asp?partid=1
Are you in the right job? Take the
Campbell Interest and Skill Survey
http://www.advisorteam.com/ciss/
Key Associates (http://www.mkkey.com) offers
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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS
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the Depth and Versatility of Your Organization's
Leadership Talent. AMACOM, 2006.
Buckingham, Marcus & Clifton, Donald O.
Now,
Discover Your Strengths. Free Press, 2001.
Clifton, Donald O. & Nelson, Paula. Soar
With Your Strengths.
Dell, 1995.
Lobenstein, Barbara. The
Renaissance Soul :
Life Design for People with Too Many Passions
to Pick Just One. Broadway, 2006.
McDonald, Bob, Hutcheson, D.E., Emanuel, L. (Ed)
& T.N. Tavantzis (Ed). Don't
Waste Your Talent:
The 8 Critical Steps to Doing What You Do Best.
The Highlands Company, 2005.
Rath, Tom & Clifton, Donald O. How
Full is
Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life?
Gallup Press, 2004.
Ryan, Robin.
Soaring On Your Strengths: Discover, Use,
and Brand Your Best Self for Career Success. Penguin, 2005.
Seligman, M.E. P. Authentic
Happiness. Free Press, 2002.
(Ch. 10, Work and personal satisfaction, pp. 165-184).
Sher, Barbara. I
Could Do Anything If I Only Knew
What It Was : How to Discover What You Really Want
and How to Get It. Dell, 1995.
Winseman, Albert L., Clifton, Donald O. & Curt Liesveld.
Living
Your Strengths: Discover Your God-Given Talents
and Inspire Your Community. Gallup Press, 2004.
