Can you list all of the employee strengths that exist in your team?
I hope so.
If not, you’re missing out on a key opportunity to power up your team’s greatest assets.
Research shows that professionals who are encouraged to use their unique strengths are six times more likely to perform better in the workplace.
That figure is too huge to ignore.
Unfortunately, many managers believe their role is simply to delegate tasks rather than encourage their team members to leverage and develop their authentic strengths.
It’s one of the key differences between a manager and a leader.
Managers sometimes focus on fixing areas of weakness in the hope that it will lift the team’s overall performance.
In reality, a strengths-based approach is far more effective when it comes to increasing productivity, satisfaction, and the well-being of your people.
To be a leader who inspires and motivates people to be the best versions of themselves, focus on uncovering their special strengths – their superpowers!
In this post, I’ll dig into work-related strengths and how to uncover them and pump them up to the max.
What Exactly Is a Work-Related Strength?
There is no magic checklist of work-related strengths.
Nope – it’s not as simple as interpersonal communication, analytical ability, and client prospecting. Seeking blanket buckets of skills won’t help unleash individual talent.
Managers hire professionals who have the experience or the basic, rational attributes needed to do the given role well. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
At the same time, a leader has the opportunity to help unearth a unique strength that will make the individual soar professionally. In other words, the opportunity to discover a superpower and give it wings.
That superpower is an instinctive ability to do the job uniquely and therefore – exceptionally well.
Consider professional singers or actors for a moment. We easily accept that they pursue their talent with passion, and continuously strive to perfect their craft.
Similarly, once we highlight a team member’s workplace superpower, making it more perceptible, we allow its owner to bring it to work passionately.
In those moments, that unique strength becomes synonymous with their personal brand.
Like a reputation, a personal brand is something you already have – whether you like it or not. Your personal brand is based on authenticity. It’s real; it’s genuine; it’s what makes you unique. It includes your values, passions, ‘superpowers’ and even quirks.
Stand Out: Boost Your Personal Brand, Ora Shtull
And conversely, if you keep a superpower buried, you leave both passion and productivity on the cutting room floor.
The Importance of Work-Related Strengths
Research by Gallup reveals that when employees are encouraged to work to their strengths, they are more likely to go the extra mile, with greater enthusiasm.
In fact, the research revealed that a focus on employees’ strengths leads to 14% greater productivity.
But the benefits aren’t all about the bottom line.
When you focus on strengths, as opposed to weaknesses, professionals:
- Are more engaged in their work
- Develop a stronger work ethic and steadfast values
- Take less sick leave
- Have much lower rates of turnover
- Feel less stressed
- Are more energized and creative
- Find greater meaning in their work
Perhaps most importantly, they develop high levels of confidence at work.
We all recognize confidence in others. We’re instinctively inspired by and attracted to those who exude a strong sense of self. That usually goes hand-in-hand with having a compelling personal brand.
So, maximizing work-related strengths is an incredible boon for workplace happiness. Naturally, it also leads to increased productivity and better bottom-line results.
5 Ways to Uncover and Leverage Employee Strengths
Often professionals are unaware of their strengths or of how to use them to advance their careers. They take their most powerful talents for granted.
But for strengths to be honed, they first have to be recognized.
As a leader, it feels great to help team members unearth their strengths and pump them up into superpowers.
Here’s how:
1. Identify What Energizes Your Team Members
One of the best ways to uncover professional strengths is to focus on what energizes someone – their interests, passions, and pursuits.
Some of that emerges naturally as we connect and listen to one another (particularly after a weekend or vacation!).
Strengths can also be gleaned using assessments. You can supercharge the process of collecting external perceptions using assessment tools like a personal brand audit, the StrengthsFinder 2.0, or the 360Reach Personal Branding Survey. Other tools, like BrandBoost, can help your team unearth their strengths and understand exactly what makes them unique.
And speaking as an Executive Coach, I love to do an interview-based 360 to gather perceptions of my clients’ strengths and opportunities from their seniors, peers, and direct reports.
These assessments help us understand our unique promise of value or what makes us differentiated and desirable to our audience.
Assessment tools can provide an incredibly uplifting and inspiring experience for team members. The articulation of strengths never fails to animate and ignite talent. Simply knowing your superpowers is energizing!
2. Define How the Strengths Add Value
Once we unearth and articulate unique strengths or personal brand attributes, it’s time to supercharge and apply them.
An exploration with team members that incorporates their career goals gives their strengths context. It’s helpful to ask a direct report something along the lines of: Given your career goal, which of your strengths would you like to put on steroids?
Defining action steps that help them amplify their strengths works wonders when it comes to tying strengths to valuable outcomes at work.
For example, if a team member has an impressive handle on global activity in the marketplace and a deep interest in macro trends, an action step might be for them to take the lead in organizing a global conference. The short-term objective might be to break down silos and deepen collaboration across global offices. Longer-term, the tangible outcome for a professional might be to assume a coveted global leadership role.
Needless to say, for any action step or plan, it’s always necessary to outline and provide the support needed to ensure success.
3. Identify Weaknesses (With Great Caution)
Fixating on weakness is a recipe for burnout.
If a weakness does not get in the way of success, we can let it go.
For example, a sales professional called Lee is fabulous at connecting with clients. But, Lee’s organizational skills are definitely wanting. If poor organization doesn’t negatively affect Lee’s ability to meet sales targets (or chances of promotion) and they don’t think it’s a problem, it might simply not matter.
Then again, if neglecting process and protocol is getting in Lee’s way, inhibiting or slowing progress, it deserves attention.
Building awareness around an area of opportunity – when it’s necessary and actionable – is indeed helpful.
4. Develop a Plan to Address Opportunity
The first step in developing a plan is to reframe a deficit as a developmental opportunity.
And, it must be served up with the needed resources for support and growth.
This usually involves offering training, tools, techniques, mentorship, and coaching. It also means helping an employee articulate the measures of success in addressing an opportunity. For instance – what difference will working on an area of opportunity make?
If the measures of success are meaningful to a professional, motivation follows.
Typically, professionals on the rise want to feel, do things, and be perceived somewhat differently.
In Lee’s case, perhaps they want to feel more confident, streamline their process for greater efficiency, and be perceived as a potential lead for the sales department. With measurable outcomes that are appealing, true growth is more likely.
Finally, helping a team member see how their strengths (the ones they often take for granted) can be used to address an area of opportunity is also hugely encouraging. For example, Lee’s natural ability to connect with people and build relationships will definitely come in handy when asking their peers for help in getting organized!
5. Plan to Leverage Employee Strengths as a Team, Daily
Positive reinforcement is magical. A habit of calling out strengths is a simple but super effective way to leverage them.
Some leaders love to start every meeting with two shout-outs – one for an individual who kicked in a strength and did something awesome and one for the team that collectively pooled its strengths to collaborate with great results. Here are a few more suggestions for daily situations where employee strengths can be leveraged to boost an entire organization’s success:
- Group discussions: Set up a group discussion with your team to explore each other’s individual strengths and how they might best be applied to benefit everyone.
- Strengths-based goals: Set new team and individual goals based on newly-revealed strengths.
- Mentoring: Match individuals as mentors or co-workers with others who might benefit from their skills or knowledge.
- Professional development: Identify opportunities to optimize strengths or develop further professional skills with additional training or external courses.
- Match strengths to tasks: Re-assign tasks and projects according to the strengths you’ve uncovered.
Is Your Team Playing to Its Strengths?
These days, it might be impossible to retain high potential employees forever.
But what IS possible is creating more high potential professionals by discovering, highlighting, and leveraging their strengths in the workplace.
The benefits of understanding and maximizing your team’s strengths go well beyond a boost in productivity. Watching team members thrive and turbo-charge their careers is one of the most rewarding experiences a leader (and a coach!) can have. If you’re ready to uncover your team’s superpowers, the 360Reach Personal Branding Survey is a great place to start!
