Have you ever noticed how certain tasks drag you down and seem to take forever, even if you’re really good at them? Meanwhile other work jobs make the time fly by and leave you feeling energised?
A lot of these feelings depend on our natural strengths. A strength reflects our authentic selves. We are happier, more confident, and feel motivated when we use our strengths. When we focus on the tasks we enjoy, we become engaged and productive. A win-win for you and your team!
Earlier this year, the StudioC whānau participated in individual and group coaching to develop our team's strengths, confidence and collaborations. We used the ‘Strengths Profile’, which is an evidence-based assessment tool, to identify our individual and collective strengths.
Our team now has language that we can use to talk about each of our strengths. For example:
Christine is our ‘Resolver’
thriving when she’s solving difficult challenges.
Rach is our ‘Relationship Deepener’
at her best developing relationships with clients to understand their needs.
Celeste’s top strength is ‘Enabler’
helping the rest of the team to believe in and challenge themselves.
Laura is our ‘Improver’
happiest when she’s developing new systems so things work more smoothly.
Ellie’s top strength is ‘Unconditionality’
with an immense capacity to accept everyone as who they are.
Glen is our ‘Counterpoint’
always providing a different perspective and alternative way of looking at things.
With this new language, we could understand each other’s behaviour better and communicate more effectively. For example, Glen will typically ask lots of tricky questions when we’re having a discussion, which could make some team members feel defensive. But now that we understand his Counterpart strength, we can all recognise his questions and help the team consider all of our options and points of view.
Our team can also now talk about how we can use our strengths more, and lean on each other in areas where we are weaker. For StudioC Senior Creative, Christine Luiten, this was a key takeaway.
“We all have strengths that we should be leaning into more, and allow others to support us using their strengths, rather than worrying so much about the things we don’t do well,”
- Christine Luiten
For example, although some of our team get worn down by problem solving, this is where Christine is at her best. So guess where lots of our tricky problem-solving challenges now go!
Another insight for the team was that there are three dimensions to strengths: 1) whether we are good at them, 2) whether we get to do them a lot, and 3) whether they energise us. Categorising strengths based on all three of these dimensions helps us do more of the things that give us energy and joy, and less of the things that drain our batteries. It helps us dial strengths up and down, so we maximise our potential.
Coaching is a great way to support your leaders and help staff develop their full potential. We offer group and individual coaching, based on tools like the Strengths Finder that are deeply grounded in positive psychology science.
If you’re keen to learn more about developing your team's capability and confidence, get in touch!
