Today's post is about strengths. Everyone has them. Not everyone recognises what they are and leverages them as much as they could. One of the great things about leveraging your strengths is that you're going with the current - doing what you do really well and loving doing it.
At work, we're used to forming new teams - people come, people go, new managers come, new projects are initiated, etc. We have approaches to build teams and strengthen them to achieve great results. Often, there is an immediate deliverable, and so you need to get to know your team members fast and figure out how to best work together. Sometimes that works well, and sometimes not so well...
One of the tools that I have found really effective in getting teams to gel is a tool called StrengthsFinders (http://strengths.gallup.com/default.aspx). The beauty of it is that it focuses on individual's strengths so it's engaging and has a feel-good factor. It generates great, positive and productive conversations as team members compare their strength areas where they are similar, and areas where they are unique. It is insightful in helping team-members understand why they may react differently to different situations or stimulus. And...it creates a databank of skills to then dip into when a particular challenge arises.
My husband and I used this at home early in our marriage, and found it to be insightful and helpful in better understanding each other and how we approach life by leveraging and respecting each of our respective skills. He is a "Learner" and so loves to read, tour the internet, and learn from others various things that I would consider trivial but for him it is the enjoyment and satisfaction of learning which inevitably eventually proves useful! I am "Self-assured" and so naturally don't tend to look to others for input on decisions as my tendency is to have confidence in my decisions. We both have strengths in "Responsibility" - we take them seriously and don't slack off often!
At home, just as (or even more so than) at work - building a team with your partner is incredibly important. Your partner is the one that you will (hopefully) have for life and be the key person that you will share life's journey with. At work, we recognise that we may need to put some effort into this through team building exercises or events - but at home, we tend to assume that this will happen on it's own.
To conduct your own StrengthsFinder - you'll need to purchase 2 codes (or books - you can get them on Amazon) so that each of you can conduct the online assessment and then have fun comparing results and talking through the implications! Enjoy!
Be Together. Work Together. Grow Together.
At work, we're used to forming new teams - people come, people go, new managers come, new projects are initiated, etc. We have approaches to build teams and strengthen them to achieve great results. Often, there is an immediate deliverable, and so you need to get to know your team members fast and figure out how to best work together. Sometimes that works well, and sometimes not so well...
One of the tools that I have found really effective in getting teams to gel is a tool called StrengthsFinders (http://strengths.gallup.com/default.aspx). The beauty of it is that it focuses on individual's strengths so it's engaging and has a feel-good factor. It generates great, positive and productive conversations as team members compare their strength areas where they are similar, and areas where they are unique. It is insightful in helping team-members understand why they may react differently to different situations or stimulus. And...it creates a databank of skills to then dip into when a particular challenge arises.
My husband and I used this at home early in our marriage, and found it to be insightful and helpful in better understanding each other and how we approach life by leveraging and respecting each of our respective skills. He is a "Learner" and so loves to read, tour the internet, and learn from others various things that I would consider trivial but for him it is the enjoyment and satisfaction of learning which inevitably eventually proves useful! I am "Self-assured" and so naturally don't tend to look to others for input on decisions as my tendency is to have confidence in my decisions. We both have strengths in "Responsibility" - we take them seriously and don't slack off often!
At home, just as (or even more so than) at work - building a team with your partner is incredibly important. Your partner is the one that you will (hopefully) have for life and be the key person that you will share life's journey with. At work, we recognise that we may need to put some effort into this through team building exercises or events - but at home, we tend to assume that this will happen on it's own.
To conduct your own StrengthsFinder - you'll need to purchase 2 codes (or books - you can get them on Amazon) so that each of you can conduct the online assessment and then have fun comparing results and talking through the implications! Enjoy!
Be Together. Work Together. Grow Together.
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