learn, leverage, lead - san jose state · pdf filelearn, leverage, lead strengths-based...

Learn, Leverage, Lead

Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

March 5, 2010

Material included in this handout may not be reproduced or presented without explicit

written consent of the Gallup Organization, and the facilitators.

Strengths

DISCUSSION: Why do Conversations about Talent Matter?

Strengths Awareness � Confidence

Apply strengths to areas needing improvement

Gallup Poll: Engagement as a functioin of recognition of talent.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2006 PollIgnored

16%

55%

29%

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD:



Confidence � Self-Efficacy � Motivation to excel

Apply strengths to areas needing improvement � Greater likelihood of success

Gallup Poll: Engagement as a functioin of recognition of talent.

IgnoredWeakness

Strengths

40%

22%

1%

57%

33%

38%

2%

45%61%


Motivation to excel � Engagement

Greater likelihood of success

Engaged

Not Engaged

Actively

Disengaged

Strengths

“I have never met a successful leader who wasn’t aware of his talents and working to

sharpen them”

-Wesley Clark, Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander

DISCUSSION: Learn Your Own Strengths

• Figure out where and how your strengths can help you in your current position.

• Improve your skills and knowledge to sharpen your strengths.

• Intentionally redesign your j

• Donate your strengths to the team whenever possible.

DISCUSSION: Strengths Developme




ey Clark, Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander

DISCUSSION: Learn Your Own Strengths

Figure out where and how your strengths can help you in your current position.

Improve your skills and knowledge to sharpen your strengths.

Intentionally redesign your job toward your strengths.

Donate your strengths to the team whenever possible.

Strengths Development Framework: Scope and Sequence


Figure out where and how your strengths can help you in your current position.

nt Framework: Scope and Sequence



ACTIVITY: Importance of Questions

� Look to good examples.

� Practice Changing “tells” to “asks”.

� Remember good questions asked of you or questions you would like to be asked.

� Pre plan questions.

Try to change each tell below into an ask.

TELL (Statement) ASK (Question)

From what you say I can

tell you are really

competitive.

I have heard people say

you take on too much

work.

You are so good at making

work flow smoothly.

I could never read as much

as you.

Strengths

DISCUSSION: Coaching Blind Spots

• Be aware of your bias.

• People take different paths to the same destination.



: Coaching Blind Spots

Be aware of your bias.

People take different paths to the same destination.



ACTIVITY: Coaching Blind Spots

No theme of talent is better or worse than any other. The goal of a Strengths Performance

Coach is to help individuals leverage their talents- regardless of the themes they come from –

as a foundation of strengths development.

Write a theme name in each blank below and then discuss what you wrote with a partner in

your group. The benefit of being candid is avoiding a blind spot.

1. If I were really honest, my first reaction to was less than positive.

2. I know a person who has a lot of talent in , and I find this person difficult to

work with.

3. I’ll need to watch for in action so I can see firsthand how this theme can

be helpful in a role.

4. I wish I had more talent.

5. I wonder what my world would look like if I had more talent.

6. I need a better understanding of talent.

7. I fear I may have a difficult time being a great coach when it comes to .

8. I think is a really valuable theme.

9. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone had a lot of talent?



ACTIVITY: Coaching Landmines

Consider a possible response to the landmines below:

Issue Possible Response

I don’t like it!

I was having a bad day when

I took this and I want to take

it again.

I don’t believe it!

I have too much

_______(insert theme).

Would it change if I took it

again?

Are you going to use this

information to hire and fire.

This did not tell me anything

I did not already know.



REFERENCE: Coaching Tips

1. Your value it to help them see the power of their own greatest talents.

2. Check to see if the person understands what you are saying.

3. Offer the person an opportunity to talk about talents from a particular theme.

4. Think themes. Pick up on their vocabulary. Understand the types of talents

associated with them.

5. Individuals develop in response to another human being.

6. As the person what they expect from the session.

7. Start where the person is.

8. Acceptance cannot be forced.

9. Questions are the key to discovery.

10. Talk 20% of the time. Listen 80% of the time.



DISCUSSION: Creation of Strength Based Teams

• Good leaders and managers pay attention to strengths when

forming teams.

• Productive teams have a variety of strengths represented and a

balance of strengths and weaknesses.

• People need not be well rounded, teams should be.

EXECUTING INFLUENCING RELATIONSHIP

BUILDING

STRATEGIC

THINKING

Achiever Activator Adaptability Analytical

Arranger Command Developer Context

Belief Communication Connectedness Futuristic

Consistency Competition Empathy Ideation

Deliberative Maximizer Harmony Input

Discipline Self-Assurance Includer Intellection

Focus Significance Individualization Learner

Responsibility Woo Positivity Strategic

Restorative

Relator

What Strong Teams Have in Common

• Conflict doesn’t destroy strong teams because strong teams focus on results

• Strong teams prioritize what’s best for the organization and then move forward.

• Members of strong teams are as committed to their personal lives as they are to

their work

• Strong teams embrace diversity

• Strong teams manage for talent



DISCUSSION: Strengths Based Management

Strength Based Meetings

� Publish each department member’s strengths.

� At each staff meeting have one member share his most dominant strength with the

group.

� Discuss situations where she can donate her strength more often.

� Share his most dominant weakness.

� Discuss how the department can help her stop using her weakness.

�

Strength Based Performance Reviews

� How much time do you spend discussing how to fix weaknesses?

� How much time do you spend discussing strengths?

� Can you change that paradigm?

The Strategy of the Strengths Chat

One of the best ways to identify each person’s unique talents and motivations is to ask if

you simple questions and to listen carefully to the answers. Have a strengths chat.

• Brainstorm places where a great manager would have a strengths chat with others?

�

What are some basic starter questions that can be used during a strengths chat?

• Where can I expect to see the best of you?

• What tasks associated with this project/position do you look forward to the most?

• What do you love about your job?

• What was the best day at work, you had in the last three months? What were you

doing and why did you enjoy it so much?

• Where and when can I lean most heavily on you?

• What was the best praise or recognition you’ve ever received?

• When should I tread lightly with you?

• What kinds of situations, should I actively steer you away from?

• What tasks associated with the project/position do you dread?

• What about your job do you loathe?

• What’s the best way for you to learn a new skill?



Strengths chat tips for managers

• Remember a strengths chat is not a goal setting session or a performance review but

a conversation directed at ways to allow the employee to play to their strengths

more often.

• Listen. Do not confirm or deny whether or not the employee is correct about their

strengths or weaknesses.

• Paraphrase back your understanding of their self described strengths.

• Listen for phrases like; I can’t wait to… or I love it when…or I can’t stand it when…

• Do not talk about abilities, skill sets, style or performance. It is a conversation about

what makes the employee feel strong.

Strengths Commitment

� What is one thing you will do differently starting tomorrow based on what you have

learned today?



SUGGESTED READING

Aburdene, P. (2005). Megatrends 2010. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton.

Allen, David. (2002). Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. New York:

Penguin Press.

Allen, David. (2004). Ready for Anything: 52 Productive Principles for Work and Life. New

York: Penguin Press.

Bowman, Sharon L. (1998). How To Give It So They Get It. Glennbrook, NV: Bowperson Press.

Buckingham, M. & Coffman, C. (1999). First, Break All the Rules. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Buckingham, M. & Clifton, D. (2001). Now, Discover Your Strengths. New York: Simon &

Schuster.

Buckingham, M. (2005). The One Thing You Need to Know. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Buckingham, M. (2007). Go Put Your Strengths to Work: Six Powerful Steps to Achieve

Outstanding Performance. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Buckingham, M. (2008). The Truth About You: Your Secret to Success. Nashville, TN: Thomas

Nelson Publishers.

Buckingham, M. (2008). The Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful

Women Do Differently. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Clifton, Donald O and Nelson, Paula. (1995) Soar with Your Strengths. New York: Dell.

Clifton, Donald O. and Rath, Tom. (2004) How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work

and Life. Omaha: Gallup Press.

Clifton, Donald O., LIesveld, Curt and Winseman, Albert L. (2004) Living Your Strengths: Discover

Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your Community. Omaha: Gallup Press.

Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't. New

York: HarperCollins publishers.

Cooperrider, D., Avital, M.(2004). Constructive Discourse and Human Organization: Advances in

Appreciative Inquiry. New York: Elsevire Publishing.

Covey, S. R. (2004). The Eighth Habit: Finding Your Voice and Helping Others Find Theirs. New

York: Simon and Schuster.

Covey, Stephen M. R. (2006). The Speed of Trust: the One Thing That Changes Everything. New

York: Simon & Schuster.

Fox, Jennifer, M.Ed. (2008) Your Childs Strengths: Discover Them Develop Them Use Them. New

Youk: Penguin Group.



Gallup Youth Development Specialists. Strengths Explorer For Ages 10 to 14.

Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink:The Power of Thinking Without Really Thinking. New York: Little,

Brown & Co. Publishers.

Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New

York: Little, Brown & Co.

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown.& Co.

Godin, Seth (2008). Tribes. New York: Penguin Publishing.

Greenleaf, Robert K. (2002). Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power

and Greatness. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

Jones, D.(2002). Celebrate What's Right with the World. (DVD). National Geographic.

Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. ( 2002). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

National Research Council (U. S.) Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice.

(2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition.

Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Rath, T. & Clifton, D. (2004). How Full Is Your Bucket? New York: Gallup Press.

Secretan, Lance. (2004). Inspire: What Great Leaders Do. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Wagner, R. & Harter, J. (2006). 12 The Elements of Great Management. New York: Gallup Press.

Wagner, R. & Mueller, G. (2010). Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at

Work and in Life.

Wheatley, M. (2005). Finding Our Way. San Francisco: Barrett Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Wheatley, M. Parentheses 2002). Turning to One Another. San Francisco: Barrett Koehler

Publishers, Inc.

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