Strengths Based LeadershipA Process for Self-Discovery

Executive Leadership Institute

Graduate School of Banking at Colorado

Westminster, Colorado April 2015

What is Strengthsfinder 2.0?

Strengthsfinder 2.0 is a tool to seek out your dominant strengths and a program to focus on capitalizing on these strengths.

Four books: Now, Discover Your Strengths Strengthsfinder 2.0 Go Put Your Strengths to Work Strengths-Based Leadership

Best Boss Ever Activity

What are the characteristics or traits you

observed with this person that made them so

special?

What causes you to follow a leader?

What causes you to choose not to follow a

leader?

The Gallup Research

50 years of research – most admired leaders

20,000 in-depth interviews with senior leaders

Studies of more than one million work teams

Study involving 10,000 followers

Key Question: Why do you follow this person?

Three Key Findings

The most effective leaders are always..

1. Investing in their “Followers” strengths

2. Surrounding themselves with the right people

& maximize their teams.

3. Understand their “Followers” needs.

Why People Follow – According to Gallup

Need leader to provide solid foundation – hope

Can count on in times of trouble

Need to know leaders core values are solid

Growth/Change is good, also need stability =

confidence

Confidence in financial stability = 9X greater

chance of engagement

Wh

at is a

stren

gth

?

Consistent,

near perfect

performance in

an activity

Strength

The ability to provide near perfect performance in a given activity.

Strength =

Definitions

Talents: a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.

Knowledge: what you know as a result of either formal or informal education

Skill: the basic ability to move through the fundamental steps of a specific task.

A Simple Formula

Talent X Investment = Strength

What is his

strength?

A Shift in Thinking…

Typical or traditional theory tells us that we learn from our

mistakes.

If we want to learn about our successes, we must study success,

not our mistakes.

What Are Your Strengths?

“Most Americans do not know what their

strengths are. When you ask them, they

look at you with a blank stare, or they

respond in terms of subject knowledge,

which is the wrong answer!”

Peter Drucker

What Do You Believe?

Each person’s room for growth is in the area of his or her greatest strength.

The greatest human growth potential is in the area of greatest weakness.

Strength Building Paradigm Weakness Fixing Paradigm

Some behaviors can be learned, many are nearly impossible to learn.

The best in a role deliver the same outcomes, but use different behaviors.

Weakness-fixing prevents failure. Strength-building leads to success!

To have success, we should try to replicate the behaviors of the best performers.

All behaviors can be learned, if a person applies him/herself.

Weakness-fixing is the key to success!

Focus on Weakness Culture or Paradigm

What happens when managers focus only on

developing followers weaknesses?

Weakness or Non-Talent?A weakness is something that gets in our way, or the

way of others.

What can we do about weaknesses?

Putting the Themes to Work

We need to learn how to take our existing job

and reshape it around our themes; make our

jobs play to our strengths.

Establish a new framework for work:

Pinpoint what invigorates & what depletes you

Stay in control of your hours

Explain what you are doing

STRENGHTSFINDER

THEMES

Activator

Adaptability

Analytical

Arranger

Belief

Command

Communication

Competition

Connectedness

Context

Deliberative

Developer

Discipline

Empathy

Fairness

Focus

Futuristic

Harmony

Ideation

Inclusiveness

Individualization

Input

Intellection

Learner

Maximizer

Positivity

Relator

Responsibility

Restorative

Self-Assurance

Significance

Strategic

Woo

Four Domains of Leadership

What Makes A Great Leadership Team?

Four Domains of Leadership Stength

Executing

Influencing

Relationship Building

Strategic Thinking

Executing Influencing Relationship Building

Strategic

• Achiever• Arranger• Belief• Consistency• Discipline• Focus• Responsibility• Restorative

• Activator• Command• Communicati

on• Competition• Maximizer• Self-

Assurance• Significance• Woo

• Adaptability• Developer• Connected• Empathy• Harmony• Includer• Individual• Positivity• Relator

• Analytical• Context• Futuristic• Ideation• Input• Intellection• Strategic

Four Domains of Leadership

Questions…You might ask yourself

Are there any obstacles to building my strengths?

Why focus on these themes?

Is there significance to the order?

Will I become too narrow if I focus on just my signature themes?

Group Activity Share your strengths with the group, one

strength at a time.

Provide a brief description of the strength.

Provide and example of a time when the

strength worked for you.

Provide an example of a time when the

strength may have hurt you by over using it, or

mis-applying it.

Speak Up

Continually voicing the concept of

strength-based leadership will lead to

greater utilization of the principles

Discuss strengths when assigning roles &

responsibilities

REMEMBER: The goal is to approach

your work the majority of the time from a

strength perspective; attempting this all of

the time is likely unattainable

Managing Strengths

“Mediocre managers assume (or hope) that their employees will be motivated by the

same things, driven by the same goals, desire the same kinds of relationships, and

learn in roughly the same ways.”

What percentage of the US

workforce is actively engaged at

work and believe they are doing

what they do best?

16%

Developing People

The best way to develop people and net the greatest return on investment in

their growth is to identify their talents; then help them add the skills and

knowledge that build strengths -- the ability to provide consistent, near-

perfect performance.

Thank you for your attention and participation!!

Questions?