Claiming and Aiming Your Unique Strengths
This article discusses my recent discovery of the Gallup 34 Strengths personality tests, and how I have begun to apply this to my work at TMY Advisory.
My Own Strength Profile
Last year I was sent a link to undertake the Gallup 34 Strengths test by a friend. I undertook the test and received my unique strengths profile – which on first read were no surprise to me. Here are my top 5 strengths:
- LEARNER
- STRATEGIC
- ACHIEVER
- FOCUS
- FUTURISTIC
I’ve always known that I have an insatiable curiosity. I love learning about absolutely anything and everything, and I am happiest when I am absorbing knowledge (LEARNER). I quickly recognise patterns and see multiple options for achieving goals – that is big picture thinking (STRATEGIC). Being present is a struggle and I’m constantly asking what’s next. I live for the future, and I can see it so clearly (FUTURISTIC). It feels great when I am kicking goals daily to move me toward that future (ACHIEVER). Once I commit to something I bend my will toward making it happen (FOCUS).
So, whilst it was validating to see these things come out as strengths, it wasn’t any great revelation to me. But then I spent some time with Strengths Coach, Linda Lenord from At Full Strength. Linda took me through my entire profile, and mapped out how my top 15 themes work together to make me who I am. This exercise was so thought provoking, and really opened my eyes to how truly unique everyone is, and how channelling our top strengths is the path to being the best we can be.
Uniqueness of Each Person
What’s makes the Gallup 34 Strengths superior to other types of personality tests such as DISC, is that no 2 people will ever have the same results. Whilst it does have 4 overarching categories for the strengths it provides a level of detail and granularity that the others just don’t match. Some statistics about the Gallup 34 Strengths.
- Chance of someone with the same top 5 strengths – 1 in 278,000
- Likelihood of someone with the same top 5 strengths in the same order – 1 in 33,390,000
- Probability of someone with the same 34 strengths in order – 1 in 295,232,799,039,604 x 1024
Each person truly is one of kind!
My Changed Approach to Leadership
The discussions with Linda also helped me to understand the strengths that were in tension with my own. This is helping me to understand why some behaviours, and people for that matter, irritate and annoy me. This has been unexpectedly beneficial for me and my approach to leadership. When other people are embodying strengths that rub up against mine, I can now acknowledge the reason for my frustration, and let it go. When other people are channelling their own strengths, it is my job as a leader to let those strengths shine, even if they are in tension with my own.
Building Strengths Based Teams
As a society we are too often trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Managers and Leaders recognise the traits and skills that helped them succeed and expect to see those in others coming through the ranks. When employees don’t excel in the areas we think they should, they are shoe-horned down a certain career progression route, without an actual discussion or conversation.
We need to move away from hiring, firing, and developing based on task-based position descriptions and move toward team building based on strengths. This shift will require leaders and managers to be introspective and acknowledge their own strengths, AND weaknesses, and also analyse the overall strength profile of their teams. This knowledge can then be used to build a strengths profile for ideal candidates to join the team. If the team is already strong in Strategic Thinking, then you do not need another team member with that strength. But if the team lacks initiative, hiring someone talented in the ACTIVATOR strength, means having someone who can give the team the initial push it needs to get moving toward its goals, whenever the need arises.
Finding and developing talent based on strengths in addition to the usual responsibilities, qualifications and experiences will allow business to avoid hiring surprises and build high-performing teams. During the hiring process all prospects should undertake the Gallup 34 test, and only those that have the required strengths in their top 15 can be considered for the role. The hiring manager can then use experience and qualifications to decide between otherwise equal candidates.
Lesson – There is No One Way to be Successful
In writing this article I was trying to determine some strengths that would be essential for roles in the infrastructure and construction industry. I wrote up a list of 5 strengths (and of course they were in my top 15). Then I checked the strengths list of 3 colleagues who have also undertaken the Gallup Strengths 34 test. Interestingly only one of the Strengths I listed appeared in all of their Top 15s. In fact there were only 2 strengths that appeared consistently in the top 15 across all 4 of our profiles –
- ARRANGER (organise people and resources for maximum effectiveness, and be flexible doing it)
- MAXIMIZER (which is make good things, great things).
On reflection these 2 strengths aren’t surprising for Project Managers, but are the essential?
The key take-away from this exercise is that there is no one right way to be a successful professional in the construction and infrastructure industry. Success is dependent on the performance of a team, and a team should be comprised of individuals working in crafted roles that let their strengths shine. Research from Gallup also shows that when people can live their strengths, they are more committed and perform better.
So, What Are My Unique Talent?
Understanding how each strength works is insightful. But discovering the synergy of how they work together is where the real power is.
The interplay of my Top 5 looks like this:
I use my LEARNER strength to learn about a wider range of topics. This broad knowledge base also me to dream up exciting FUTURES for my life, the project, etc. My STRATEGIC strength then helps me envision the many possible paths for me to get to realise these FUTURES. I then draw on my FOCUS strength to collapse all paths and FUTURES down into a single vision and bend my will towards bringing it to life. As my vision is far into the FUTURE, I then use my ACHIEVER strength to break that big goal into bit-sized short-term actions and tasks, and tick these off and as I move with laser-FOCUS toward my desired future.
Wrapping Up
Being able to articulate how my unique strengths work together and make me who I am is invigorating. I no longer think about my weaknesses, only in terms of how I can develop and maximise my natural talents. I want to be the best version of myself I can be.
When I am interacting with others I am also trying to work out what their strengths are, so I can help draw these out and get the best results for my teams, clients, colleagues, friends and family.
If you find this interesting, and want to take the test yourself here is the link to the Gallup website What Are the 34 CliftonStrengths Themes? | EN – Gallup.
I will continue to share my insights as I discover more about these strengths, and how I can apply these to leadership, team building and delivery of infrastructure projects.
If you want to discuss how applying this strengths framework can help your teams or you personally please get in touch.
