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.

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strengths Strategies for Coaching Others

DISCUSSION: Why do Conversations about Talent Matter? Strengths Awareness
Confidence
Self-Efficacy
Motivation to excel
Engagement Apply strengths to areas needing improvement
Greater likelihood of success Gallup Poll: Engagement as a functioin of recognition of talent.

2%

100% 80%

29% 57%

60% 40%

Engaged 45%

Not Engaged

61%

Actively Disengaged

55% 40%

20% 16% 0%

33% 22%

38% 1%

2006 Poll Ignored

Weakness

Strengths

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strengths Strategies for Coaching Others

“I have never met a successful leader who wasn’t aware of his talents and working to sharpen them” -Wesley 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 jjob toward your strengths.

•

Donate your strengths to the team whenever possible.

DISCUSSION: Strengths Developme Development nt Framework: Scope and Sequence

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

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) 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.

ASK (Question)

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strengths Strategies for Coaching Others

DISCUSSION:: Coaching Blind Spots •

Be aware of your bias.

•

People take different paths to the same destination.

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

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 work with.

, and I find this person difficult to

3. I’ll need to watch for be helpful in a role. 4. I wish I had more

in action so I can see firsthand how this theme can

talent.

5. I wonder what my world would look like if I had more 6. I need a better understanding of

talent.

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?

.

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

ACTIVITY: Coaching Landmines Consider a possible response to the landmines below:

Issue 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.

Possible Response

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

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.

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

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

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

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?

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

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?

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others

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.

LEARN, LEVERAGE, LEAD: Strengths-based Strategies for Coaching Others 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.