Spring Event Education Session: Understanding & Leveraging Your Strengths

March 15, 2013

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Setting the Stage - Derailment

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Derailment is defined as…

 The moment when the career of a highly regarded and apparently capable manager appears to go dramatically and unexpected off track, threatening to either stall or 'derail' prematurely.  Research has shown that up to a third of executives derail from what should be promising careers.

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An Interesting Case Study – Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was one of the few CEOs who was thrown out of the company he formed and came back to succeed beyond anyone’s expectations. On the positive side, people viewed him as a visionary , innovator and a driving force . Moreover, his negative traits were equally prominent. His teams said he suffered from “ distorted reality ”, bullied them to no end and was extremely insulting . - Sonia Jaspal, Sonia Jaspal’s Riskboard, 2011 4

Potential Causes of Derailment

 Arrogant or self-centered  Lack of self awareness, personal blind spots  A sense of entitlement  Micromanagement, failure to delegate  Greed  Absence of self discipline  Upheaval in their personal life  Or a combination of some or all of the above 5

5 Habits to Combat Derailment

1. Exhibit an openness to feedback 2. Compare your self awareness to feedback received 3. Cultivate personal early warning systems 4. Place yourself in a relationship with someone who tests your motives, decisions and actions 5. Work on the ability to bounce back and grow from adversity 6

Why Spend the Time?

Think of today as a deposit in the self-awareness and development columns… 7

Quotes

“Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong.” “90% of managers think they are among the top 10% of performers in their workplace.” Business Week, August 20, 2007

Peter Drucker 1909 - 2005

Taking the Road Less Traveled

Gallup asked 1.7 million employees to what extent they had the “opportunity to do what I do best every day” question.

Globally, only 17% of employees feel their strengths are in play every day.

And, the longer an employee stays, he/she is less likely to play to their strengths.

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How Many Have Heard This Before?

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ― Confucius

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Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best

every day

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1.Chances are, you don't. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. 2.From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.

– Tom Rath, Strengthfinders 2.0

Strengths Theory

1.Weakness Fixing

a.All behaviors can be learned.

b.The best in a role get there the same way.

c.Weakness fixing leads to success.

2.Strengths Building

a.Some behaviors can be learned.

b.Weakness fixing prevents failure.

c.Strengths building leads to excellence.

The Road Less Traveled…

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About The Author

Marcus Buckingham is a bestselling author, researcher, motivational speaker and business consultant. Based on extensive survey data from interviews with workers in countries around the world, he promotes the idea that people will get the best results by making the most of their strengths. He graduated from Cambridge University with a master’s degree in political science.

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3 Myths

Myth # 1: As you grow, you change Truth: As you grow, you become more of what you already are 15

3 Myths

Myth # 2: You will grow the most in your areas of greatest weaknesses Truth: You will grow the most in your areas of greatest strengths 16

3 Myths

Myth # 3: A good team member does whatever it takes to help the team Truth: A good team member deliberately volunteers their strengths to the team 17

“Trombone Player Wanted”

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Group Discussion

Spend a few minutes with others and discuss: 1. What you took away from the video 2. What your reactions are to what you heard/saw 19

Strength Defined

Your strengths are those activities that make you strong.

 Some activities make you feel weak, or bored, or frustrated, even though you are quite good at them.

 These are not your strengths.

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Individual Activity – Strengths first 1. STRENGTHS

Review the list provided by your facilitator and identify items that

“make you feel strong”

. Something you consistently excel at. Something you look forward to doing, something you find easy to concentrate on and time flies by. Identify 5-10 items from the list.

2. WEAKNESSES

Now review the list again and identify items that

“make you feel weak”

bores or frustrates you, 10 items as well. .

Something you never look forward to, something that something where you can’t concentrate on it and your mind wanders. Identify 5 21

A Focus on Weaknesses?

Question: Is it useful to use these strength descriptions to identify our personal weaknesses?

Answer: This is about maintaining a healthy balance of focus between strengths & cutting weaknesses out of your life.

Knowing our weaknesses can help us identify areas to work on and for identifying tasks that we should delegate to others or find partners to work with – partners strong in our weak areas so that we can complement each other.

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Worksheet Activity – Dipping Your Toe…

1. Jot down 2-3 things you’ll do to leverage strengths, sharpen your strengths or learn from others. 2. Jot down 1-2 actions you can take to cut out or cut back on a weakness or two.

3. Review this list next week and develop a plan of action.

4. After you’d tried a few things, reflect on your lessons learned and decide your next steps and areas of focus.

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Other Resources – includes 2.0 StrengthsFinder

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About the Speaker Jeff Hanan is a National Practice Director in Leadership & Organizational Development at Patina Solutions. The L&OD practice provides consulting services and training in organizational change, process improvement, project management and employee and organizational assessments. Jeff’s previous positions include Vice President of Human Resources for a two-hospital, integrated healthcare delivery system in Green Bay and Director of Personnel Services for a large regional health system. Jeff holds a Bachelors degree from UW-Whitewater and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Contact Jeff at [email protected]

414.520.6701

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