Three steps to leverage your strengths
I'm a fan of strengths based coaching. This means that we work on finding your strengths and dial them up. Where we identify capability gaps or 'weaknesses' in areas you think you need to achieve the outcomes you want, we use your existing strengths to solve for the gap.
Why? Because you'll get results faster. You'll be happier.
Step 1) Figure out what you're great at.
Try answering these in a work context:
- what would be missing if you didn't make your usual contribution?
- what comes easily to you that others do less well/ at slower pace?
- what are you doing when time seems to fly by?
- what do people come to you for?
- and in your personal life, what role do you play in your family?
There's loads more questions I could ask you - this gives you a start.
Step 2) Look at the context and environment around you when you're leveraging your strengths.
What do you need to be seeing/ hearing/ thinking/ feeling/ experiencing in order for you to be at your best? For example, is there a room of the house you work better in, specific colleagues you're more creative around, urgent deadlines that motivate you?
Step 3) Actively apply your strengths when you're experiencing a challenge.
We do this naturally to a degree. For high performance, we need to do this more purposefully.
For example, if a client approaches you with a big problem, you'll initially get caught be surprise triggering a fight/ flight/ freeze moment. You'll recover from this faster when you pause for a moment and leverage your strengths. For example:
- If your network is one of your greatest strengths you'd pull together a group of experts and arrange a call.
- If your on the spot thinking is a strength, you could launch immediately into asking insightful questions.
- If your creativity is a strength, you can get someone to help with up front questioning knowing that you're able to create multiple options with that insight.
Complete these 3 steps and you'll have raised your self-awareness, built confidence in your innate strengths and started to leverage them more actively.
A personal example is that I hate researching options (e.g. for our house refurb). I find it intensely boring. But I'm excellent at providing the up front brief and making a quick decision when I'm presented with options. So between me, my husband and some professionals we'll each leverage our strengths to get it done!
Rather than me telling you good approaches for problem solving, decision making, negotiating etc. The best approach is always going to be your best approach. My role is to help you uncover what strengths drive your optimum performance and your 'works every time' strategies.
Hit comment and let me know how you've leveraged your strengths this week.
P.S. Take the time to identify your strengths and actively use them to get fast results.
P.P.S. There's 2 ways you can currently work with me: 1) a 2 hour breakthrough NLP session or 2) a 4 session coaching programme over 2 months. All phone based. When you're ready, hit reply and we'll agree which approach best serves your goal.
