Written by: Trudy Bateman, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Corporate Leadership Council research has found that employee performance is 36% higher when managers emphasise their strengths. So, how can leaders spot these strengths to achieve the best outcomes from their teams?
Research from Gallup has found that a manager can account for 70% variance in team engagement. Competing demands from stakeholders can make managing even a small team very challenging, especially whilst adapting to hybrid ways of working.
It’s not always easy to give your full and undivided attention to your team, but this doesn’t mean you can’t improve their engagement, as well as improving outcomes by recognising their strengths.
Strengths are the things we are naturally good at and enjoy, and we know that when someone uses their strengths their performance and productivity have been proven to increase. You can spot the strengths of your team members by paying attention to their energy, what gets done quickly, what they learn quickly and the language they use when talking about the activity.
We also know that using our strengths is known to improve our team working ability, because knowing the strengths of team members facilitates efficient allocation of tasks, enabling greater role flexibility.
Here are just a few tips on how to bring out the best in your teams using strengths:
Align strengths with tasks
Find out what your team’s individual strengths are and help them to understand their use. You can use this knowledge to help them to work on the right things at the right time. We are more likely to achieve our goals when we align them to our strengths, because they become more personally meaningful.
Feedback on strengths
If you observe a colleague using a strength, tell them! Explain the positive impact it had on getting a task done and encourage them to use that strength more. Don’t be tempted to just say ‘that’s good’.
Help to overcome weaknesses
Help colleagues and team members overcome any business-critical weaknesses that may impact the team or the team goals. Consider how their strengths may be able to overcome their weaknesses or see who else in the team might be able to support them using their own strengths.
Have career conversations
You don’t need to have all the answers to each team member’s career plans but knowing their aspirations and the strengths they want to use more of is a great start. This will help you to add rewarding responsibilities to their role that will play to their strengths and help them to develop further.
Team meetings
Regular check-ins with your team are a perfect opportunity to understand team dynamics and reflect on how you can leverage their collective strengths. They are also an opportunity for everyone to share and talk about their strengths and goals. This will give other team members a chance to spot opportunities for themselves and colleagues.
Team culture
Naturally use strengths language and adopt the culture of strengths wherever possible. Delegating is a great way to give colleagues an opportunity to develop team members strengths.
And finally be yourself
One of the most important tips of being a strengths-based manager is to be authentic. Be open and honest to build trust and celebrate others authenticity and the uniqueness of their Profile to enable everyone to be their Best Self.
You can find out more about strengths and identify the strengths of your team by taking a free Strengths Profile today.
Trudy Bateman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Trudy Bateman is an expert in strengths and their applications. As Director of Strengths Profile, Trudy works with coaches, organisations and universities to help them understand the strengths of their people, so they can develop them – ensuring not just a successful career, but one they love. Having led the team responsible for the implementation of successful product strategy and delivery of strengths-based assessments for over 13 years, Trudy has delivered thousands of strengths solutions through coaching, facilitating and consulting, including the accreditation of over 3,000 Strengths Profile practitioners. She is a key speaker, author of The Strengths Profile Book and resident expert in strengths.
