4 Steps to Fixing Your Weaknesses by Focusing on Your Strengths

In business, one of the worst things you can do is spend a lot of energy on fixing weaknesses. You can actually fix them better by getting better at your strengths. Here's how. In my first five businesses I spent a lot of time trying to get everyone focused on what we were lousy at, and how to get better. It didn't work. We just wasted a lot of time and energy, and demotivated people in the process. I'm a slow learner, but in our sixth business I finally tried something else that ignored our weaknesses, but ironically worked much better to fix them. I started focusing on our strengths.

The simple principle is that we're good at things that we love doing. We're highly motivated to get better at our good stuff, and completely demotivated to fix our messes. And we found out that focusing on getting a lot better at our good stuff helped us fix our bad stuff. Here's a four-step process you can use to do the same.

Take a few hours or even a whole day (2-3 hours is usually enough) as a team and answer these simple questions. This applies to teams of any type, anywhere in a company, not just leadership teams. But certainly leaders will benefit from answering these questions:

1) What are we really good at?

List 10-15 things or so in 10-15 minutes. You shouldn't need a lot of time to pull out the few things that make you stand out. They are things you love doing, and make you different than anybody else out there. It could be your products, customer service, relationships, teamwork, processes, passion, solid culture, etc. Once you have the list, pare it down to the top 3-4 things you are best at doing.

2) Why are we good at it?

It's really important to ask and answer this question. It's at the core of what motivates you as people, teams, and as a whole company. And that motivation about your good stuff will help you fix the bad stuff.

3) How can we get even better at the good stuff?

Come up with anything you think can help you get better at each one of the 3-4 things you think make you shine. Pare it down to 1-2 things that you could do to get better at each of the 3-4 good things.

At this point in the process, you might begin to see some of the negatives being addressed. If you think being a fast boat is your biggest asset, you might decide that one thing that could make you even faster is making sure the anchor isn't in the water. Pulling up the anchor is boring and nobody wants to do it. But if you connect it directly to getting better at being fast, people can be very motivated to do it. A negative should only be addressed in light of how it will make you better at the good things. Otherwise, no one wants to tackle it. That's how it became a bad thing in the first place - it was isolated from what makes you great.

Develop one simple, practical, measurable strategy you can employ to get better at your 3-4 good things, and make sure you put a date on when you expect to complete them.

3a) What outside forces could get in the way of getting better at our strengths?

Sometimes the challenges aren't internal, many times they are both internal and external. Think about the external challenges that could keep you from getting even better at your good stuff, and develop a simple, measurable strategy to tackle these.

4) What resources do we need to get even better?

This is critical to help you understand that if you're going to get better at your good stuff, you've got to allocate the resources to doing that. Too often we're throwing resources at every loud weakness that comes at us, which just perpetuates the problem of focusing on weaknesses. It's a downward spiral.

So, figure out the good stuff and what will make you even better at the good stuff, and throw your resources at becoming that. In the process, you will have to fix some bad stuff, but your motivation for doing so will be infinitely better than just "fixing bad stuff".

By the way, I believe this works for us as individuals as well.

Article as seen on Inc.com

Why Ask "Why"?

Sometimes I think I’m going crazy. I can’t seem to stop asking, “Why?” It even happens in my dreams – I sometimes ask myself, “Why am I dreaming this?” – WHILE I’m dreaming? So does that make me crazy?  

Well, according to some pretty substantial educational research, people who ask “why” all the time would be categorized as Lifelong Learners or people high on the “Inquisitive Spectrum”. Is that good? If it is, why is it good? There I go again!

I don’t know when I started becoming more comfortable with my continual questioning, but I think it had to do with my job. I worked with reporters for nearly 40 years. I liked them. I still do. And I think the reasons were that reporters, writers and editors tend always to be interested in subjects with which they may not be very familiar. They are Lifelong Learners.

Many such people are “Type E” personalities. They have broad interests and become passionate about the subjects that motivate them. They thrive on new ideas and challenges. They are inquisitive and love to learn. They are “Why” people.

And, interestingly enough, research has found that most entrepreneurs and CEOs are Type E personalities.

Now, before you think I am saying Type E personalities are something special – here are the many downsides. “Typees” (as they are called) want to have complete control over their environment, can be so direct that they can seem to be insensitive and can appear to live on the edge because they have high risk tolerances. These are not easy personality traits to live with – ask my wife! But the breadth of their interests makes life interesting – for them and for others.

So let’s get back to my original point – Why ask Why? As you can see, leaders tend to be Lifelong Learners and Why people. And that’s good because we want our leaders to be asking the tough questions, digging deeply into issues to find solutions and then take the necessary risks to solve the problems.

But do you have to be a Typee to be a Lifelong Learner? No. Typees are lucky – it comes naturally to them but anyone can develop both a love and an ability to never stop learning. A mentor, coach or teacher can help show “why asking why” is important to you, your family, co-workers and friends. Once a person develops that desire to ask questions they begin to understand one another better, develop more empathy, grow and forgive more naturally.

I have always found it interesting that the Bible has so many “why” questions – hundreds of them. However, sometimes I think there are more questions than direct answers. Just take a look at some of them:

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” (Acts 4:25). “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5). “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeramiah 12:1). “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” (Psalm 43:5). “Why have you repaid good for evil?” (Genesis 44:4).

Pretty important and deep questions. And we can even ask, “Why does the Bible ask these questions?” But that’s for anther blog topic.

Asking “why” is good. Seeking answers will stretch our imaginations, creativity and relationships. But we have to do it for the right reasons and in the right way. We should develop the ability to ask “why” with empathy and love. Not only will this develop deeper meanings in our own lives, but we will be showing others that we are interested in them, their lives, interests, successes and trials. Those questions will make us “Other-Centered” – a way of looking at life through other people more than ourselves. Now that’s a good enough reason to become a “Why Person”.

Championing Strengths in Your Organization

What can you expect from championing strengths in your organization? I could list a bunch of features, benefits and statistics, but instead, how about I share a story?

In 2014, the Triad Group, an injection molding and machine company, faced runaway turnover caused by a series of leadership changes, lack of strategic direction, and poor communication with the production teams.

That’s when company owners Russ and Nancy took on the role of Strengths Champions and began a sustained effort to turn the company around by creating a strengths-based organization and thus reengaging managers and employees.

Russ and Nancy used about every tool in the book.

They gave each employee the StrengthsFinder assessment, issued jerseys with the employee’s top strengths stitched in bold letters on the back, developed a six-week training and coaching program for all employees, handed out strengths calendars to help their people focus on their strengths every day, created a bucket wall to remind everyone the power of strengths in promoting positive interactions, and even posted team strengths grids on the shop walls to show off the diverse talents of each team.

Russ and Nancy did other things, but what’s most important are the results they achieved.

• Monthly turnover fell from 85 percent to 8 percent.

• Scrap rate dropped from 35 percent to 1 percent.

• Productivity jumped by 200 percent.

And finally, profitability increased by 233 percent.

There’s no question that throughout this process Russ and Nancy transformed from average managers to two of the world’s greatest managers.

The key to improving all of your metrics is to do what the world’s greatest managers do.

And that is to know your individual strengths (and those of the managers and employees around you) and to actively encourage everyone in your organization to use those strengths at work each and every day.

How do you become a Strengths Champion?

Bring GALLUP Certified Strengths Coach and Convene Resource Specialist Brent O’Bannon to your Forum Day or organization and learn how to champion strengths.

When Your Plan Goes Wrong

It is going to be a very busy day but I have a plan to make it all happen. Just as I make the last turn of my half-mile hike down the boardwalk to my office I reach into my now empty pocket for my keys. I was very aware of the “small” hole in my pocket when I dropped the keys in not paying heed to yesterday’s passing thought, “it would be a bummer to lose these keys.” A quick damage report; office building entrance, office door, mailbox, house, garage, gym pass card, and finally the cabinet key that is guarding my checks (my plan included paying the bills). Ever so hopeful I trace my steps back to the house hoping to see them lying in wait in the sidewalk or that I only imagined putting the keys in my pocket. I mean how could those keys slide through such a small hole, down my leg and land on the pavement without me knowing? With no keys in hand and in total disbelief I head back out to retrace my steps one more time this time stopping at the life guard station, the coffee shop, and a chat with the maintenance guy. Bottom line, today’s plan is not going well!

In the bigger spectrum of life, this is relatively minor hiccup but a great reminder of how often you do not own your schedule. What you think is a critical suddenly drops to the B list. After Caryn calls me out about the tantrum I am throwing, I realize I will survive and with a little regroup I can get back to on a new plan. Heck, according to my phone I already logged in 6,698 steps!

We live in a highly dynamic world. The bigger your goals the more likely these unforeseen challenges will come your way. For me, there were two reminders:

• Honor that little voice. I actually got more warnings then I shared to pay attention and fix the issue before it became a problem

• It took me to way to long to accept reality. Once I stepped back and put everything in its appropriate place it was a simple task to create a work around. I spent too much negative energy spinning around and complaining.

The really good news, at noon the gym called to say a women had dropped my keys off.

If you have a moment, share your tricks for dealing with life’s unexpected crisis.

Groups Can Work!

Some leaders go out of their way to work in groups. They feel they dilute productivity, increase miscommunication, and generally waste time. They are also quick to point to the economic cost of group meetings, generally done by combining the number of persons, their wages per hour and the length of the meeting. The truth is, sometimes they are right. Perhaps they are right often. But not always.

Here are two recent examples where doing group or team work is far and away the more efficient way to go (with some details changed in order to protect the players):

1) An association changing its constitution and bylaws, gathered all committees to do their edits in one morning all together — a mini-retreat with a celebration luncheon at the end. A governance task force floated throughout the room to help groups get past their stuck points. The alternative would have been one committee at a time, across at least three meetings, taking months instead of a morning. 2) A CEO wants her team to develop individual business plans for their arenas of responsibility, and as a subset of the organization’s business plan. Rather than do this in one to one conversations, or department by department, she decides to do this as a departmental manager day-long event.

Here are some benefits from doing this type of work in groups rather than individually: - The amount of time involved to move from point a to point b is reduced. - Communication can be misconstrued whether done in groups or individually.  When done in a group, however, it contributes to building consensus and reinforcement of that communication. - Working in groups provides the opportunity to build organizational alignment and strengthen organizational culture.

Key to success in this type of group work is the leader’s commitment to participate in the process. If it is a manipulative game — with intended outcomes already worked out — colleagues and employees will sniff it out and become jaded, sit on their best ideas, or even act with passive-aggression. If so, then new reasons will be found to avoid group work because they dilute productivity, increase communication and generally waste time.