tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-979450464921262842024-02-07T11:21:55.681-03:00CLIFTON STRENGTHS BLOG GERThe Blog for engaged employees, managers and entrepreneurs who want to discuss strengths-based management, leadership and career issuesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-74120684685972355142013-12-01T09:04:00.001-02:002013-12-01T09:36:31.237-02:00Robert Greene's "Mastery" - an outstanding book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">A few months ago, a friend told me that the author Robert Greene had published a new book with the title "Mastery". I was immediately intrigued as this title resonated with my Maximizer talent and with my passion for a strengths-based life. And Robert Greene is one of my favourite authors who goes very deep in this writings about such complex and diverse matters as power, seduction and warfare (three different books).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have been listening to the audiobook version of "Mastery" over the last four months while commuting with my car. I couldn't hear it all at once, as it was so profound and stirred me up emotionally each time I listened to it. Now that I have concluded the book, let me say that <b>this is probably the best book I have ever read in my life </b>and therefore, I'd like to share with you some of the major take-aways for me from a strengths-based point of view. I do so with at least two blog posts and this first one here is about the connection between Greene's idea of Mastery and Donald Clifton's ideas of talents and strengths.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">First of all, what is Mastery according to Greene?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"[It is] a form of power and intelligence that represents the high point of human potential. It is the source of the greatest achievements and discoveries in history. It is an intelligence that is not taught at school nor analyzed by professors, but almost all of us, at some point, have glimpses of it in our own experience. […] Instead of flitting here and there in a state of perpetual distraction, our minds focus and penetrate to the core of something real. […] The problem we face is that this form of power or intelligence is either ignored as a subject of study or surrounded by all kinds of myths and misconceptions, all of which only add to the mystery."</i> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well, for people who know their talents and are familiar with the strengths-literature, this "form of power" is not such a mystery. Indeed, I find Greene's description of Mastery the best description of a strengths-based live. Note that I can only quote a few lines out of a great book here in this post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So what does Greene say about how to get to Mastery? And does he mention talents?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"Natural talent or a high IQ cannot explain future achievements",</i> explains Greene (p. 10) by giving examples, thereby not denying their existence, although referring here to the conventional wisdom that people like Mozart or da Vinci must have had some sort of natural talent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The route to Mastery is for Greene <i>"a youthful passion or predilection, a chance encounter that allows them to discover how to apply it, an apprenticeship in which they come alive with energy and focus. They excel by their ability to practice harder and move faster through the process, all of this stemming from the intensity of their desire to learn and from the deep connection they feel for their field of study. And at the core of this intensity of effort is in fact a quality that is genetic and inborn - not talent or brilliance, which is something that must be developed, but rather a deep and powerful </i>inclination<i> toward a particular subject."</i></span></blockquote>
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Note that Greene does not refer to scientific studies. He does not mention any source at all. So this must be his own personal opinion after studying this subject. As such, we have to pay special attention and test our own opinions, which is a healthy process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Greene makes a number of interesting statements here: he claims that at the core of Mastery is something genetic and inborn, which he calls "inclination", a concept that remains a bit opaque even as he goes on to describe it in more detail. And he says that talent or brilliance are not at the core,which does not mean they don't matter. He even claims that they are not genetic and are developed during life and therefore may already be part of Mastery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The word "talent" here once again refers to the popular idea that there is such a thing as "natural talent" for playing golf, football, piano or chess, and that this talent is in large part inborn, which is also why the few gifted children display such a talent in early age already in a "natural" way, without massive effort and exercising.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Clifton also debunked this popular idea of talent and saw in talents (just) "naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior". From the training I received from Gallup, I understand that it is not yet clear to what extent such patterns are inborn (genetic) or develop in the early years of life. A best guess is that there is a 50%/50% distribution. But Gallup asserts that by the time one becomes a young adult, these talents are developed and won't change even if we would try very hard. In a way, we are "hardwired" for these talents, although not necessarily genetically so. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Clifton's idea of talents seem to resound with Greene's idea of "inclination". Greene even says that inclination stems from our genetic make-up, which is unique and that <i>"this uniqueness is revealed to us to the preferences we innately feel for particular activities or fields of study."</i> I find it a bit daring to say that our genetic make-up gives us a preference for mathematics, certain sports, solving puzzles or playing with words, but perhaps it is true, and Greene claims here that this is a scientific fact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I do not think it is worth delving into the nature vs. nurture debate of Mastery or talents, as I readily accept that we have a certain "make-up" as well as preferences and inclinations by the time we are adults, and is best to discover them and build our lives on them. Both Greene and Clifton seem to agree that there is something like a natural inclination at the core of Mastery, and that "hard practice" is nevertheless required to get to Mastery. In fact, these inclinations are the "fuel" that get us to Mastery. I find it of utmost relevance that Geoff Colvin writes in his bestseller "Talent is Overrated" along the same lines, as well as Malcom Galdwell in his bestseller "Outliers" (with the famous 10'000 hours). Both of their books draw extensively from the research of Prof. Anders K. Ericsson, who basically says there is no such thing as talent and expert performance is achieved mainly by a special kind of hard practice, called "deliberate practice".</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">However, if we deny the existence of talents, the question that arises as a consequence is why some people are more motivated or disciplined for hard practice than others. Geoff Colvin tries to give an answer to this question in the last chapter of this book, titled "Where Does the Passion Come From?" He explains that it is an intrinsic motivation (e.g. fascination with a field of study, need for power, need for achievement, need to do good in the world) rather than an extrinsic one (e.g. money), but extrinsic motivators that reinforce intrinsic drives can be highly effective. He goes on to explain that the right kind of feedback is very important, particularly so in childhood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Again, this idea of intrinsic motivation sounds familiar to me. Fascination for a field of study? Could there not be talents like Learner, Intellection, Input, Ideation, Connector at the root? Need for Power: Significance, Competitor? Need for achievement: Achiever, Significance, Maximizer? Need to do good in the world: Significance, Includer, Developer?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If the talents as defined by Gallup/ Clifton/ Buckingham were indeed the true cause for "passion for hard practice", or the "inclinations" that Greene talks about, then of course we gain a lot by knowing our talents and designing our roadmap to Mastery based on these talents. Greene does not mention Clifton, but as he writes about "inclination", it sounds very much like talents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The next big question then is of course: how to we develop our talents or inclinations into Mastery? What does Greene tells us about this?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Indeed, most of the book is about exactly this question, full with very interesting examples, such as Mozart, Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Darwin, the architect Calatrava and many other famous and often historic figures. My next blog post will deal about this. But let me already say that the route to Mastery is not a straight line, but rather an iterative process. But Greene proposes very interesting "strategies" than can help to make the erratic line more straight. Mastery is the ultimate goal, like check mate in chess play. But we do not need to know that we will check mate the other player's king on square F4 after 26 moves by using our Queen and a Bishop. Many roads can take us to the goal of check mate, and so is it with Mastery as well. This was a major learning point for me, as I somehow tend to think that with enough insights, intelligence and the right kind of planning, I could develop a plan to achieve Mastery without many deviations. Perhaps, this is still true, but not in the way I imagined it to be. More about this soon…</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-12849283946579391582013-05-13T04:54:00.002-03:002013-05-13T04:55:47.393-03:00Mapa de Talentos (in portuguese)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>PERSISTÊNCIA E EXECUÇÃO</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>RELACIONAR COM PESSOAS</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Comunicação</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-45918224575408797722012-08-26T17:04:00.002-03:002012-08-26T18:13:09.700-03:00StrengthsFinder Full-34 Report goes public!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">This is truly breaking news for all people who love the StrengthsFinder: Gallup's chairman and CEO Jim Clifton announced <a href="http://thechairmansblog.gallup.com/?goback=%2Egde_61180_member_148416254">in his blog on August 18th</a> that everyone can now get the StrengthsFinder report with all 34 ranked talents for 89 Dollars. It is also possible to get the Top-5-Talent report for 10 Dollars without buying one of the Gallup books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I admire this decision and it increases my respect for Gallup. It has always bothered me that the full-34 version was mainly available to employees who are fortunate enough to work for a company that could afford Gallup's consulting services. This bothered me also in view of the the "revolutionary", "make-the-world-a-better-place" rhetoric in many of the Gallup books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And believe me: it makes a big difference if you know your ranked sequence of all 34 talent themes rather than only your top five (signature) talents. In fact, in my strengths-based coaching training that I received in the past from Gallup, it was always emphasized that it is really our top 10 talents that define us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">From an acquaintance who personally knows Jim Clifton, I learnt that is has always been a concern of him how to spread the StrengtsFinder tool and philosophy to a wider public, while of course not jeopardizing the economic engine of Gallup Consulting. I imagine that these are two difficult objectives to balance. And hence, I applaud Gallup's courageous step to make the StrengthsFinder available to a much wider public.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I find it also interesting that Gallup has not chosen to go the way that many providers of personality assessments have gone: to develop a network of independent, certified coaches as a special "sales channel" for the StrengthsFinder. This emphasizes their commitment to really make it available to a broad public. And I also know from own experience that the true value add of strengths-based coaching is not in administering a psychological assessment and provide some standardized feedback, but to provide a highly individualized feedback for a client, taking many other factors such as personality into account, and then provide clear, actionable recommendations for how to develop talents into strengths that go well beyond the general advise you can find in the Gallup books.</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-58416803671677411722012-07-22T09:38:00.001-03:002012-07-22T09:46:58.296-03:00StrengthsFinder on LinkedIn<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">There is a quite interesting and active group on LinkedIn that has the Clifton StrenghtsFinder has its core issue. There are some quite inspiring discussions, testimonials of members' strenghts quests, and members provide strengths-based coaching to each other online.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">It is a closed group (which is good because it gives more privacy to the discussions inside) but your request to join should be accepted promptly.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Click on the link below or search for "StrengthsFinder" in "Groups:"</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/search-fe/group_search?pplSearchOrigin=GLHD&keywords=strengthsfinder"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">http://www.linkedin.com/search-fe/group_search?pplSearchOrigin=GLHD&keywords=strengthsfinder</span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-37643976450247863332011-10-30T17:32:00.003-02:002012-07-22T09:46:41.633-03:00An interesting interview with Marcus Buckingham<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Marcus Buckingham published the book "Now Discover Your Strengths" together with the creator of the StrengthsFinder, Dr. Donald Clifton. Clifton acquired Gallup Consulting which uses the StrengthsFinder as a centerpiece in its consulting work. Buckingham worked for Gallup for quite some time and left the company at some point to start his own business. In this interview, he reflects on his career, the importance of strengths, Peter Drucker's views on that and his relationship with Clifton.</span><br />
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<a href="http://thedx.druckerinstitute.com/2011/09/marcus-buckingham-on-drucker-on-the-dial/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://thedx.druckerinstitute.com/2011/09/marcus-buckingham-on-drucker-on-the-dial/</span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-8619867227663431652010-02-23T15:40:00.007-03:002010-02-23T15:51:49.219-03:00Jose Mourinho, the Greatest Strengths-Based Coach of our Time?<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 24px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I found an interesting article on CNN.com about the portuguese soccer coach Jose Mourinho from Inter Milan in Italy. I am not too much into soccer, I have to admit, but Mourinho has been so incredibly successful that he has not escaped even my scant soccer attention. I was pleased to find something confirmed that I had previously read already about him in a different source: an important pillar of Mourinho's success has to do with strengths-based management! Read the article to learn more. I have highlighted the most relevant text in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">blue color</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">. </span></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span mce_="" style=" ;font-size:14pt;">Is your boss a 'Special One'?</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">By Chris Murphy, CNN</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">(CNN) -- The success achieved by Portuguese soccer coach Jose Mourinho suggests that his players would not just run through a brick wall for him; they'd happily march through an obstacle course full of them to earn his respect.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The self-proclaimed "Special One" is the flamboyant manager of Italian champions Inter Milan who are currently on course to take the Serie A title for the fifth consecutive year.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">But if his current Inter squad love him, then his former Chelsea players adore him, after his successful stint at the club between 2004 and 2007 delivered their first English Premier League triumphs in over 50 years.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">England international and Chelsea stalwart Frank Lampard says of Mourinho: "I love him as a man and as a manager."</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">The two sets of players collide in Europe's most prestigious club competition -- the Champions League -- on Wednesday, when all eyes will be on the game's ultimate touchline showman in his first competitive match against his old club.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">But how does Mourinho arouse such complete loyalty from his employees? And is he everything a good boss should be? He does and he is, according to sports psychologist Andy Barton.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Respect</span></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">"Mourinho's role with his players is the same as it should be in any office," Barton told CNN. "He is very, very supportive of them and treats them as equals. <span mce_style="color: #0000ff;" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); ">He knows he needs to focus people on what they do well, and then on what they need to do to improve.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">"Sometimes in the workplace managers think it is all about being ruthless when that is the least effective way of doing things. <span mce_style="color: #0000ff;" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); ">Appraisals can turn into a long list of what employees do wrong. That doesn't help at all; it puts them in a negative mind set.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span mce_style="color: #0000ff;" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); ">"But Mourinho will always look to turn a positive into a negative. If a team is 3-0 down at half time and the manager starts screaming about all the mistakes they've made it isn't going to help</span>. <span mce_style="color: #0000ff;" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); ">Instead he'll focus on some of the things they are doing right, and then tell them how they can turn the game around.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">"You have to be specific about what is required; that way, the player or employee starts to build up a mental image of what is needed. <span mce_style="color: #0000ff;" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); ">A good manager is committed to trying to get the best out of an individual, and knowing how each member of staff ticks. </span>Mourinho is a master at that."</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/02/19/soccer.mourinho.champions.chelsea/index.html">Read the remainder of the article at CNN.com (click here)</a> </p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-34409301292745914282009-10-16T09:11:00.063-03:002017-02-13T20:09:14.581-02:00Being a Strengths-Based Entrepreneur<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I haven't been writing for some time. The reason is that I am quite busy with building up my new company, a distributor of medical products in Brazil (to be seen in the picture below).</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It has always been my declared goal to build this company as a strengths-based organization. After years of working in a large multinational company where any strengths-based initiative has to be carefully embedded in the larger context of the company, I have been very much looking forward to this opportunity of building a company from zero.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So how is it going? Well, to share with you some of my experiences so far is the purpose of this post. But let me briefly say a few words to those who may not be familiar with the idea of a strengths-based organization. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What is actually a strengths-based organization? Essentialy, it is an organization that is built around the strengths of each employee. </span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The importance of focusing on employee's strengths rather than weaknesses is not really new. For instance Peter Drucker emphasized it already in his book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Executive-Classic-Drucker-Collection/dp/0750685077/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255701360&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"The Effective Executive</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">" (see the quote on the right column in this blog). But the idea of building a whole organization around this idea is -at least to my humble knowledge- something more recent. I understand that it was born out of the extensive leadership research that Gallup conducted in the 90s and whose findings were published in the bestseller </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Break-All-Rules-Differently/dp/0684852861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255701211&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"First Break All The Rules"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Gallup identified 12 questions that employees in high-performance organizations consistently answer differently than employees in mediocre-performance organizations. One of them, and possibly the most important one is: "</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">" It seems to be an obvious, almost trivial question, but it turns out to challenge conventional management wisdom in complicated ways when consistently put into practice. Most of the book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Break-All-Rules-Differently/dp/0684852861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255701211&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"First Break All The Rules"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> deals with this question and its implications, and it has also become a center-piece of Gallup's Consulting practice. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Chapter 7 "Building a Strengths-Based Organization" in the book "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Strengths-Marcus-Buckingham/dp/0743201140/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255701304&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now Discover Your Strengths</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">" of Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton provides a concise "operating manual" for such an endeavor. The authors highlight the following four pillars which I would like to call...</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Four Commandments of a Strengths-Based Organization:</span></b></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">1. "You should spend a great deal of time and money selecting people properly in the first place".</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">2. "You should focus performance by legislating outcomes rather than forcing each person into a stylistic mold". </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">3. "You should focus your training time and money on educating [each person] about his strengths and figuring out ways to to build on these strengths rather than on remedially trying to plug his "skill gaps". </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">4. "You should devise ways to help each person grow his career without necessarily promoting him up the corporate ladder and out of his areas of strength"</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I try to follow these four commandments in my work as an entrepreneur. What is my experience so far, what can I share with you? </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It takes quite some persistence to keep focused on these four commandments in the heat of the battle of building up a company, especially in Brazil. There are so many things you have to worry about, from regulatory affairs, bureaucracy, implementing the IT system to hiring the right people and of course kick-starting sales. I confess that I frequently wonder whether building a strengths-based organization really should be a priority at this time. Yet, I believe it should be because it is such a great opportunity for competitive advantage. </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I find the most important starting point for any strengths-based entrepreneur to "select" her business partners based on complementary strengths as much as circumstances may allow. If that choice is determined by other factors (capital, skills, network), then great efforts should be made in defining each partners' role and contribution based on his strengths.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">For example, my business partner's strengths are spread over "Execution", "Relationship Building" and "Influencing", while my strengths are more concentrated in the fields of "Strategic Thinking" and "Influencing" (I use here the terms of the four demains of leadership strengths as defined in the book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Strengths-Based-Leadership-Tom-Rath/dp/1595620257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255703193&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Strengths-Based Leadership</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"). As a consequence he feels at his best with sales and supplier relations, whereas I naturally gravitate towards general management, marketing, employee selection and development. A blank spot for both of us is talent and patience for repetitive, administrative chores with an eye for detail (which I suspect to be not uncommon for start-up entrepreneurs). Yet the strengths-based mindset has helped us to identify and own up to this weakness and to find ways to compensate for it. Of course, our analysis went beyond these four domains.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Venture capitalists frequently say that, rather than business plans and financial forecasts, they are most interested in the entrepreneurs themselves, their track-record and how they combine as a team. A strengths-based mindset is therefore an excellent basis for entrepreneurs.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">So much for "strengths-based partner selection". What about employee selection? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton highly recommend a "psychometrically sound" and objective system to measure talent. Although they claim that “a number of such instruments exist”, I actually know few of them and anyway they seem to be more of an emerging phenomenon here in Brazil (readers are welcome to correct me and point out to interesting solutions affordable to smaller companies). In my training with Gallup, I was always advised not to use their Clifton StrengthsFinder® as a selection tool (although it seems that Gallup itself uses a tool that has some similarities with it). Unfortunately, at this moment we have neither the time nor the money to build such a sophisticated system, although it nevertheless remains high on our list of priorities. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But what my partner and I do is to dedicate a substantial amount of time to discuss what strengths we should really be looking for. Again, this may sound obvious, but in the heat of the battle and with our eternal lack of time, there is often a temptation to assume that this is clear to both of us anyway and to take short-cuts. Another challenge is to find precise words for strengths, to avoid overly generic descriptions. As we drill down to the real substance of strengths, we are often surprised to discover diverging points of view which -when conciliated- lead us to very interesting new insights. Employees and candidates that were question marks all of a sudden turn out to be much more interesting talent, and “shining stars” are put on our watch list. In a number of cases, we have seen then that these changes in perception were justified by later performance. </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">There is a learning point that -while not at all new to me- strikes me again and again as a powerful new insight: one has to be very careful not to draw simplistic conclusions about the ideal profile of a sales rep (or any other employee), often based on some stereotype. While there surely are common strengths that make up the top sales men in our industry, these strengths come in people with many different "colors and shapes". For example, one of our better performing sales reps initially left a very reserved impression, almost to the point of being timid and a bit akward. Yet, we discovered that he brought some important customers with whom he had developed excellent relationship over time, through honest communication and living up to his word (Clifton Talent Themes: Responsibility? Belief? Relator?)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A great help for strengths-based selection is behavior-based interviewing. I have written about this elsewhere in this blog. I can recommend the book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/High-Impact-Interview-Questions-Behavior-Based-Person/dp/0814473016/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255701131&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“High Impact Interview Questions - 701 Behavior-Based Questions to Find the Right Person for Every Job”</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. The title may sound a bit too much like a trivial, “easy answer” self-help book, but many of the questions are really helpful and what you need as an entrepreneur are practical suggestions (like specific interview questions) rather than a lot of theory. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Another important issue for building a strengths-based organization concerns the second commandment about performance measurement, especially when building up an very sales-oriented organization. In Brazil, a very substantial part of the sales force's revenue is usually a sales-based commission. Its obvious problem is that sales people are tempted to drive down prices to make their sales goals. As a consequence, complicated systems of rules are established, such as different price lists with different commissions and sales reps often have to check with their managers whether they can give certain discounts or not. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We decided to pay commission based on a contribution margin (a gross profit proxy). By replacing sales with profit as the key performance measure, we can give much more flexibility to our sales reps with regard to how to achieve their targets and how to do their work in general. This approach may be nothing special in the USA but is rather rarely and timidly chosen here in Brazil for a variety of reasons. For one, a commission based on some "obscure" profit figure is much less transparent for sales reps than a commission based on straightforward sales figure. Therefore, a profit-based commission requires that sales reps trust in the company's ability and honesty to provide accurate profit calculations, which is unfortunately not as common here as elsewhere. Furthermore, there is a cultural element which makes anything related to profit subject to great confidentiality and obscurity here, to the point where sometimes even the owners themselves have only a vague notion of the real profit drivers of their business. Breaking such deep-rooted habits is not easy but represents an opportunity for competitive advantage for a new player.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Finally a few words about the third commandment about training. It is still too early to make major training initiatives for strengths-based selling and the like. But nevertheless, I make consistent efforts to use a strengths-based language in our communication with employees and even service providers, and thus introduce some of the concepts in a rather low-profile, "stealth" way. I really want the strengths-principled to be lived first rather than talked to death. I avoid any specific “jargon” like the Clifton StrengthsFinder’s 34 talent themes and rather refer to the four domains of leadership strengths: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking (read the book "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Strengths-Based-Leadership-Tom-Rath/dp/1595620257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255703193&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Strengths-Based Leadership</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">" for more on this). They are relevant not only for leadership jobs but also for sales and many administrative jobs. People intuitively understand them without major explanations and they can trigger very interesting discussions. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We encourage people to discover and use their own way of doing things. Unfortunately, there are significant cultural obstacles here in Brazil like in many other Latin American countries. The Brazilian executive coach and headhunter Augusto Dias Carneiro gets it down to the point when describing a deep-seated, often unconcious belief here: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“those who work, do not think; and those who think, do not work” (if you can read portuguese, check out </span><a href="http://vocesa.abril.com.br/escolha-sua-profissao/materia/como-empresas-funcionam-483652.shtml"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">this interview</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> with him). Carneiro goes on to say that this mindset often drives expat managers here crazy, for it complicates delegation and a pro-active search for solutions. And it results in a instinctive tendency to "force each person into a stylistic mold" rather than "legislating outcomes", completely against our second commandment. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The good news is that the culture of a company can offset such dysfunctional aspects of a nation's culture, at least partially. But it takes a lot of effort, and similar to the education of children, such an effort is probably most fruitful in the early "childhood" of the company. As a result, a cultural obstacle for larger, traditional companies can turn into an opportuntity for younger companies, and start-up entrepreneurs have the outstanding opportunity to implant a strengths-based culture into their company's DNA right from the beginning. But having said that, it also becomes clear why start-up companies should not treat the vision of a strengths-based organization as a "nice-to-have" posteriority for a more mature stage in the company's life-cycle. </span></div>
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<i>I would like to invite other entrepreneurs, managers or leaders to share their experience in building up a strengths-based organization, especially when you don't have the money to pay expensive consultants and have to "adapat, implement and overcome" Please send me your text to olavi[at]gmx[dot]net</i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-16596343983904708502009-07-10T20:09:00.004-03:002009-10-16T21:32:08.027-03:00Harvard Business Review Article about Strengths<div><br /></div><div>I found this article about strengths-based (career) management in HBR. I must say though that for people who are familiar with the Gallup and Buckingham books, there are no major new insights to be found here. But it is a good introductory summary for people who are not familiar with the issue. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2005/01/how-to-play-to-your-strengths/ar/1">http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2005/01/how-to-play-to-your-strengths/ar/1</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-36313491624235410852009-07-10T14:42:00.030-03:002009-10-16T14:34:46.232-03:00Maslow and Strengths-Based Management<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFx9tgCRe4SLAIJhqmQjEXS5QI-Ia0ZtPbrIneEoRQ7N4uIoX4l35G3-mUEtgemIeiz49Bo1d4mAgAlcisHtym2H7_lkFSDxOTMxLX4MzwLFhNP86JHY3X7hEe5p5jAqHuHjE5MlbDis/s1600-h/employee-engagement.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB2K1y4c6SUCTFToAuw6XlyY7tFDVoNpp2SVLNAzrxijqu_XLtoTLgsVH4Z6LOK7PDzq9JuNy4QVN9RWJJAkgVGShPhRW7fx036ZUkGxBHIqJPv4aGkyKmKNlCAhUZyBeQVYK4QnQa6k/s1600-h/ed+hoffmann.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB2K1y4c6SUCTFToAuw6XlyY7tFDVoNpp2SVLNAzrxijqu_XLtoTLgsVH4Z6LOK7PDzq9JuNy4QVN9RWJJAkgVGShPhRW7fx036ZUkGxBHIqJPv4aGkyKmKNlCAhUZyBeQVYK4QnQa6k/s400/ed+hoffmann.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357686404356899234" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This week I have had the pleasure to meet Dr. Edward Hoffman here in Sao Paulo. Dr. Hoffman is a professor at Yeshiva University in New York and author of such interesting books as </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Right-Be-Human-Biography-Abraham/dp/0071342672/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247247884&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"The Right to Be Human"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, the only biography of Abraham Maslow, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Future-Visions-Unpublished-Papers-Abraham/dp/0761900519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247474859&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Future Visions - The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Psychological-Testing-Work-Interpret-Personality/dp/0071360794/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Psychological Testing at Work"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. I first met Dr. Hoffman in cyberspace in the </span><a href="http://employeeengagement.ning.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Employee Engagement Network</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> shortly after creating this blog last year. We share many interests but most importantly the joy of being married to a Brazilian woman! For me, this is a very nice example of how small the world has become thanks to Internet, blogs and social networks.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For someone like me, author of a blog that has a lot to do with personality (testing) and concepts similar to Maslow's self-actualization and Drucker's writings, this was of course a most interesting meeting, and with the agreement of Dr. Hoffman, I would like to share with you a couple of key insights.</span></div><div> </div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was born in New York, the eldest of seven children of Russian immigrant parents. As a young man, he displeased them greatly by choosing to study psychology rather than law.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maslow was described by Drucker and others as the "the father of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanistic_psychology"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">humanistic psychology</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">". Drucker said about Maslow's work: "it had a lasting impact on me. I became an immediate convert--Maslow's evidence is overwhelming. But to date very few people have paid much attention."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I quote the front flap of Dr. Hoffman's biography:</span></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"More than any other American-born psychologist in the last half-century, Maslow has powerfully affected the way we think about ourselves. He advanced an entirely original concept of human nature - the hierarchy of inborn needs - that turned psychology on its heels. In contrast to classical approaches that studied human weaknesses and neurosis, Maslow focused on healthy, exceptional, high-achieving individuals."</span></blockquote></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is here where I see the most striking parallel to the work of Donald Clifton and the ideas behind the strengths revolution, for Donald Clifton also focused his work on defining what is good about people, instead of what is wrong. As a consequence, he is considered as the grand-father of what became to be known as </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">positive psychology</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The key idea behind the "</span><a href="http://gmj.gallup.com/content/547/The-Strengths-Revolution.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">strengths revolution</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">" is that we should focus much more on developing our strengths than compensating our weaknesses. This may seem obvious or easy, but it often isn't, for we are usually pretty bad at identifying and spelling out our talents, and we underestimate the effort it takes to develop them into real strengths. As far as I know, the American psychologist Donald Clifton (1924-2003) essentially developed this idea, although Peter Drucker seems to have written something similar more or less around the same time. Clifton also developed a taxonomy of 34 talents and a test to assess them. In honor to this man's contribution to these ideas and indirectly to my life, I use his name in the title of this blog. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet I am starting to suspect that Donald Clifton may have been influenced by Abraham Maslow's work. And if that was the case, I feel compelled to point this out in my blog. So an important question I made to Dr. Hoffman was whether he is aware of any contact or communication between Maslow and Clifton. But this was apparently not the case. But considering Maslow's influence in the field of psychology at the time when Donald Clifton started his studies, it is safe to assume that Clifton must have read some of Maslow's articles. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Among students of business administration and managers, the most well-known concept of Maslow is probably the "</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_needs"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">hierarchy of need</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">s" with physiological needs at the bottom, followed by need for safety, belonging, esteem and with self-actualization at the top. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I quote The Economist's "Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus" (p. 268):</span></div><div></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Self-actualization, at the top of pyramid of needs, is the state that has most fascinated followers of Maslow. What is it? Who has achieved it? Maslow helped a bit by giving a list of people he felt had reached self-actualization: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, William James, Albert Schweitzer, Benedict Spinoza and Aldous Huxley..."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"He then helped by further describing what it was that motivated people at this level. These people, he claimed, sought after truth, rather than dishonesty; uniqueness, not bland uniformity; completion, rather than incompleteness; simplicity, not unnecessary complexity; playfulness, not grim, humorless, drudgery; and self-sufficiency, not dependency". </span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I am still in the process of learning more about Maslow's ideas, especially with regard to management and self-actualization. But to me, the word "self-actualization" has always had the connotation of realizing one's innate potential, like talents. Thus, I asked Dr. Hoffman to what extent Maslow might have anticipated many of the ideas of Donald Clifton and Peter Drucker with regard to talents and strengths. Somewhat to my surprise, I learned that this was only marginally the case, such as in the idea of seeking uniqueness, not bland uniformity. But overall, developing strengths was not exatly a corner stone of Maslow's ideas about self-actualization. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Next, I asked Dr. Hoffman what he would recommend to a manager or entrepreneur who would like to foster a culture of self-actualization, also referred to as "enlightened management". To my surprise, Dr. Hoffman's top of the mind answer was the importance of workplace esthetics: pleasant, beautiful office buildings and decoration plays an important role to stimulate self-actualization. But of course, there is more to it, most importantly the freedom to effectuate one's own ideas, try things out, make decisions, and make mistakes.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">These ideas remind me very much about the findings of Gallup's extensive research about effective leadership as summarized in the book "First Break All the Rules": Great leaders respect the individuality of their employees, their unique "configuration" of strengths and weaknesses. As a consequence, they resist micromanaging, and define desired outcomes rather than the steps how to get there. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">That involves an above-average amount of freedom and tolerance to mistakes. It means that a job, especially a managerial job, has to be "large". Let's listen to Peter Drucker in his book "Management" (p.406):</span></div><div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The most common mistake (in designing managerial jobs) is to design the job so small that a good man cannot grow. … If a job is designed so small that the incumbent can learn everything in a few years, the majority of managers will be frustrated, bored, and no longer working. They will, so to speak, “retire on the job”. They will resist any change, any innovation, and new idea, for change can only be a change for the worse for them and threaten their security. Knowing well that they are not actually contributing any more, they are fundamentally insecure.”</span></blockquote></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Let's note that this was probably first written around 1973. Now let's fast forward to the year 2004 and read </span><a href="http://tmbc.com/site/about_us/press_articles/?p=154"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">an article in USA Today</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">:</span></div></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"The majority of workers are what Gallup calls ROAD Warriors — retired on active duty. Gallup says its research has unearthed 12 questions, called the Q12, that separate ROAD Warriors from those who are “engaged” with their work. Engaged workers give more “yes” answers to questions such as “At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?”"</span></blockquote></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The common theme here: "retired on the job". We could also say "disengaged". Gallup surveys show that only 28% of workers in the U.S. are engaged, and that 17% are actively disengaged. Of course, this has many different reasons, but I believe that an important one is the fact that jobs are too narrow for self-actualization and as a consequence, people retire on the job.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In other words, I see an important connection between Maslow's self-actualization, Drucker's "large" managerial jobs, Donald Clifton's strengths revolution and Gallup's research on employee engagenemt. Note that I am not a scholar in these fields, just a humble manager on a journey in these most interesting intellectual land.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is interesting to note the many similarities between Gallup's Q12 and Maslow's hierarchy of needs, like "I know what is expected of me at work" (Security), "In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work" (Esteem), "My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person" (Belonging), "I have a best friend at work" (Belonging), "This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow" (Self-Actualization).</span></div><div><br /></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFx9tgCRe4SLAIJhqmQjEXS5QI-Ia0ZtPbrIneEoRQ7N4uIoX4l35G3-mUEtgemIeiz49Bo1d4mAgAlcisHtym2H7_lkFSDxOTMxLX4MzwLFhNP86JHY3X7hEe5p5jAqHuHjE5MlbDis/s400/employee-engagement.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359196294051140914" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 196px; " /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gallup uses also a pyramid to group the twelve Q12 questions into four essential groups (see picture on the left; <a href="http://www.gallupconsulting.ro/event/about-gallup.php">click here</a> for further information).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">You may be interested in t<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">he </span><a href="http://www.mindgarden.com/products/hvvs.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hoffman Vocational Value Scale</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, which measures job satisfaction and is rooted in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In conclusion:</span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Does it surprise that so much is being talked about innovation these days, but so little seems to be accomplished in most conventional companies?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Does it surprise that so many companies these days complain about the shortage of talent and have to "buy in from outside"? Some companies go to great lengths in order to attract talent, from revamping the corporate websites to expensive recruiting events to polishing up their image with all kinds of social responsibility and P.R. "stunts". But I dare to say that most of this really misses the point. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The concepts of self-actualization and enlightened management, as "esoteric" as they may seem to be first, may be more relevant than ever in today's world! However, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Dr. Hoffman points out that Maslow's writings on management tend to raise more questions than to give all the answers (see for example Maslow's book "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=maslow+on+management&x=0&y=0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maslow on Management</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"). But we should have learnt a lot more about management since Maslow died in 1970, not at least thanks to Peter Drucker and the Gallup research, as well as the avalanche of books about leadership in recent years. The problem now is -as always- to put it in practice!</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><i>For further reading about Maslow and strengths, I recommend </i><a href="http://www.strengthsacademy.com/3-tips-for-understanding-abraham-maslows-work-on-strengths"><i>this post</i></a><i> on the Strengths Academy site.</i></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-25113742717489570202009-06-20T09:12:00.005-03:002009-10-16T21:27:07.656-03:00Personality Profiles: Valuable or Not?<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Have a look at this </span><a href="http://www.talentmgt.com/assessment_evaluation/2009/June/974/index.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">interesting article</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> of Sandra L. Shullman in the latest on-line edition of Talent Management. It offers some interesting thoughts on where personality profiles can be useful (e.g. leadership development) and where they can be misleading, especially when not used correctly (e.g. selection). Overall, I would say that this article is pretty much in line with what has been written in this blog.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-39550349534082874422009-05-31T13:14:00.004-03:002009-10-16T21:29:41.223-03:00More books...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><br /></div>I am always looking for new books that have to do with discovering your talents and developing them into strengths. I have found two more which I am currently reading and I hope to write a review here soon:</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">1) "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Genius-Historys-Revolutionary/dp/0060937904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243786706&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Discover Your Geniu</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">s: How to Think Like History's Ten Most Revolutionary Minds" by Michael J. Gelb</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2) "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fitting-Overrated-Survival-Anyone-Outsider/dp/1402748841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243786748&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Fitting in is Overrated</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: The Survival Guide For Anyone Who Has Ever Felt Like an Outsider", by Leonard Felder, PhD. </span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-62151946989255770022009-05-31T11:03:00.011-03:002009-05-31T13:13:13.127-03:00MBTI versus Strengths-Based Leadership<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:25.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px; "></span></span></p><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was the first personality assessment I did in my life and it had an important impact on my self-awareness and leadership development. Later, I came to appreciate the Clifton StrengthsFinder and the Five-Factor-Model, but up until today I often think in terms of the 16 MBTI types and make comparisons.</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This blog is about strengths-based management and leadership. But recently, after browsing through one my MBTI books, I was wondering to what extent strengths-based leadership is similar or different from MBTI-based leadership. <br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For those who don’t know: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a personality assessment based on the late Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung’s work. It has four dimensions: </span></span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Intoversion vs. Extroversion: the source of our energy <br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sensing and Intuition: how we gather information <br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Thinking and Feeling: how me make decisions <br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Judging and Perceiving: how we approach life <br /></span></li></ul></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“These four scales are used to sort into 16 types; the types themselves are are characterized by certain values, preferences or cognitive styles. Information about a person’s type is then used for career guidance, team building and other activities associated with organizational development.” writes Dr. Robert Hogan in “Personality and the Fate of Organizations” (p. 28). </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And he goes on like this: “Most personality psychologists regard the MBTI as little more than an elaborate Chinese Fortune cookie. … Nontheless, psychological consultants have discovered that the business community has an endless appetite for MBTI-based feedback.” </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There seems to be quite some discussion among academic psychologists and MBTI supportes to what extent the MBTI is scientifically proven to work, and the Feeling-Thinking dimension seems to be particularly controversial. I am not an academic psychologist, so I have little to contribute to this discussion here. If you would like to learn more about this, <a href="http://scholar.google.com.br/scholar?q=costa+mccrae+%22reinterpreting+the+Myers-Briggs%22&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search">click here</a>.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Academics like Hogan and Costa&McCrae prefer to work with the Five-Factor-Model, which still has many similarities with the MBTI. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While I often had some difficulty to assess myself or other people with regard to the 16 MBTI types, I had less problems with the Five-Factor-Model. For example, introspection, an important "ingredient" of self-awareness and therefore leadership development, is considered a quality of introversion in the MBTI literature. More recent Five Factor research however shows that introspection has more to do with a high "Openness to new Ideas", which is somewhat similar to the Intuition-Sensing dichotomy in the MBTI. For these and other reasons, I prefer to use the Five-Factor-Model in my work as a manager and personal coach. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Anyway, this post is not about a comparison between the MBTI and the Five Factor Model. Instead, it is about a comparison between the MBTI and the Clifton StrengthsFinder, and more importantly, about a comparison between leadership based on the MBTI vs. strengths. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I define strengths-based leadership as the principles and practices of a leader who wants to make best use of his employee’s strengths in their everyday work. Gallup research has shown such employees are much more engaged with their work, which in turn has a very positive effect on customer satisfaction and shareholder return. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What would be MBTI-based leadership? I would think that it is actually very similar: I would define it as the principles and practices of a leader who wants to respect people’s individual differences (based on the insights gained from MBTI), leveraging their strengths and compensating their weaknesses. I would dare to say that the MBTI literature tends to emphasize equally strengths and weaknesses, whereas the StrengthsFinder literature emphasizes more the development of strengths. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Thus, at a first look, I don’t see too much of a difference between the two leadership styles. There is at least one important difference, though, that has more to do with logic of the MBTI and StrengthsFinder, rather than the leadership style based on them: In the MBTI, especially if you work with the 16 types, there is a tendency to some sort of black and white thinking: you are either an introvert or an extrovert, for example. The MBTI folks would probably aknowledge that this is a simplification necessary for the workplace environment, and that in fact people usually are on a continuum between the two sides, rather than on opposite ends. There is a risk however that this nuance is forgotten once people receive their label “INTJ” or “ESFJ” in a typical MBTI training at the office. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What I have always found fascinating about the StrengthsFinder is that people can have “contradictory” combinations of talents: at the same time someone can have Intellection, which tends to me more of an introvert talent, and Woo, which is clearly an Extrovert talent. Another one can have Adaptability or Activator, which are more of a Perceiver nature, and Focus, which is more of a Judging nature. Someone can have Empathy, which is more of a Feeler talent, and Analytical, which is more of a Thinking talent. Such combinations really exist. And this may explain why some people have difficulty in finding their place among the 16 MBTI types. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As a consequence, the 34 talent themes of the StrengthsFinder are more complex than the 16 MBTI types, not only for the simple fact that 34 is more than double than 16, but more importantly, because the 34 talent themes can have more complex and sometimes counter-intuitive combinations. This is certainly a challenge for consultants who have limited time in a typical leadership workshop, and who have to deal with managers or employees who may have limited patience for too much complexity around personality. The 16 MBTI types are already quite an amount of information to absorb, let alone the 34 StrengthsFinder talent themes and their myriad combinations. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Nevertheless, in my practical experience, I have seen that the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder talent themes can also be successfully taught in a short time to a broader audience of employees. As a leader, however, you need to develop an advanced understanding of the 34 talent themes, their combinations and implications on workplace performance. That requires time for studying and practicing, which is probably not the most common privilege of managers these days. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Another important consideration is the question whether or not to select people for MBTI type or talents. Gallup, the owner of the Clifton StrengthsFinder, advises against using this tool for recruiting purposes. The main reason is that talents are not the same as strengths, and what you need on the job are well developed strengths. I would say that the same logic applies to the MBTI. If someone is an INTJ, for example, he has certain talents, which he may or may not have developed into real strengths. I am not sure what the MBTI supporters advise with regard to using the MBTI for recruiting, and I would not be surprised if there were different oppinions. But from what I have seen in the literature, the MBTI is very much used for team building and –I would assume- for the selection of team members. From there, it is only a small step to using it for the selection of new hires. I think that this could be a bit dangerous. </span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-73557225336238444182009-05-28T15:02:00.004-03:002009-06-20T09:12:41.079-03:00Values in Action<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A guest post by </span></span><a href="http://generallythinking.com/about.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Warren Davies</span></span></a></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If you read Matthias's blog, chances are you're pretty sold on the idea of focusing your life around your strengths. You probably understand that it is strengths, not weaknesses, that are your greatest areas for growth and development, and that you'll be more satisfied when doing activities that make use of your strengths. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">You'll probably also be familiar with the StrengthsFinder approach to strengths, based on Gallup's extensive analysis of over 2 million interviews. What I'd like to do today briefly, is introduce you to a different model of strengths - Vales In Action.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Values In Action, or VIA, is the brainchild of positive psychologists - researchers whose aim is to make a scientific study of things like happiness, character, and optimal functioning. Because of these foundations, the focus is slightly different than the performance-oriented StrengthsFinder. The focus is on developing character and virtue.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are 24 strengths in VIA, as opposed to the 34 in SF. These are grouped into six virtues - Wisdom/Knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence. Developing the strengths under each category is the route to developing that particular virtue. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A different method to discover these strengths was used than in SF. in SF, interviews were analysed to discover the emerging themes. With VIA, a literature search was conducted, of all major scientific, philosophical and religious texts from all around the world. The strengths of character endorsed by the various schools of thought were compared to a strict criteria; those strengths that met the criteria were kept, those that didn't we're abandoned.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">After this, extensive research was done to test the validity of the model. Surprisingly high correlations were found between countries in their endorsement of these strengths. Despite the amazing variety of culture we have on our planet, we all seem to display similar virtues. Strengths like kindness and fairness are the most endorsed throughout the globe, and some studies have even found correlations even with tribal cultures. These results suggest a common character, a common humanity.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As well as helping us to learn about our own species, the model has shown great practical benefit too. In several studies, participants who discovered and used their 'signature strengths' (similar to the SF concept of signature themes) in their daily life found themselves growing increasingly happier. In my undergraduate project, I discovered that using the VIA signature strengths was a way to become more engaged in a task, to find that state of flow, otherwise known as being 'in the zone'.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are many commonalities as well as differences between the two models. I discuss these in an article on my own site, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=97945046492126284&postID=7355722533623844418"></a></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=97945046492126284&postID=7355722533623844418"></a><a href="http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=506"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">http://generallythinking.com/blog/?p=506</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">">Values In Action VS StrengthsFinder; take a look at that if this brief introduction has triggered your curiosity. Also, you can take a test to discover your VIA signature strengths for free, at Martin Seligman's <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=97945046492126284&postID=7355722533623844418"></a></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=97945046492126284&postID=7355722533623844418"></a><a href="http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">/">Authentic Happiness website. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If you're looking to live a more strengths-based life, you'll enjoy the idea of looking at your strengths from another perspective, one focused on good character and virtue, to compliment the performance-focus of StrengthsFinder. And if what they're saying in the papers is true, maybe more virtue in the world is just what we need.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A technical note by Matthias: for reasons unknown to me, you may experience some difficulties when clicking on some of the links mentioned above. If that is the case, try clicking on the refresh button of your browser, or try typing the letters "www." in front of the address where they are missing.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:12px;"> </span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-49639680574196159282009-05-10T18:24:00.009-03:002009-06-06T18:50:31.847-03:00New Book: Primal Management<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><br /></div>Through this blog, I have had the pleasure to meet very interesting people. One of them is Paul Herr who has just published a new book with the title </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Primal-Management-Unraveling-Performance-ebook/dp/B001WAJHZQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241990712&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Primal Management"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> In there, Paul writes about the importance of overcoming weaknesses which is a bit at odds with the strengths-management's focus on strengths. But as I have always said, this blog is also a place for critical thoughts about strengths-based management. With the permission of Paul Herr, I would like to copy here a brief excerpt of our email conversation with some of his concerns:</span><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p></div><blockquote><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">"Strengths are obviosly vital to building a confident, high self-esteem workplace. However, there is more to the story.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The culture (people around us) define which skills and abilities are desireable and worth acquiring. According to my theory, our brains automatically track the tribe's optimal skill portfolio, and skills that are missing from our portfolios create painful psychological wounds that can only be healed by acquiring the missing skill. This, I suggest is nature's version of tough love--master the survival skills of the tribe, or else!</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">So strengths are vitally important, but healing psychic wounds is important too. For example, I managed to perform admirably in math, even though I don't have an aptitude for it. Mastering this difficult skill healed one of my psychic wounds."</span></span></span></p></div></blockquote><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Read more on Paul Herr's views in </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=97945046492126284&postID=3861566014512095852"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">his comment in this blog</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. </span></span></p></div></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-23646228330493393482009-05-08T13:48:00.024-03:002009-10-16T21:32:33.445-03:00Talent SpeedReading II: How to do it<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In <a href="http://strengthsblogger.blogspot.com/2009/05/speedreading-talents.html">my previous post</a>, I made the case for (and against) talent speedreading, the art of quickly identifying other people's talents and strengths, as well as weaknesses. Now, let's proceed to the practical part: how to do it.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">First of all, you need to define a vocabulary, a taxonomy or some sort of theory about talents. The Clifton StrengthsFinder is an obvious choice for talent speadreading, but it is not the only one.<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example, Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger wrote a book with the title "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Speed-Reading-People-Language/dp/0316845183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241697254&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Art of SpeedReading People"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> which also inspired me to write this post. Their system is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), an inventory of personality type which has its roots in the theories of the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As I outlined elsewhere in this blog, the study of personality (both the theories about it and your own personality) is most helpful in understanding your strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, the MBTI and the Tiegers' book provide many helpful insights into identifying talents. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In this post, I propose to work with the 34 talent themes of the Clifton StrengthsFinder. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Next, you should develop a thorough understanding of these 34 talent themes. You should know them <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">inside out</span>. Books like "Strengths-Based Leadership" or "Discovering Your Sales Strengths" provide important insights and examples. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But even if you have a very good but theoretical understanding of these 34 themes, it may be difficult to properly identify them in the "heat of the battle" of a typical working day. Some talents can be confusingly similar, like Strategic and Deliberative, Intellection and Connectedness, Woo and Positivity, Relator and Individualization, Command and Self-Assurance, Adaptability and Arranger. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Therefore, I would like to propose a "shortcut" based on the four leadership domains presented in Gallup's new book "Strengths-Based Leadership":</span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b></b></span></span></p></div><blockquote><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Executing:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ACHIEVER, ARRANGER, BELIEF, CONSISTENCY, DELIBERATIVE, DISCIPLINE, FOCUS, RESPONSIBILITY, RESTORATIVE.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Influencing:</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ACTIVATOR, COMMAND, COMMUNICATION, COMPETITION, MAXIMIZER, SELF-ASSURANCE, SIGNIFICANCE, WOO</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Relationship Building</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ADAPTABILITY, DEVELOPER, CONNECTEDNESS, EMPATHY, HARMONY, INCLUDER, INDIVIDUALIZATION, POSITIVITY, RELATOR.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Strategic Thinking:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ANALYTICAL, CONTEXT, FUTURISTIC, IDEATION, INPUT, INTELLECTION, LEARNER, STRATEGIC.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p></p><p></p></div><div></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I have found these four domains very useful not only for quickly assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of a team but also those of individuals. And it helps to avoid to fall into some common pitfalls, such as confusing the strength of "Relationship Building" with the strength of "Influencing", or confusing the strengths of "Strategic Thinking" (and "Talking") with "Execution". </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I confess that I myself often confused these domains which led me to be surprised when meeting very friendly salespeople (Relationship Building) who had difficulties in closing sales (Influencing), or when meeting rather tough if not arrogant people (Influencing) who were then presented to me as very successful sales people. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And people who excel in Strategic Thinking can leave a great impression but do not necessarily get a lot done later on (Execution). On the other side, execution strength is of questionable value if the wrong things get executed in terms of strategy or ethics (the current economic crisis provides ample evidence of this). Also, I have seen effective employees (but weak in Strategic Thinking) going through some embarassment when being exposed to a senior management meeting deliberating strategies. The business literature is full of examples and discussions about this phenomenon. Read </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Execution-Discipline-Getting-Things-Done/dp/0609610570/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241696763&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Ram Charan's book "Execution"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> or </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Jack-Welch/dp/0061240176/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241696843&sr=1-2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Jack Welch's "Winning"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for example.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There are other ways of clustering the 34 talent themes which can also provide important clues to speedreading talents. Gallup itself used a slightly different version of the four domains in the past. Have a look a this interesting page on the </span><a href="http://cliftonstrengthsfinder.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Clifton StrengthsFinder Blog</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">On that same blog, by the way, you can find an interesting </span><a href="http://cliftonstrengthsfinder.blogspot.com/2006/09/taken-from-article-i-downloaded.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">list of short paragraphs</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for each talent, like "Significance-loves to make a difference" or "Command-loves to make their own decisions". Memorize these 34 paragraphs and they will come to your mind when you see them in the behaviour of the people you try to speedread. Yes, you have to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">memorize</span> these things, in the same way people used to learn by heart Shakespeare quotes or Bible verses in the past. TalentSpeedreading requires quite an effort, it is not just a quick fix. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So enough about theory, let's move on! Let's say you conclude that a person has many talents in Relationship Building and Execution, but not in Influencing and Strategic Thinking. So what's next?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Well first of all, let's appreciate that with this information alone, we know quite a lot already, at least for the workplace environment.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But you can drill down deeper from here and try to figure out which talents might be behind this person's strength in Relationship Building: Empathy, Includer, Relator?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Thinking in terms of the four domains also makes it easier to distinguish between "similar" talents like Positivity (Relationship Building) and Woo (Influencing). If you are not sure whether someone has Positivity or Woo, but feel that he is much better at Relationship Building than at Influencing, then you want to bet on Positivity. The same logic applies to: </span></div><div><ul><li>Deliberative (Executing) and Strategic (Strategic Thinking),<br /></li><li>Connetctedness (Relationship Building) and Intellection (Strategic Thinking),<br /></li><li>Adaptability (Relationship Building) and Arranger (Executing), and again:<br /></li><li>Positivity (Relationship Building) and Woo (Influencing)</li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So you observe people. You talk with the peers of the people you observe. And of course, you speak with the people whose talents you want to identify. However, you want to focus more on actual behavior than words. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A simple approach of doing this is to ask simple questions like "Tell me about what you really enjoy doing at work" or "Tell me what you do best" or "Tell me about your biggest success story" and so on. Again, there might be a risk that the answers to these questions are "manipulated" to be socially desirable, especially if you are a manager talking to an employee, and even more so if either one of you is new on the job. In order to get a feeling whether these answers are real or "faked", you should ask for specific details, like "tell me about a time when...". You may want to read my post about </span><a href="http://strengthsblogger.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-business-is-in-diabetes-care.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Behaviour-Interviewing for Strengths</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for more on this.<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">At last, let me say that I realize that all these suggestions are just shortcuts based on enormeous simplifcations. This is always dangerous when dealing with something as complex as human nature and talents. But I believe that this does not mean that we should not try. Dr. Jerome Groopman, author of the excellent <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Doctors-Think-Jerome-Groopman/dp/0547053649/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241811416&sr=8-1">book "How Doctors Think"</a> writes something very interesting about the importance of shortcuts in another very complex field: medicine (p. 35 f.):</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Reasearch shows that most doctors come up with two or three diagnoses from the outset of meeting a patient - a few talented ones can juggle four or five in their minds. All develop their hypotheses from a very incomplete body of information. To do this, doctors use shortcuts. These are called heuristics.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">... Shortcuts are the doctor's response to uncertainty and demands of the situation. They are the essential working tools of clinical medicine, where a doctor must combine thought and action. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">... The problem is that medical schools do not teach shortcuts. In fact, you are discouraged from using them...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">... Of course, a doctor must know physiology and pathology and pharmacology. But he should also be schooled in heuristics - in the power and necessity of using shortcuts, and in their pitfalls and dangers."</span></span></div></blockquote><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When reading this, I feel tempted to exchange "doctors" with "managers", "medicine" with "management", "patients" with "employees" or "colleagues", "medical school" with "business school" or "textbooks". </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Thus, I hope that this post may help some fellow managers to develop some vital "shortcuts" in the area of strengths-based leadership!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-3534578200497836712009-05-07T08:00:00.031-03:002009-10-16T21:32:48.838-03:00Talent SpeedReading I: Benefits and Risks<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://strengthsblogger.blogspot.com/2009/05/talent-speedreading-ii-how-to-do-it.html">Click here</a> if you would like to skip this first part about Talent SpeedReading and go directly to the second part: "How to Do it"</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to identify the talents of people in a quick and easy way ("speedread"), without hiring consultants or without even doing the Clifton StrengthsFinder with all of them? I believe that seasoned leaders, executive coaches and recruiters develop this strength over time. But how about the rest of us? How about a manager who has just discovered the Clifton StrengthsFinder and wonders how he can speedread the talents of his employees?</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Before exploring how this could be done, we might want to ask what speedreading talents may be good for, or whether it might not be dangerous in some way. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Gallup's research shows that employees are much more engaged when they can do what they do best everyday. Furthermore, more engaged employees lead to several positive outcomes, from higher customer satisfaction to higher shareholder value creation. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">My own experience as a manager shows that focusing on your people's talents has a big </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">fast impact on results. However, I also learned that it is an illusion to believe that you can engage </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">all</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> of your employees or get them enthusiastic about a strengths-based approach, especially in the short run. But even if your strengths-based management efforts are effective with only 33% of your people, that will make a difference!<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">You can invite a consulting company like Gallup to help you identifying the talents of your people in a systematic way. That may require a considerable financial investment, though. You could also buy a couple of books that give you the StrengthsFinder access code and invite your employees to the Clifton StrengthsFinder online assessment which would (or could) reveal their Top 5 talents.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The problem with both of these approaches, but especially the second one is that your employees may be skeptical about all of this. Conciously or often even unconciously, they may not answer all the questions in the StrengthsFinder survey in the most honest way. They may have a certain "self-image" that they hold dear but that is distorted from their real self. Or they may tend to give "socially desirable" answers. This is a common problem with all personality assessments where people have to answer questions about themselves. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is where Talent SpeedReading comes in: not only could it save money and time but it can also avoid the "social desirability" problem, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">if</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (and this is a big if!) you listen to the judgment of the peers of your talent speedreading "target", and do </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">not</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> form your opinion entirely on your own observations (and biases). Some researchers (</span><a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119204861/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">click here for source</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">) point out that two raters are consistently more accurate in rating a subject than the subject is him/herself. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So far, I have highlighted the benefits of Talent SpeedReading for employee engagement and in order to avoid the "social desirability" problem common in most self-reported personality or talent assessments. But there are other benefits:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In most organizations, both business and non-business, you need to have quite some political skills to get anything done. An important pillar of such skills is the ability to identify your political allies and adversaries and to "read their minds". You have to know their motives, their strengths and their weaknesses. The ability to speedread their talents (and weaknesses) is certainly most helpful here. The simple concept proposed in part II of this post can provide you with some important insights: is someone strong in Strategic Thinking but poor in Execution, for example? Or is he strong in Relationship Building but not necessarily as strong in Influencing?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And then, Talent SpeedReading is certainly also very helpful when talking with friends and family, and especially when talking about career-related advise. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">At last, a word of caution though: I am not sure whether Talent SpeedReading is a good idea for recruiting purposes. It may be better than nothing, but then again, any structured interview is probably better than asking some random questions. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In </span><a href="http://strengthsblogger.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-to-select-new-employees-for_24.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">another post</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in this blog, I discussed the perils of using the 34 talent themes of the StrengthsFinder for recruiting. In short words: when you recruit, you should look for strengths, not talents. Remember: talents are "raw material" and they may not yet be productive strengths. As a manager, you may not have the time to develop the talents of a new employee into the strengths you need. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So you have to think through the strengths that you really need in the position that you are recruiting for. And this is not an easy task. It is like thinking through the real objectives you have in business or in your own life. They may seem obvious at first, but the more you think about them, the more you may discover how complex they actually can be. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For instance, objectives can be in conflict with each other which may require you to make some tough choices: the personal objectives "financial gain" and "work/life" balance are often at odds, for example. The same is true for strengths: don't get into the trap of looking for superman, full of strengths and with no weaknesses (see the Peter Drucker quote on the column on the right side)!</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-56084125349155608802009-05-04T22:55:00.017-03:002009-11-17T15:58:18.643-02:00Coaching em base de talentos no Brasil<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 51); font-family:Euphemia;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 20px; line-height: 16px; "><span><span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span></span></p></span><span><span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">O termo coaching para executivos já não é mais nenhuma novidade. Já faz algum tempo, que isso se tornou “moda” entre os executivos do Brasil e do mundo. Porém, o coaching em geral ainda tem uma tendência de enfocar demais nas debilidades. Dos talentos, se fala pouco, pois, se presume, erradamente, que eles se tornam em pontos fortes sem muito esforço. </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Você já parou para pensar se os pais do Ronaldo, o Fenômeno, tivessem insistido que ele trabalhasse mais nas debilidades, por exemplo estudando mais, ao invés de desenvolver seus talentos no futebol? Ele seria, talvez, hoje, um empregado, frustrado, ao invés de um atleta realizado e rico.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Isso é um exemplo, do perigo em focar demais nos pontos fracos, tentando ser uma pessoa que você nao é, alguém que não acredita ter verdadeiros talentos a serem desenvolvidos. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Depois de ter estudado muito este assunto e ter me certificado em coaching em base de personalidade (Big Five Workplace Profile da CentACS nos EUA) e coaching em base de talentos/pontos fortes (com a Gallup University nos EUA), ofereço coaching profissional em Campinas e Sao Paulo para um numero limitado de clientes.<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Nosso coaching será assim: você descobrirá seus talentos e os converteremos em um plano de ação. Isso mesmo, os desenvolveremos em verdadeiras pontos fortes! Prepare-se, pois isso exigirá muito disciplina e prática!<br /><br />Se interessou pelo assunto? Leia mais </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.descubrateustalentos.com.br/site/">neste link</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. Ou leia o famoso livro da Gallup </span><a href="http://www.livrariacultura.com.br/scripts/cultura/resenha/resenha.asp?nitem=2459587&sid=2006237659214829219780832&k5=11FDFC62&uid"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Agora Descubra Seus Pontos Fortes"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, já disponível em português! </span></span></span><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-28470763354909367952009-03-29T22:03:00.018-03:002009-10-16T21:22:46.520-03:00Building a strengths-based organization if you are not the CEO<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:13px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When I read many of today’s management books, including some of the Gallup and Buckingham books, I often get the impression that they were written for someone with CEO-like powers to initiate a major (strengths-based) initiative in her organization.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But what do you do if you are a manager of a smaller business unit within a larger corporation? What if neither your superior nor your HR manager knows what a strengths-based organization is all about, but you nevertheless wish to build one in the area of your responsibility?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Depending on the context, this can be quite a tricky task, requiring careful thought and political intelligence.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For one, creating a strengths-based organization can take several years, depending on the size and complexity of your organization. However, if your career is on a relatively fast rise, it is safe to assume that you will change jobs every four to five years, sometimes even faster than that. Depending on your circumstances then, there is a risk that you may not have enough time to complete the task. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And most likely, you won’t handpick your successor, so there is a high risk that she may not buy into your strengths-based ideas and revert to a more conventional management style. That would not only be a waste of your organizational change efforts, even worse, it could be quite an unpleasant shock to your employees, creating cynicism at best, and outright frustration and employee turnover at worst. As a consequence, you may have to consider adopting a lighter or "stealth" version of a strengths-based organization.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Furthermore, you need to ask yourself how much freedom you have to implement a major organizational change initiative. Or in other words: how rigid are corporate HR policies, organizational values, or the opinions and supervision of your superiors? Remember: it is not without a reason that Gallup titled its first major book about strengths-based management and related issues with “First Break All The Rules”. Many of the findings of Gallup’s multi-year studies fly into the face of the kind of conventional wisdom found in most companies. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The following ideas are an adaptation of Guy Kawasaki’s recommendations for internal entrepreneurs in his book “The Art of the Start” (p. 20 f.), mixed with my own experience as a manager:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">1. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Put the company first:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> building a strengths-based organization is not about your personal glory, but about the betterment of the company and the engagement of its employees. Always keep that in mind!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2. Stay under the radar:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> managers in conventional (=most) companies are mainly concerned about maintaining the status quo and protecting their interests, and that certainly includes also the HR managers. A strengths-based organizational change initiative may worry many managers, including the HR manager, no matter how great it would be for employee engagement. Don’t expect them to applaud you. On the contrary, expect them to sabotage you, silently or openly, and all the more so if you are successful. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">One idea to stay under the radar is to downplay the scope of your initiative, for instance by pretending to do only a"strengths-based selling" training, instead of declaring a major "cultural revolution". </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">3. Give hope to the hopeful:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> “inside every corporate cynic who thinks that “this company is too big to innovate” is an idealist who would like to see it happen”. And that may be especially true for innovation targeting employee engagement. Find these people and enlist them.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">4. Anticipate, then jump on tectonic shifts:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> a new CEO or General Manager, a new HR manager, a rapid deterioration in sales, profits, customer satisfaction or employee engagement may create an opportunity and/or pretext for your efforts.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">5. Build on what exists:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> many conventional companies have adopted a competency-based selection and development approach. Well developed competencies are pretty much the same as strengths, and you may take advantage of some tools and concepts which have been developed here. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Remember that strengths are not the same as talents, and it is not recommendable to use the 34 talent themes of the Clifton StrengthsFinder for recruiting purposes, for instance. Building a strengths-based organization requires you to think through the strengths needed in your organization, which is not an easy task, and the definitions of competencies in your company may come close to some of the strengths you are looking for. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is probably also wise to use the competency-based jargon in your company, instead of introducing a new strengths-based one, thereby confusing employees and creating conflict with the HR people and superiors.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">6. Collect and share data:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> prepare for the day when your strengths-based initiative will be “uncovered” and questioned: there is hardly any better proof than having statistics that show how customer satisfaction, employee engagement, sick days, workplace accidents, or any other HR-related productivity measure have improved since you launched your initiative!</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-19199037525740728312009-02-03T07:54:00.008-02:002009-06-20T09:36:15.472-03:00New Book: Strengths-Based Leadership<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKz4C3Y-6ckxFPHL26WWRazRyHnA_YYvnUu60delhJwYb9c9_9BOe6yYfVqchH6zar_AHmP-V9GoC0oyUbbLBDM_rxBxljIrI3TIZP5ke0C3QNlctbtxvImdcOP6i0tnSJ2qhDWLZN3tI/s1600-h/41hCmoquxCL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKz4C3Y-6ckxFPHL26WWRazRyHnA_YYvnUu60delhJwYb9c9_9BOe6yYfVqchH6zar_AHmP-V9GoC0oyUbbLBDM_rxBxljIrI3TIZP5ke0C3QNlctbtxvImdcOP6i0tnSJ2qhDWLZN3tI/s320/41hCmoquxCL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298509904589536082" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As someone who read most of the Gallup and Buckingham books, I read this latest Gallup book with greatest interst. Although it was not quite what I expected, I still recommend it with four out of five stars. Here is why (only four, not five):<br /><br />For one, I expected more real-life stories of business, political, historical and other leaders, of how they discovered their talents and developed them into strengths. But the book gives you only brief descriptions of four current leaders of profit and a non-for-profit organizations.<br /><br />But what bothers me most is that once again, Gallup titles something "strengths-based" while it should more appropriately be called "talent-based". For those who are not familiar with this "jargon": Gallup considers talents to be like raw materials, which need to be developed into real strengths through hard work. When opening this book, I was hoping to learn something new about strengths, maybe whether Gallup research has developed some sort of taxonomy/vocabulary of 20something leadership strengths, similar to 34 talent themes. I bet they have, but the book won't tell you.<br /><br />When I saw that half of the book consists of descriptions and recommendations for each of the 34 talent themes, I was concerned to find a "refurbished" version of the other Gallup books. But I was positively surprised that many of the recommendations are quite useful, "novel" and specific about leadership.<br /><br />The two most interesting Gallup research insights I found in the book are:<br />1) "according to our latest research, the 34 StrengthsFinder themes naturally cluster into [...] four domains of leadership strengths[s]" which are<br />Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking. For instance, I was surprised to learn that Significance and Competition are considered to be Influencing talents, rather than Executing.<br /><br />2) the four most commonly mentioned words of why people follow leaders are Trust, Compassion, Stability and Hope. I quote the book: "To our surprise, many of the "usual suspects" like purpose, wisdom, humor and humility were nowhere near the top of the list". Well, that certainly surprised me as well.<br /><br />These two insights together with their conclusions alone make the book worth buying and reading, even if you are quite familiar with the Gallup literature already. And the book will give you an access code for the StrengthsFinder 2.0 on-line assessment, which is certainly very interesting, especially for people who have not taken the StrengthsFinder yet. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-57827084451584010282009-01-24T12:28:00.004-02:002009-05-30T10:23:58.449-03:00 5 REASONS TO FOCUS ON STRENGTH AT WORK<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Trebuchet MS';font-size:13px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Trebuchet MS';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of </span></span><a href="http://www.bestuniversities.com/" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">best universities</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">All of us have our strengths and weaknesses. Most of us give a lot of importance to our weaknesses and try to overcome them so that we may become more competitive at our work place. But have you ever tried focusing on your strengths and those of your colleagues at your work place? Did you know that this strength-based management had its benefits too? Here are some reasons to focus on strengths at work.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><ol start="1" type="1" style="margin-top: 0cm; "><li class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You feel more connected with your team and colleagues</span></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> when you place more focus on their strengths than on their weaknesses. Once you know the strengths of a person, you know how to interact well with that person and how to build on those strengths. Usually, the only topic that keeps you connected to your colleagues would be ‘the boss’ as most of you may find it difficult to relate to stuff outside work. But knowing each others strengths and focusing on them allows you to see your colleagues in a positive light and build a better bond with them.</span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You feel motivated by your strengths</span></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. We achieve so much more when we focus on our strengths. They give us a sense of self-worth that we feel happy. When you focus on employee strengths, they feel motivated too. Their self-esteem goes up and they feel happy to be a part of a team in which their strengths are recognized and emphasized.</span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You can use colleagues’ strengths to complement and supplement your own</span></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> thus building a very good team. For example, you maybe good at developing long-term strategy. You can complement this strength with the researching skills of a colleague to come up with the best strategies. A colleague may be good at public relations. You may support her in building relationships within your team. This will go a long way in motivating her. So focusing on strengths will build a strong team that can handle almost any challenge that arises.</span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">You will save the time and energy</span></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> that has to be put into improving your weak areas, by focusing on your strengths. Trying to improve in an area where you are weak may promote you from poor to mediocre. But is it worth it? Why not focus on a skill at which you are excellent and try moving to masterful. This can be more enjoyable and save you the boredom at work. You can better your strong points and leave it to the others to help out in areas where you are weak. This saves everybody a lot of time.</span></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Your work will become more fulfilling</span></span></b><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and it will reflect in all aspects of your life. A high level of confidence within you and a friendly atmosphere at your work place make life that much more pleasant and stress-free. Focusing on weaknesses gives rise to fears and insecurities. These fears are non-existent when we focus on our strengths. Try focusing not only on your strengths but also on your colleagues’ and watch the positive change come into play at your work place.</span></span></span></li></ol><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It is not possible to be an all-rounder but it is possible to be the best at certain things the way that only you can be. The same holds for your staff and colleagues. Give strengths a new focus and see if it doesn’t work.</span></span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-50521493786244866452008-11-06T18:01:00.013-02:002009-10-16T21:24:12.985-03:00The Big Five / Five Factor Model and the Clifton StrengthsFinder®: An Overview<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtcZQjiD_HnTUAKnUF18rSh4DRHqYyJq4xnEO0A4Z4T9ePf9p3Zn-zpAGIrXtPDedQsoOxJdmzFojekP3ONb0Uguq3aSWwdT2AwGfarzuytjH5EnbYvS6YHd51i_PcOFuHC_8DEktUeI/s1600-h/Big+Five+and+Talent+Themes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 177px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtcZQjiD_HnTUAKnUF18rSh4DRHqYyJq4xnEO0A4Z4T9ePf9p3Zn-zpAGIrXtPDedQsoOxJdmzFojekP3ONb0Uguq3aSWwdT2AwGfarzuytjH5EnbYvS6YHd51i_PcOFuHC_8DEktUeI/s400/Big+Five+and+Talent+Themes.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265679096843118850" /></a><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139); text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 25px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In my post further down, I have outlined my thoughts on</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">the importance of the Five Factor Model (FFM) for all people on their "strengths quest". Now, I would like to offer my purly unscientific thoughts on how the Clifton Talent Themes could correlate with the WorkPlace Big Five ProFile. This is my own opinion and does not represent the views of Gallup or Dr. Howard. I have however found inspiration in an unpublished paper that Dr. Howard shared with me as well as in an unpublished study made by Gallup with 300 college students. Please take it as a discussion basis and let me know your thoughts about it. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Trebuchet MS';"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The way this table should be read is like this: let's say for example that you have a very strong Ideation and Activator talent, but your Focus, Strategic or Analytical are rather weak. In this case, chances are high that your Big Five ProFile may result in a low value for C (a C- or C- -). However, if you have Ideation, Activator, Focus and Strategic all equally strong, chances are high that you are a C= ("balanced"), and highly situationally so. It means that there will be moments where your Activator may "ride" you in a C- direction and there are other moments where your Focus and Strategic drive you in a C+ direction. It could be for example that you are rather C- ("flexible") in your private life, but rather C+ ("focused") in your professional life; or the other way round. </span></span></p></span></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-11759301836356395752008-11-06T17:51:00.024-02:002009-10-16T21:23:44.802-03:00The Big Five / Five Factor Model and the Clifton StrengthsFinder®: An Introduction<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'Trebuchet MS';font-size:13px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The basic idea of Donald Clift</span></span><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">on, Peter Drucker and other authors of the “strengths movement” is that we should focus more on developing our strengths than on fixing our weaknesses. One of the biggest obstacles in this quest is our lack of vocabulary for strengths. To quote Peter Drucker:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Most Americans do not know what their strengths are. When you ask them, they look at you with a blank stare, or they respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer”</span></blockquote></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In order to find a remedy for this, the academic psychologist Donald Clifton worked many years on creating something like a taxonomy of 34 talents, along with an assessment of 180 questions that allows to identify those 34 talents. This on-line assessment is owned by the Gallup organization. If you buy a book like “Strengthsfinder 2.0” or “Now, Discover Your Strenghs”, you will get an access code that allows you to do the full online assessment but it will give you only your Top 5 talents.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">That’s a pity because in my opinion you need to know your top 10 to 12 talents in order to really get a solid understanding of your talents and possible strengths. The only way to get access to your full 34 talents is by hiring Gallup’s consulting services which is something that only companies can do, but not individuals for themselves (at least as far as I know).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The good news is that the StrengthsFinder is by far not the only “way to Rome”. There are many other assessments available these days which are often personality-based assessments. As I have written elsewhere in this blog there seems to be quite some controversy among academic psychologists about how to define and measure personality, and to what extent personality really explains workplace performance. Dr. Hogan is one academic who defends very much the importance of personality for workplace, team and leadership performance. He writes in </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Personality-Fate-Organizations-Robert-Hogan/dp/0805841431/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226001263&sr=1-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">one of his books</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (p. 19):</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Well-developed assessment procedures are quite helpful – they can be used to predict occupational performance in virtually any job, or to predict training performance in virtually any curriculum (…) . The bad news, however, is that the vast majority of commercially available assessment procedures today are poorly developed</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">and the information they provide is dubious (…). Professional training is required to distinguish between a competent assessment procedure and a fraud.”</span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hogan writes about the MBTI, one of the most famous personality assessments based on Jung’s theory (p. 28):</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Most personality psychologists regard the MBTI as little more than an elaborate Chinese fortune cookie – each of the 16 MBTI types is described in a chirpy and upbeat fashion as having important and distinctive qualities. Nonetheless, psychological consultants have discovered that the business community has an endless appetite for MBTI-based feedback. Since 1975, the MBTI has become one of the bestselling psychological tests of all time.”</span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But even Daniel Goleman's concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) does not get good grades from Dr. Hogan:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The EQ movement has taken the world of leadership training by storm; it has become vastly popular and quite profitable. Academic psychologists regard this development with dismay, noting that Goleman’s concept is internally inconsistent, and that the various methods available for measuring it will not pass technical scrutiny.”</span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Look, I am not an academic psychologist, but I am one of these managers who has an endless appetite for all new ideas in the intersection of psychology, organization and business strategy. And I have found that the personality of leaders and employees matters a lot. Furthermore, I consider talents and strengths as one of many traits of our personality. So I have been reading a lot in the last years and the purpose of this blog is to share with fellow managers what I have learnt and what has worked for me:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Of all the tools I have used and/or studied, I have found that the Clifton StrengthsFinder and the Five Factor Model (FFM, in business circles more often referred to as the “Big Five”) are the two most powerful tools for me as a manager, and they also seem to be scientifically solid, especially the FFM.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The FFM is one of those “inventions” that seem to be new, but its basic idea is actually quite old. It is beyond the scope of this blog post to explain you the interesting history of the FFM. Please consult </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_factor_model" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Wikipedia</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> for an interesting description. Let me just say so much: other than most other personality assessments which are usually a fruit of someone's musings on human nature, the FFM started with a appealingly simple question: let’s take a dictionary and filter out all attributes that describe personality, the assumption being that our language which has evolved over hundreds of years has incorporated most observable traits of human nature. Then, let’s try to define groups of attributes that describe similar things. Finally, let us continue this exercise to see what is the minimum number of such groups we need in order to describe personality. Hogan (p. 26):</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“The FFM argues that individual differences in social behavior, and the the structure of personality measurement data, can be adequately described in terms of five broad dimensions (called Adjustment, Ascendance, Agreeableness, Prudence and Intellect/Optimism). … There is evidence to suggest that scores on measures of the FFM are heritable and stable over time (Costa & McCrae 1988) Finally, the FFM provides a common vocabulary for talking about personality. With the FFM, a new sheriff came to town, instilling a measure of order in a notoriously lawless group discussion.”</span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Note that there are many versions of FFM-based assessments out there. The classic one is the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_NEO_Personality_Inventory" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">NEO PI-R</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> of Costa&Crae, another one is the </span><a href="http://www.hoganassessment.com/products_services/hpi.aspx" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But for the business world, the most interesting one may well be the WorkPlace Big Five ProFile™ developed by Pierce and Jane Howard (husband and wife). I highly recommend their excellent book </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Owners-Manual-Personality-Work-Communication/dp/1885167458/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225998412&sr=8-1" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"The Owner's Manual For Personality at Work"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> because it is not only a very well written introduction to the FFM and its relevance for managers and employees, but because it is also a major eye-opener for all of us who seek to discover our talents and strengths.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I had the privilege to participate in </span><a href="http://www.centacs.com/" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">CentACS'</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (the company of the Howards) </span><a href="http://centacs.com/certify.htm" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Big Five Workplace Certificaion program</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in the beginning of October. It is a three and a half day training which –among many other benefits- certifies you to purchase the Workplace Big Five ProFile (TM) as well as the NEO PI-R and use it with other people. Note that none of these two assessments you can just buy somewhere on the internet or on Amazon.For, according to US law, you need to fulfull certain criteria in order to purchase and conduct certain psychological assessments. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Having said that, I don't want to hide the fact that I have found a free on-line FFM-based test on </span><a href="http://www.personalitytest.net/" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">http://www.personalitytest.net/</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I should warn you though that I do not know the “inner workings” or the authors of this test, and when I did it, some results were very similar to the results of my WorkPlace Big Five Profile, while others were at the complete opposite (for example, I have a very high O, while that other test suggested that I have an extremely low O).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Workplace Big Five offers several advantages for managers: first of all, it is legally water-proof. The Howards have made great efforts to eliminate anything that could be in conflict with US laws with regard to recruiting and human resources management. For example, the dimension N, sometimes called Neuroticism, is translated with “Need for Stability”, as it is obviously quite problematic to label your employees on a scale of neuroticism. Some questions in the NEO PI-R deal with political views or preferences, which is unacceptable for a workplace related tool. Furthermore, The Howards also translated many of the sub-dimensions of the Big Five into more relevant language for business.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While Gallup advises against using its StrengthsFinder as a selection tool, the Howards encourage the use of the WorkPlace Big Five for selection and staffing decisions. That is quite an interesting and important difference.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There is a lot that “Strengths-Seekers” can learn from the FFM and especially the Work Place Big Five ProFile. I would like to expand on this more in future posts and as always would like to invite Blog readers to comment on this here, too. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19pt; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Have a look at </span><a href="http://www.careertrainer.com/Request.jsp?lView=ViewArticle&Article=OID%3A113426"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">this article</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> which also discusses the link between the FFM and the Strenghtsfinder. </span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-38615660145120958522008-09-06T21:12:00.010-03:002009-05-30T20:15:07.820-03:00Reinventing Drucker's "Management by Objectives" through Strengths?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; font-family:'Helvetica Neue';font-size:13px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">One of the remarkable common points between Peter Drucker's thinking and "First Break All the Rules" (FBATR) is captured by the following quotation:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"So this is their [= the great managers'] dilemma: The manager must retain control and focus people on performance. But she is bound by her belief that she cannot force everyone to perform in the same way. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The solution is as elegant as efficient: Define the right outcomes and then let each person find his own route toward those outcomes." (FBATR, p. 110)</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I find this principle surprisingly similar to Peter Drucker's famous "Management by Objectives (MBO)" which "was popular in the 1960s adn 1970s" but "which is now largely ignored" (according to The Economist's "Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus" p. 122). According to Drucker, MBO was crucial to give an enterprise the unity of direction and effort of a management team. But it was also a way of "empowering" your employees (a buzzword which Drucker never liked too much):</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"The greatest advantage of management by objectives is perhaps that it makes it possible for a manager to control his own performance. Self-control means stronger motivation: a desire to do the best rather than do just enough to get by." (Drucker in Management, p. 439)</span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Again, there is a remarkable parallel to "First Break All The Rules" here (p.111 f.):</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"this solution [= defining the right outcomes] encourages employees to take responsibility. Great managers want each employee to feel a certain tension, a tension to achieve. Defining the right outcomes creates that tension."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">But Buckingham and Coffman ask a very good question:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"If defining outcomes rather than methods is so elegant and so efficient, why don't more managers do just that? ... Every manager has his own reasons, but in the end it is probably the allure of control is just too tempting. "</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This "allure" of control is best described by Drucker when he writes about the "top man in a company - especially in a small or fair-sized company that has been growing fast -" when the time for change in his role and behavior arrives:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"What is demanded of the top man is indeed a great deal. He has to accept that he no longer can be the virtuoso performer. Instead he has to become the "conductor". Where he prides himself... on knowing everybody in the company, on knowing every customer, on knowing everything that went on, and on making every decision and solving every problem, he now has to manage by objectives for managers and through their self-control. Where formerly he was the court of last resort - and very often the court of first resort as well - he now has to have a management structure. Where he "knows how to do everything", he now has to let people do it their own way." (Management, p. 779)</span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Yet, I believe that the temptation to control is not the only obstacle for a strengths-based reinvention of management by objectives. It is often quite difficult to define the right objectives. Drucker's "acid test" is this:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"These [performance] measurements need not be rigidly quantitative; nor need they they be exact. But they have to be clear, simple, and rational. They have to be relevant and direct attention and efforts where they should go. They have to be reliable - at least to the point where their margin of error is acknowledged and understood. And they have to be, so to speak, self-explanatory, understandable without complicated interpretation or philosophical discussions." (Management p. 440)</span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Well, if it was only that easy! As a real-life manager, I find defining the right objectives </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">and</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> keeping them simple quite a challenge in my daily work. And maybe I am not the only one who feels that way. For after a while, Drucker himself downplayed the significance of MBO with the following argument:</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Helvetica Neue';"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"MBO is just another tool. It is not the great cure for management inefficiency... Management by objectives works if you know the objectives: 90% of the times you don't."</span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This quotation is from the above mentioned "Guide to Ideas and Gurus." Unfortunately, I could never track down the original source. I am afraid it may not be the correct quotation, as I found a slightly different version in the internet:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: normal; font-family:arial;"><pre style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Management by objectives works</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> if you first think through your objectives. Ninety percent of the time you haven't"</span></span></blockquote></pre></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Either way, I find this observation both sad and hilarious at the same time. For I have researched the literature about defining the right objectives and measuring performance and among other ideas studied the Balanced Scorecard; yet, I often felt that when you try to put these ideas into practice, they are soon everything else than "self-explanatory, understandable without complicated interpretation or philosophical discussions".</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Therefore, my question goes to you, dear Bloggers: what experiences have you made with regard to this? What can you recommend? </span></span></div></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><br /></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-33643489175143647122008-09-05T16:50:00.006-03:002009-10-16T21:25:09.798-03:00Talent-based interviewingYou may be interested to read (and contribute to?) <a href="http://employeeengagement.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=1986438%3ATopic%3A13661">this interesting discussion</a> in the Employee Engagement Network. <div><br /></div><div>One of the central tenets of Gallup's Consulting practice is that focusing on employee's strengths (rather than weaknesses) is key to achieve high employee engagement which in turn drives ultimately shareholder value. The Employee Engagement Network discusses strengths-based as well as other means to achieve this important objective. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97945046492126284.post-71156577301946759432008-08-31T14:52:00.008-03:002009-10-16T21:30:16.561-03:00Norwich Union changes focus from competencies to strengths<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Have a look at <a href="http://www.cappeu.org/cmdocs/NorwichUnion_CAPPcasestudy.pdf">this interesting article </a> of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Karen Stefanyszyn, head of organizational development at Norwich Union, the largest insurer in the UK. It touches issues like strengths-based interviewing and selecting for strengths which I would like to discuss in this blog. </span><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This article is on the website of the <a href="http://www.cappeu.org/index.aspx">Centre for Applied Positive Psychology.</a> There is also a section about "Strengths at Work" where you can find some other <a href="http://www.cappeu.org/cm_articles.aspx">interesting articles</a>. </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0