How could someone ever build up enough self-confidence to be productive, if all their leadership ever focused on was their weaknesses?

Jim Clifton said it best when he addressed a group of students at a university whose name escapes me at this moment.

“When you solely focus on fixing someone’s weaknesses rather than concentrating on their strengths, you will retard productivity.” ~ Jim Clifton

It doesn’t take an organization like Gallup to prove that working for a boss or manager who highlights your every weakness is not only stunting your productivity at work, but is also debilitating your social life, family life and overall well-being.

But life is not all about rainbows and sparkles. Most don’t understand that the concept of Strengths-based development does not instruct your organization to simply turn a blind-eye toward inefficiencies and areas of weakness.

The big secret within the Strengths “secret-sauce” is in the ratio!

When you bake a batch of cookies and substitute a third of the required sugar amount with flour, what will the end product taste like? Bitter, chalky, dry? You see there’s a reason a recipe is created using a method that ensures the baker adds an appropriate level of sweetness to the batter. Too much of a good thing can be overwhelming, but given the correct ratio, even the most novice baker can, and with extreme accuracy, determine the outcome of his or her effort.

What I love about Strengths is its simplicity. A little more of this, and a little less of that is all it takes to completely turn the tides. There has never been a plan for success drafted that requires such a minimal amount of steps. You spend more time focusing on what others do right, and spend less time trying to convert them into something they’re not.

You can add in some percentages to help prove the results of this approach, but I know it works based purely on the smiles I’ve seen placed deeply on the faces of those who’ve been exposed to development tactics focused on their strengths.

And in my opinion, a smile derived from this raw emotional response is enough proof for me.

If you’re a leader, manager, director or coach, I am going to urge you to integrate StrengthsFinder into your existing system of team development. If you have a heartbeat, I am going to request that you enlighten your life, and learn the recipe to baking a better YOU!

The following link will redirect you to the page where you can purchase an access code to the assessment.

StrengthsFinder is not about self-help. It’s about self-activation!

Stop wasting time wondering what you could be, and start planning a future built on a foundation of your natural talents.

Here’s the link

 Andy Sokolovich

Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach & Owner of UnleashStrengths

P.S. When you are interested, there’s an option on this page to contact me for a free initial Strengths consultation.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. ~Andy

photo credit: splityarn via photopin cc