What Are Your Strengths? What Are Your Weaknesses?

Many years ago, I came across a book by Marcus Buckingham that cemented the idea that I would be better off focusing and maximizing my strengths instead of fussing about and fixing my weaknesses. I was glad to learn from Web-torial 22 that coaching is also a strength focused service that seeks to help the coachee access their potential through their capabilities and strengths. But what is a strength? Allow me to share some insights from Marcus Buckingham on this topic:

A strength is not what you are good at, and a weakness is not what you are bad at. A strength is an activity that strengthens you. It draws you in, it makes time fly by while you’re doing it, and it makes you feel strong. Based on this understanding, the coachee then is the most qualified to recognize and identify his strengths. It also means everyone has strengths and they are as unique and diverse as the person owning them.

The flip side of a strength based coaching approach is a fixing-issues coaching style which I believe could lend itself to seeking problems to solve and come close to elements of counselling and/or therapy, something we would not want to do in our coaching sessions. Coaching is forward focused and when we pay attention to our coachee’s strengths, discovering ways ahead and uncovering potential possibilities becomes easier and exciting. Progress then becomes possible and our clients are more optimistic in creating and executing their action plans based on their strengths. In short, “Connect with Strengths and the Right Commitment of Actions follow.”

There seems to be an array of methods one could use to discover one’s strengths, from a simple series of interviews with people close to us to personal reflection exercises to taking some serious and scientifically proven strength identification tests. Concerning the last method mentioned, Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder™ seems to be a clear favorite and a good place to begin. I have yet to wrap my brain around how this assessment will help me and my client achieve our goals and be our best but a visit to the Gallup website provides convincing and exciting information to address my doubts. Also, I believe the USD 49.99 investment would clear most of my doubts (but that’s for another day).

Here’s what the Gallup website has to say about this strength assessment. It is the way to

• discover what you naturally do best
• learn how to develop your greatest talents into strengths
• use your personalized results and reports to maximize your potential

It only takes 177 questions to uncover the one true you. But it takes commitment to become the best you. Complete the CliftonStrengths assessment to unlock the personalized reports and resources you need to maximize your potential. Your customized CliftonStrengths reports and guides help you chart your course to accomplish great things using the true north of what you naturally do best. The results, presented in statements explain exactly how each of your Signature Themes makes you stand out in the world. The pinpoint accuracy will leave you inspired and empowered with a newfound self-awareness. What I love most is the acknowledgement that with the help of a coach, guided by the assessment results, a coachee will be able to unlock her potential and succeed in every facet of life. Looks like another great tool to have in my coaching toolbox!

So, what is the use (to the coachee) in knowing her strengths? I am thankful to have the following guide provided in the lesson’s pdf download:

Ask the coachee to reflect on her strengths. Here are some of the questions I liked:

• What surprised you? What delighted you? What frustrated you
• What strengths may help in overcoming weaknesses?
• Where might strengths be overdone?
• How can these strengths be used to reach your goal(s)?

Ask coachee to review and reflect on key strengths daily. This is to raise awareness about her daily expressions of her strengths. Here are some questions to ask:

• What can you do to amplify your strengths?
• How can you use your strengths in order to achieve a goal?

Ask coachee to write a Personal Strength Statement. This is to energize the coachee and to help her work best utilizing her strengths to the maximum.

 The icing on the cake for this web-torial came at the end when we were all left amazed and awed with Daniel Ofman’s Core Quadrant®. It just showed up and exposed who we are and all that we are encountering daily plus the pointers where we can change to maximize success. All in four squares! Indeed, the notes for this quadrant sums it well: it helps them do a Deeper Dive into the complexity of their Strengths, exploring the extremes and opposites of each core quality.

Here’s a summary of the four quadrants:

1. Core quality: a recognized, foundational strength a the client — something widely understood and appreciated as valuable.
2. Pitfall: it’s always possible to have too much of a good thing; this is when a core quality is overused and comes across as an over-strength.
3. Challenge: If we build awareness about the pitfall then we can gain insight into the client’s required adaptive behavior that would be worthwhile to have in order to avoid succumbing to the pitfall.
4. Allergy: the client may feel an aversion to the new behavior (Challenge) if it feels too much the opposite of the core quality or when it is seen in others. 

What I like about this model is it helps me/client identify very quickly two key areas we can work on after identifying a key strength (maybe from the Clifton Assessment):

• My Challenge: a positive quality that I should aim to achieve. A good question to ask would be "What do others wish you had more of"?
• My Allergy: the extreme of my Challenge that I notice in others. A good question to ask would be "What do you despise in others"?

These are two areas when identified and responded properly can bring much change in attitude, behavior, communication and relationships. A great too for self-awareness and self-transformation that begins with identifying my strengths. I also love the questions that could be asked for each quadrant, all helpful in raising awareness and deciding further action.

Looking forward for opportunities to use these amazing tools/methods in the coming days as a coach!

It is one thing to believe a certain medicine works and precribe it to others and it's another thing altogether when you take the same medicine you are precribing to others. thanks Coach Mel for the question and here's a snapshot of Ohman's Quadrant when applied to me.

What am I realizing when I place my Strengths into the Quadrant? Here are some insights:

Strength (Core Quality: TALKATIVE - yes I love to talk, to teach, to explain. I feel excited and comfortable whenever I get a chance to speak. I appreciate this strength and do expect others to be more communicative.

Pitfall: RAMBLING - I can just go on and on, explaining, telling stories, filling up time. A common comment is "Once he starts talking it's difficult for him to stop." I tend to justify myself when I talk to much or hog the conversation.

Challenge: CONCISE - To be clear what needs to be said, say only it and then shut up. It's a strength I admire in speakers I admire and something I sometimes wonder I could improve on.

Allergy: AMBIGUOUS - just can't stand people who when speak are neither here or there, their ideas are all over the place and I have no idea what they are actually trying to say. It is something I would need to consider and determine a more positive response.