Finding Your Team's Strengths

I had an epiphany the other day.  I’m saying USE your team’s strengths, find them, dig them out, and use them to get better work done.

Sounds good, right?

Well, how the heck do you find your team’s strengths?

My background is in Psychology, and I have about 10 years of experience working in the field.  One of our main techniques, there is actually an entire sect of therapists who practice it, is solution focused and strengths based.  Yep.  So, when I am telling you FIND STRENGTHS, I am forgetting that finding and utilizing strengths is somewhat of an art and a science that needs practice.  For a therapist- about 3000 hours of it.  So, I want to help you get a head start on using this skill through the use of a few examples.

Let’s take this following scenario:

Bob is working for you.  He’s one of the marketing guys.  You have him working on developing language and slogans to use in some upcoming campaigns, and he’s doing OK. He’s in his 40’s, puts in his time at the office, but there is nothing really extraordinary about this guy.  You find him a little apathetic, and you just consider him one of the pack.  You also know that on the weekends, Bob loves going to sporting events, and he has met all kinds of fun people.  He talks about it around the office, and it really lights him up.

So. Just with the information above, we can start to formulate hunches and ideas about how we can help Bob do better work.  We first want to notice some obvious strengths: Bob has a social life, he values his personal time, and he has some interests that make him excited. Great.

Now, it’s time to ask some questions.

You: Hey, Bob. What’s up, how was your weekend?

Bob: Oh, it was great.  We went to go see the Dodgers play the Angels.  The people sitting next to us were having a great time, and turns out they flew in from out of state. 

You: Wow.  When I go to games, I never meet people, but you seem like you are always meeting people.

Bob:  It’s a gift.

You: Well, it’s cool that you can just meet people, and hear their stories.  I wonder- how do you think you can use that skill here in your position.  I have a few ideas, but I really want to hear what your ideas are.

Bob: Well, the truth is- I’d really love to sit down and brainstorm people’s stories with the team.  Maybe from the people I’ve met, and the stories I’ve heard- we can pull out some valuable ad material.  Make it realistic, and interesting.

You: Great, what do you need from me to get it done?

Breaking it down.

What is happening in this interaction is something that a therapist often does inside of a therapy room in order to gain more information, and help someone realize how they can use their own strengths in their life. I may hear someone say: “I love to play soccer”, and I may ask- “What about soccer is so amazing?”

Response: Well, I love to get out of the house and meet up with the guys.  We just get out all of the stress together.

In my head: This guy seems like he does really well with groups of people who are doing something together, but maybe not doing the same thing together.

I ask: So, when you are playing soccer it’s about the goal of the game or is it just about getting through what’s in your head with a group of people who get it?

Response: Well, I never thought of it like that.  I think it’s more about being in a group that is working towards the same goal.

In my head: I was wrong.  This guy likes team work.

I ask: So at work, how often do you get to work on a team with people?

Response: Well, I am on a team, but we never are working on the same thing.  It seems like we are all going in different directions.  There’s no cohesion, and no one seems like they know which direction we are all supposed to be going.

In my head: BINGO.

There are so many ways this can play out.  What is happening is there is a noticing of someone who thrives in an area of their life.  Following that realization, is a series of clarifying questions to figure out why this person thrives in that particular area.  It ends by helping and guiding the person to generalize that skill, or even problem solve why something is not working for them.

It works like a charm. Every Time. 

Why does it work so well?  People are creatures of habit, and memory.  Our current actions are preemptively thought of in our memory system which draws on our previous experiences and our past imaginations.  That means, all we have to do is help someone to organically utilize memories and experiences that will help change their work patterns.

I know, it sounds complicated. It is, but it can be mastered with out understanding the science behind it.  The reality is that you just need to practice.

Challenge: Go home and ask your wife, kids, parents about what they like to do.  Then ask some clarifying questions like:

What makes that so fun? Why do you enjoy that? When you are engaging in that activity, what are you focused on? What are you thinking?  When you are doing that activity, how do you know when you’ve been successful?   

Then ask them how else they use those skills in their life.  OR How COULD they use those skills in their life?

If you or your team want some one on one training on strength building- Fill out my contact form below!

Kristin Martinez