The 5 Benefits of Strengthening Strengths
Everyone has strengths. Unfortunately, for most of our lives, the focus was weakness.
In school, you focus on your weakest subject. You may have excellent marks in all other subjects, yet the emphasis is upon the weakness. You go to your first job. At the time of review, the focus is on weakness, what you are doing wrong. You try out for a sport or audition for a part. Again, the focus is weakness.
I find few supervisors, parents, coaches or mentors actually spend time developing and leveraging strengths. Yes, core competencies should be met, but often they are met at the expense of diminishing a strength. Your job as a supervisor, parent, coach or mentor is discovering strengths, leveraging them, and praising them in an employee, child, or player. Think about it. Most people who perform at the most elite levels spend time developing and leveraging strengths while addressing weaknesses with core competencies, rather than trying to make a weakness a strength.
In business, the focus on performance reviews is usually weaknesses. Every year, supervisors and staff sit down and conduct this agonizing ritual called a Performance Review. You talk about strengths and weaknesses with a focus on what is wrong. People have the same weaknesses every year. If the weakness is hurting the employee and not yet developed into a core competency, then a personal improvement program is needed. Annually pointing out a weakness without a willingness to develop the employee is unproductive.
We often ask people to focus on a weakness instead of leveraging a strength. When was the last time you were reviewed on how well you leveraged your strengths for the organization? A weakness may need addressed for better job performance. However, what would happen if every team member of an organization focused on leveraging strengths for the benefit of the greater good?
Your Staff Would Feel Happier and Valued
People want to play from a point of strength. When you discover and leverage strengths, some staff are surprised how far they can actually go. They feel validated and alive.
Your Staff, With Your Help, Would Find the Right Place on the Bus
Now, when they come to work, they are energized about walking in the door knowing their strengths are maximized and they can succeed, both individually and corporately.
You Would Retain Staff
When staff are happy, valued and leveraged for strengths, they want to stay. Amazon recently implemented a voluntary severance package. If you don’t want to work for Amazon, you don’t need to work of Amazon. How much better to implement a retention package! There is a tremendous cost to business for turnover.
Your Company Would Prosper
Many business leaders do not fully understand Human Relations. Humans are the greatest resource of any company or non-profit. For humans to flourish, they need relations/relationships. Business leaders who understand human relations, how to get the right people, get them in the right places, then leverage their strengths, find unlimited potential.
Genesis Human Resources is a unique outsourcing HR firm which partners with employers to maximize the strengths of their staffs and create a drama-free workplace. We would be honored to partner with you in leveraging your company’s strengths.
The Power of NO
There exists few words in the vocabulary of any language more powerful than NO. NO sets boundaries, defines responsibilities, expectations and often relationships. From the time we are toddlers, NO guides us to what we can touch and eat, acceptable behavior, and roles within a family. We learn not to pull on the cat’s tail, (although the cat may teach us that lesson!) and with the word NO, we exert our defiance and self-will.
“No, I can do it myself!”
Why is the word NO so important in our adult lives? Well, the word continues to set boundaries. If you want to simplify life, try using the word NO. Here are some examples.
Say NO to more work and YES to more time with others
Whenever you say YES to the extra project, new order, or added responsibility, you are saying NO to something else, usually time spent with family or friends. We often say YES to avoid disappointment or disapproval of another. In work and business, you need to carefully weigh when to say NO, but all too often, work life creates NO life. We are actually more productive, more creative, happier and healthier, when we place boundaries on time for ourselves and others. In other words, we learn to say NO. I have never attended a funeral where the kids complained dad spent too much time with them, and not enough time at work!
Say NO to more hours of volunteerism
Now, some of you might find this an extremely rewarding outlet for very noble causes. And, some of you should actually consider donating your time and expertise. When I say exercise the word NO more often, I am speaking to the person who suddenly finds himself or herself with a new part-time job with a non-profit. Without a boundary, there is NO end in sight in assisting with the mission of a non-profit. I recently volunteered for the Alzheimer’s Association. The needs are enormous. I told them about my strengths and background, along with how much time I could donate, then let them decide how best to use me. The key? The boundary around time. I will say NO to any other requests until there is more time in my schedule from other areas.
Want to take some stress out of your life? Look over your calendar and commitments and say NO to at least 5-10 hours weekly of unnecessary commitments. However, instead of thinking you have that much time to trim, think about what is really productive in your life. Most people can prune 5-10 hours, become more productive, and experience less stress. I have a friend who recently purchased a vineyard. He was surprised that as much as 40% of the vine is pruned annually. Wow! That seems counter intuitive. Why prune 40% of possible production? So you gain more production and quality. You may be surprised how this principle can change your life. The power of NO. Try it on this week.
6 Reasons Why You Want Conflict
What did you say? I should want conflict, welcome conflict, even seek it out? Exactly! Why do you want conflict? Here are six good reasons:
1. You want people willing to disagree with you. You are not as good, perfect, intelligent, and amazing as you think. I am part of a small group of business men who meet every Friday morning for study and accountability. We ask each other, “How smart are you this week?” Sometimes we feel amazingly smart. Other times we feel entirely defeated and brought back to earth. Everyone needs someone who is not impressed with you. Get over yourself and learn.
2. You want your employees and executives to give honest feedback. I work with companies to create open feedback loops. When the corporate culture invites and welcomes feedback, everyone wins (and improves). Some feedback is trivial, some vital, and some stinging. Get over your defensiveness and learn.
3. You want people to sharpen you. Iron sharpens iron. I do not know of any kind or gentle way to sharpen an instrument. A grinder sits on my bench in the garage. Sparks will fly when I sharpen a tool or knife, and sparks will fly in conflict when we are sharpened.
Don’t avoid it.
Don’t stop it.
Don’t become angry.
There is a grain of salt even within the words of our crazy and insane critics. Get over it and learn
4. You need a coach. Coaches use many different methods to help you learn. A good coach knows how to coach you. Invite the coaching even if you have to hire and pay for it. If professional athletes need coaches at elite levels, what makes you think you don’t need one? Coaches will disagree with you, challenge you, probably yell at you. Get over it and learn.
5. Good meetings have drama. Drama means conflict. Most people think a good meeting is one without drama. Those are boring and often unproductive meetings. Think about it, what makes a movie good? Drama. And with the RIGHT kind of drama, the RIGHT kind of conflict, it will drive you and your company to push through complacency and safety. Good meetings are filled with people who honestly examine ideas, processes and decisions. Don’t play it safe. Invite the conflict. Get over the drama and learn from the conflict.
6. Conflict brings change. You change. Your marriage changes. Your business changes. With the right conflict, this change is always for the good. You don’t know what you need to change unless someone has the courage to tell you. Your marriage will not change until you understand how YOU need to change, not your spouse. You are not going to change him or her. You can only change you. Your business will change when you listen to feedback from your customers. At Nordstroms, they excel in customer service. Because they develop a culture of listening and accommodating the customer, they reap incredible loyalty. Conflict brought prosperity. Listen to your critics. Turn them into coaches. Change.
Do you want happiness, prosperity and fullness? Then, invite the conflict. Welcome the drama. You will learn, you will change, and you will win.
3 Steps to Getting Things Done
Many people struggle to get things done. They look around and see half completed projects, papers stacked on their desks, the email inbox overflowing, and voicemails waiting to answer. Ever feel like you are drowning and someone is pouring on more water rather than throwing you a life preserver? Here are three quick steps to get you going and getting more things done.
What Gets Pictured, Gets Done. I have a dream board in my office in my sight line. I see it every day. Pictures on my dream board depict my dreams and goals. My wife and I wish to spend about 3 months annually in Hawaii in semi-retirement. I picture the place and daily pace. I experimented with lifestyle while on our last trip. We went to the beach in the morning. I snorkeled, enjoyed the sun, yet had time to read and think. Thinktime for me is very important (and it should be important for you, too). In the afternoon, while my wife enjoyed the pool, I stayed in the cabana nearby and returned calls, completed client paperwork, and other tasks. The evening was free for dinners or sunset walks on the beach. This is my picture of retirement. If the most challenging thing in the day was playing golf, I would go crazy. I have other dreams, with other pictures, that remind me daily of WHY I am working today. What I picture, gets done.
What Gets Planned, Gets Done. You know this part. You have attended time management courses. You know the tips and tricks. The problem? You have a daily task list, but the task list is not intentionally connected to your strategic plan for the year, month or week. Now, some people do not have any plan, and that certainly is a problem. A plan provides the path. Without the path, who knows where you end up, right? I work with many people who have the plan, create the path, but do not execute. The reason? They do not have a weekly plan that is connected to the path. They feel good about checking off the daily tasks. Unfortunately, too many daily tasks are not directly related to the strategic plan. They live in the tyranny of the urgent. Only 7% of the population creates a weekly plan and follows through. If this is the only point you remember, this will change what you get done. Before the work week begins, plan your week, then work your plan. Amazing things get done.
What Gets Measured, Gets Done. Ouch. Now I am getting personal. I know few people who truly enjoy evaluation. Let’s face it, when something is on the line, we perform. Creating deadlines and scoreboards keep personnel, and you, on track. The key to measurement is making sure the measurements matter. People hate busy work and filling out forms nobody reviews. However, most employees actually want feedback. They want to know how to improve. They want to hear affirmation for jobs well done. If you want to get things done, measure what should get done. I have developed a very simple form of score boarding that can assist an entire organization to step it up. Simple, yet powerful, this tool keeps people accountable, focused and goal-oriented.
I have taught productivity for over 25 years. If you want to learn how to get things done, live a balanced and productive life, then check out my “Getting it Right: Work/Life Balance” one day workshop.