Leadership Vision will be hosting our second, Summer Strengths Conversation on Monday, June 26 (join us here). We will pose this question:
Am I a Good Team Member?
Sometimes the way we see ourselves is very different from the way others see us. Anyone who has interacted with another person can probably recount a funny story about how a well-meaning comment was interpreted by the other person in the complete opposite way.
In this episode, Carrie and I will discuss some of the ways that our perception of who we are is different from how others view us. How our intent can be different from how others experience us. At Leadership Vision, we think these two perspectives can come into greater alignment through focusing on three things:
Assume Positive Intent
Asking Lots of Questions
Understanding each Other’s Strengths
Join us Monday, June 26, 12:10 PM (CST), 10:10 AM (PST)
During our next episode, we will dive into these three areas, as well as discuss a survey we sent out to our team, asking for feedback on what Carrie and I do well, and where we could use improvement.
If you have any questions, before, ask in the comments below, and we’ll get them answered.
Are you building a Strengths-based organization? Our advice is to take action on three key elements: use a common language, facilitate shared experiences, and bolster the narrative intelligence among your members.
As individuals at Leadership Vision, we were each profoundly changed and awakened by the Strengths language. As a team, we believe in the multiplied influence of working together in all of our differences. As a culture, our words are marked by passion, action, and drive.
As I reflect on who we are and what we are becoming as a team, I am excited. Our “intentional by design” approach reveals three findings from my doctoral research. The focus of my research was on North American leaders living in European cities leading international, multigenerational teams through constant, disruptive change. I discovered that those leaders who successfully navigated change shared three key elements: a common language, shared experience, and narrative intelligence. In short, the leaders had built Strengths-based environments.
Common Language
Cultures are made up of a common language. This common language is a launching pad for understanding and a vehicle of expression. Common language and creativity breed “inside jokes.” Common language and practical application of a method of communication build complex connections between members of a culture. A common language reveals what’s important to a team.
At Leadership Vision, our common language just happens to be StrengthsFinder™ because it is a lens beyond one’s mother tongue where we use Strengths to understand the behaviors, words, and actions of others. Our spoken or observed behaviors reveal our patterns of communication.
We have worked with those whose mother tongues are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Turkish, and Mandarin who’ve taken the StrengthsFinder assessment in their own languages. We’ve seen the power of how the Strengths language bridges other language barriers and cultural divides.
We’ve worked with the young and the seasoned and everyone in between, and have witnessed how Strengths break down the cultural divide between generations. In the same vein, language preserves culture. Think of the way people talk and act on your team. What does it say about you or your culture? Using Strengths, we promote a shorthand understanding of what’s right with people and provide platforms to communicate well and treat each other with honor and dignity.
Shared Experience
When common language is put into action in a variety of situations, the action creates bonds with people that leverage the language to emphasize the work. Think of the experiences you may participate in with others: working towards a deadline, marching for a cause, going on an adventure, volunteering together, or setting aside time to celebrate each quarter. In action, our mysterious complexity and predictable patterns are revealed. Sometimes, you need to get out of the familiar. This is one of the reasons we love the liminal experience of Vision Trekk. Outside of the everyday patterns of life, we find that people interact in a way that is strikingly familiar to their work habits because maybe that’s just how our synapses fire in our brains. Do you have a propensity to take charge? Maybe that happens in a community service day. Do you prefer to have multiple things going on at the same time? Perhaps that happens when you multitask to pull off a volunteer event.
Strengths weave into our story to help tell the active narrative of our here and now and explains what we think is important and feel is critical. The shared experience creates an opportunity. These opportunities, when embraced, deepen established relationships because the language within the shared experience is having a transformational impact on the members. It is our hope that shared experiences with generative outcomes move people from a professional connection to a personal relationship.
Narrative Intelligence
Every culture is impacted and shaped by storytelling. Story provides a framework, and an organizational narrative provides the guardrails so that a culture’s common language and shared experience can help align them to a preferred future. We use narrative and image to drive home meaning and invite people into a larger story.
In Strengths-based organizations, the organizational plot each company lives every day is enhanced by the language of Strengths. The language provides the understanding. And the common narrative emerges in the retelling and living out the story.
Stephen Denning, author, lawyer, and storyteller shaped my thinking around leadership and the power of leaders’ stories. He studied and lauded those who think narratively about the world. Denning takes storytelling and moves it to a two-way street. There is a performing side and an intuitive listening side in the back and forth of communication. Denning defines “narrative intelligence” as “the capacity to understand the world in narrative terms.” Those with narrative intelligence demonstrate their capacities through an explicit understanding of the theory and a tacit understanding of how narratives work. In the leaders who leverage this capacity and are successful in leading change, we find they can tell a complete story that stirs movement and sparks action with minimal words.
One Leadership Vision complete narrative could be told this way:
Brian Schubring answered the call to take StrengthsFinder™ further than ever could be imagined. He gained knowledge, applied wisdom and gathered the right team who joined the global movement into what is right with people.
The essence of the entire story was captured in two sentences. That story could be told in a variety of ways, but it becomes the story we will tell from generation to generation. It is a story that invites others to come and be part of the movement. Who are those leaders you know who engage the audience through captivating stories?
Final Thoughts
My research shaped the underpinnings of Leadership Vision’s approach. As we seek to become a successful Strengths-based organization ourselves, we use the common language of Strengths, continue to have shared experiences on teams, and actively build our narrative intelligence capacities by sharing the common narrative and listening deeply to the song beneath the words.
Where have you found success in building Strengths-based organizational culture?
Leadership Vision is excited to announce a new series “show” this summer. Starting Monday, June 19th at 10:15 AM (PST), 12:15 PM (CST) and running every other week until Labor Day, join us for our Summer Series of Strengths Questions. Carrie and I will talk about some of the best ways to have Strengths Based conversations with your team.
These weekly 30-minute Facebook Live conversations will provide some of our best insight into how to use Strengths Based questions and discussion topics with your team. The show will share universal tips for using StrengthsFinder through our personal experience and feedback.
Why Are We Doing This?
Carrie and I have been wanting to find a new way to communicate Leadership Vision’s approach around Strengths Based conversations aside from just our blog. It only seemed right to have an actual conversation!
We decided to cultivate this dialogue in a live format to provide an opportunity to interact with you and answer your questions.
Schedule and Format
The structure of the show is going to be somewhere between a polished University lecture and two colleagues chatting around the proverbial water cooler. Carrie and I are already talking about some of these things anyway, so why not share them with you?
Each “episode” will be roughly 30 minutes long and plan to have plenty of time (10-15 minutes) for discussion with you, our fellow Strengths professionals/audience/viewers.
Here is our tentative topic list:
Week 1 – June 19: Introduction, What is this?
We’ll share a bit more about our show and what you can expect, as well as answer any questions you may have right off the bat.
Week 2 – June 26: Am I a good Team member? (Intention vs. Experience)
Sometimes the way we see ourselves on a team is very different from how others see us. We’ll talk about how we can bring these two perspectives more into alignment.
Week 3 – July 10: How do your Strengths help you deal with conflict/challenge?
Conflict and challenge aren’t necessarily the same thing. We’ll talk about how our Strengths show up or don’t, in both of these scenarios.
Week 4 – July 24: What Strength(s) does your team need more/less of from you?
Sometimes, we don’t contribute in the way our team needs us too. We’ll talk about how we can become more self-aware and aware of the needs of the team.
Week 5 – August 7: Using Images to talk about Strengths
This episode will be a hands-on discussion where we’ll show you how to turn everyday objects into talking points about Strengths.
Week 6 – August 21: TBD
Based on your feedback, we’ll plan accordingly!
Week 7 – September 5th or 6th: Wrap Up/What’s Next?
We’ll talk a bit about next steps and where we go from here. We’ll also allow the majority of the time to answer your questions.
I recently retook the StrengthsFinder assessment for the first time in several years and for the third time in the last 12. For years, my Top Five Themes of Strength have been Empathy, Achiever, Activator, Strategic, and Developer, all of which I have been very at home with. When I received my results of Relator, Strategic, Achiever, Positivity, and Activator I’ll be honest, I had a temporary “Strengths Identity Crisis.” Where had Empathy gone? What did it mean for me to have Relator?
Just as I have encouraged so many before, I committed to some personal reflection and with time this shift began to make more sense.
What I Have Learned about My New Strengths
Here is what I discovered about my two new Strengths:
Relator
I have become more discerning in my relationships with age. After my Father’s passing in 2013 and my illness three years ago, many people in my life stepped up to support my family and I. There were also some people in my life who did not; some of whom surprised me. This experience, along with increasing demands on my time as a working mother, caused me to be more thoughtful about where I commit myself and reaffirms my commitment to nurturing the relationships most meaningful to my life.
I also see this shift reflected in the evolution of my professional responsibilities, most recently in my transition to Director of Client Relations with Leadership Vision. It is my goal that every one of our clients feels known and cared for and that we are not seeking to be transactional in any aspect of our partnership. These are distinct Talents of a Relator.
Positivity
When I returned to “normal life” following my illness, I remember remarking how infinitely more beautiful the world seemed, life’s burdens felt less weighty and worrisome, and my commitment to live a purpose driven life felt renewed. As I have moved further away from that time, those commitments have been tested, but they are a series of lessons I will never forget. For me, especially now, the glass is always half-full; there is always a silver-lining and a lesson to be gained from even the most difficult of circumstances. Again, distinct Positivity Talents.
Have your Strengths have shifted?
Why did I ultimately choose to retake the assessment? I had an inkling that there was a shift in my Strengths. It was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. I found it increasingly difficult to convey my Strengths authentically to our clients and so I took the time to try and make sense of this disparity.
I asked myself the questions I encourage our clients to ask themselves when they have experienced a shift in Strengths:
What has changed in your life in the last few years?
What is demanded of you at work and at home that was not before?
What duties and responsibilities have you been released of over the last few months, years?
Have there been any significant life events that have reshaped you in ways that you did not anticipate or imagine?
Ultimately, I found that I could answer “yes” to all of the above questions. I’ll be honest; I was afraid to retake the assessment. What if I discovered that I had Strengths that I identified with less? What truths would I have to face about myself?
Retaking the StrengthsFinder Assessment
As a Strengths Professional, I am well-versed in the Talents and behaviors of each of the 34 Themes of Strength, so when it didn’t feel right, I knew why. Even then, I did not rush to retake the assessment. I allowed myself time to discern all of the influences for a potential shift, I discussed it with my trusted Leadership Vision colleagues, and I studied the Talents of the Strengths I believed I was leveraging.
Should we rush out to retake StrengthsFinder each time we suspect we are leveraging a new set of Talents? It depends. The greatest benefit you have is to know and understand your Talents. If you’re constantly trying to retake the assessment to see “what else” you may have, it may not be helpful. This will likely be the last time I take the assessment for a very long time. I will now shift my attention to further developing these Talents, new and old.
Embracing the Shift
I am happy to share that I have landed in a place of acceptance and embrace of my new “Top Five” Strengths. I believe these are the Talents that are demanded of me today and also those that I will need to leverage as I move forward. Armed with this information, I feel empowered and inspired. I know better who I am today and how I can serve at work, at home, and in my community.
What life experiences have impacted the Talents you have utilized over time? What is your process for staying in touch with the Strengths you’re operating out of and leveraging on a regular basis?
Recently, I had an opportunity to participate in a 1 to 1 conversation that completely changed the way I understood this piece of the Core Process at Leadership Vision. That is an immensely powerful sentence, so now I’m sure you are asking “Why was it so transformative?”
Instead of conducting the conversation, I was the person who was doing all the talking! Yep, I was the recipient, if you will, of the 1 to 1 conversation.
My colleague, Steph, just completed our latest Strengths Communicator Training. As a part of that process, cohort participants complete twelve 1 to 1 conversations with family, friends, and/or co-workers. I was lucky enough to be one of her 12 conversations. At Leadership Vision, a 1 to 1 Conversation is an in-depth dialogue with a Leadership Vision consultant to help individuals gain a broader perspective of their Strengths.
I have to be honest, being “on the other side of the table” helped me understand a little bit more about how our clients may feel when they first hear about this impending conversation.
My 1 to 1 Conversation
Even though I know Leadership Vision, the people, and the process, this experience offered me a unique perspective by participating in a different way. While I feel like I walked away with so many takeaways, below are three things I learned about myself after the whole process was complete.
I was Nervous
As Steph and I sat down, I felt butterflies.
I was excited to experience her questions as we explored my Top 5 Strengths. I was also really nervous, wondering if I knew myself well enough to be able to answer them without feeling like a therapy session.
The reality is, we don’t often have the opportunity to talk solely about ourselves, from our own perspective, for an hour. We can often interject an opinion or add a perspective in a friendly conversation or workplace meeting, but to have someone listen with the intent of understanding how I work without any agenda aside from understanding me can feel daunting.
I found that the nervousness faded quite quickly when I remembered that the 1 to 1 conversation isn’t a test with correct or incorrect answers. My responses just needed to be true to me. I also felt exhilarated when I got to talk about what makes me tick and what I feel most passionate about. And I was pleasantly surprised that I do, in fact, know myself quite well.
I was Surprised
I have participated in a plethora of meetings throughout my career: 5 minute “stand-up” meetings, all-day seminars, and everything in-between. Those meetings typically didn’t involve me talking as the sole focus of the entire meeting.
I fully anticipated wrapping up my time with Steph early so I could get on with my list of to-dos. I did not believe for one second that I could fill an hour of time with talking about myself and to be honest, I was convinced Steph wouldn’t want to listen to me drone on for 60-minutes, either.
But in fact, the time passed quickly and I was surprised when Steph mentioned our time had come to an end. I also found myself surprised by how much I enjoyed talking about myself and by how well Steph allowed me the space to just be me.
I realized that our 1 to 1 conversation participants at Leadership Vision may also experience this sense of surprise as they get to dive deeply into who they are, with a person they feel may be a stranger.
I was Heard
During the 60-minutes I talked about myself, I never once felt like I had to justify or defend why I viewed something a certain way or answered one of the questions the way I did.
I never once felt like Steph was distracted or had someplace better to be. She was present, engaged, and interested in what I was saying during our time together.
She asked me a few clarification questions along the way and helped guide my thinking at certain points, but otherwise allowed me to say what was on my mind without interruption.
Ultimately, Steph listened to my words and out of them created an image and explanation of who I am and how I tick. She then took the time to “teach me back,” (as our client’s experience during the Learning Community step in our Core Process) using the images she drew.
Steph’s drawing of Carrie’s Strengths.Steph’s drawing of Carrie’s Strengths.
I was so deeply touched by how Steph honored me by highlighting my Strengths that are generative to me and our Leadership Vision team. She took it a step further by creating two images for me.I have these two images sitting on my desk as a constant reminder of this process and how I show up for the team around me.
The 1 to 1 Conversation Works
At the end of this experience, I now know more than ever that our process works. Steph is new to this portion of the Leadership Vision experience, but in a short time she has become good at listening for the things that make us unique. Despite being nervous about being exposed, I personally experienced that StrengthsFinder, and more importantly our process, does not do that. This process only serves to affirm what we are good at as individuals, how we can contribute to our fullest within our team, and the places where we can become even better.
I am so thankful to have been a part of Steph’s learning experience. Ultimately, she provided me with a different perspective. I have come to value this perspective and continue to go back to it as a way to unpack my Strengths and better how I show up for the team.
