Our leadership is in crisis.
A survey commissioned by the World Economic Forum in 2015 found that 86% of people believed their leaders were ill equipped to solve the major global issues we face today (Shahid, 2015).
Respondents recognized that those in charge needed to be more inspirational and “must mediate, listen and include the opinions of others before making a decision” (Shahid, 2015).
Strengths-based coaching may hold some of the answers, cultivating leaders “whose capacity matches their challenges” (MacKie, 2014, p. 118).
This article explores the potential of the CliftonStrengths™ assessment to help leaders and non-leaders know their strengths and invest in others.
Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Strengths Exercises for free. These detailed, science-based exercises will help your clients realize their unique potential and create a life that feels energizing and authentic.
Most of us will find ourselves leading at several points in our lives – in the workplace, on a sports field, in school, or even at home.
But what makes a great leader?
That was the question a team of experts led by Don Clifton set about answering using decades of data from Gallup polls, 20,000 interviews with leaders, one million work teams, and consultations with 10,000 followers worldwide (Rath & Conchie, 2009).
They found that the most influential leaders do the following (Rath & Conchie, 2009):
Central to their findings was the idea that “while our society encourages us to be well-rounded, this approach inadvertently breeds mediocrity” (Rath & Conchie, 2009, p. 7).
They identified that leaders striving to be competent at everything were the least effective overall.
But what does this mean in practice?
Effective leadership means becoming aware of our own and our team’s strengths.
Successful leaders must build teams around them with a set of complementing strengths, rather than specific knowledge or competencies, and then build upon them (Rath & Conchie, 2009).
Clifton and colleagues’ research identified four distinct domains of leadership strengths that high-performing teams possess:
Executing
Influencing
Relationship building
Strategic thinking
Individually and combined, these strength categories are valuable for looking at how a leader can contribute to a team and a form a “practical lens for looking at the composition of a team” (Rath & Conchie, 2009, p. 23).
How can CliftonStrengths™ help?
Gallup’s top scientists identified that these four domains consist of 34 themes that can help a good leader think about individual contributions to a team and identify the sort of people who should surround them.
The strengths assessment they created, CliftonStrengths™ (formally the StrengthsFinder™) is a web-based tool that helps identify the strength makeup of leaders and how each team member can contribute to the overall group goals and successful outcomes (Rath & Conchie, 2009).
CliftonStrengths™ is described on the Gallup website as crucial to becoming the best you.
The assessment process involves the following three steps (modified from Gallup, n.d.a):
The 30-minute assessment includes 177 paired statements designed to measure and score talents, thinking patterns, feelings, and behavior.
Examples of paired statements include:
I want everyone to like me versus I want everyone to adore me
I am a sensitive person versus I am a logical person
Starting conversations is an effort for me versus I get a rush from starting up a conversation with a stranger
You begin by rating each paired statement between the two extremes.
Completing the 177 questions unlocks a personalized report that identifies your top strengths and explains how to use them for success.
Once all the paired statements have been scored, detailed and comprehensive reports offer personalized strengths insights, helping you use what you naturally do best to accomplish more.
Signature themes highlight what makes you stand out and offer a deeper understanding of who you are.
The CliftonStrengths™ 34 Report provides a complete profile of what makes you different and powerful, and includes how to:
The report suggests the following:
The CliftonStrengths™ for Managers Report helps you become a better manager while improving your team’s performance by incorporating your strengths into your (and their) daily routine.
Each theme page introduces:
Once you have your results, it’s about targeting your strengths at every opportunity. The resources and tools available from the Gallup Access platform will help you to:
These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients with tools to discover and harness their unique strengths.
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The 34 themes identified by the online CliftonStrengths™ assessment tool sort into four domains of leadership strengths. Each offers a practical approach to exploring the strengths an individual brings to leadership and those required by the team who surrounds them (Rath & Conchie, 2009):
An exceptional leader is not good at everything. Instead, effective leaders identify and foster the right strengths for an optimal team (Rath & Conchie, 2009).
But how do you know when you have the right balance of strengths in the team?
Based on their research, Gallup identified that the following observations identify high-performing teams.
Strong teams (modified from Rath & Conchie, 2009):
Rather than fragment and hold on to bitter divisions, high-performing teams are objective, focusing on the truth and results.
Even following disagreement within the team, egos are put aside, and everyone works together toward the goal.
Top teams are an opportunity to learn, shine, and have the potential to make a real impact.
“Getting the right strengths on the team is a good starting point, but it is not enough.”
Rath & Conchie, 2009, p. 76
The manager must not see a high-performing team as a done deal, but instead should continue to grow the team, investing in their strengths and building better relationships.
The Positive Psychology Toolkit© is a groundbreaking practitioner resource containing over 500 science-based exercises, activities, interventions, questionnaires, and assessments created by experts using the latest positive psychology research.
Updated monthly. 100% Science-based.
“The best positive psychology resource out there!”
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Below is a list of the 34 strengths identified within Gallup’s research and used in the CliftonStrengths™ assessments, grouped by domain (modified from Rath & Conchie, 2009; Gallup, n.d.b):
For further details on each of the 34 themes, check out the Gallup website.
