Should we focus on our strengths or try to fix our weaknesses? In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke, Hannah, and Sarah discuss the benefits of discovering your strengths and leveraging them for maximum effectiveness. When everyone on a team uses their complementary strengths, each member is more effective, and the team is successful.

More than 25 million have completed the CliftonStrengths assessment. The results help people maximize their potential at work and everywhere else. In simple terms, it’s a tool that consists of 34 themes that helps uncover the intuitive, natural ways that people solve problems and communicate, build relationships.

Gallup Certified StrengthsFinder coach Sarah Elkins helps the hosts find their strengths through their stories. She also shares how this method can help anyone clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision.

Sarah challenges the audience to think about how they discipline their children. Typically, they will all respond differently and will require different approaches. If we can’t have a one size fits all approach to discipline and growth in our homes with our kids, who might all come from the same DNA, raised in the same environment, what makes leaders think they can do it in the workplace?

Luke shares his concern about how treating people differently with personalized approaches in the workplace could be perceived by some as being unfair. The hosts discuss how to manage conflicting strengths best in the office and things to avoid. But it’s when we support each other from opposite strengths that things quickly get exciting.

In an organization, recognizing, understanding, appreciating, and respecting each other’s strengths can dramatically transform performance. From a team-building perspective, we can create well-roundedness by surrounding ourselves with people with strengths that are complementary to our own.

Sarah also warns that when we think we must be good at everything, we don’t get great at anything. It stops us from acknowledging the beauty, strength, and diversity of the people around us. But when we recognize that we’re not good at everything, we naturally create solid and beautiful relationships and allow each other’s strengths to be complimentary.

StrengthsFinder can help unlock an opportunity to be well-rounded in a team in ways we never have as an individual. Sarah also shares details about her new book  and  podcast

“Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will.” Sarah explains how she leads with a combination of strengths coaching and storytelling because you don’t want to tell people you are a strategic activator.

What are your top 5 strengths? Are you a leader of an organization wanting to look at the uniqueness of your teams or want to explore how you can leverage your strengths to get to the next level of performance engagement? That’s what we do. We would love to talk to you about it. You can message Chris, Hannah, and Luke at info@purposeandperformancegroup.com.

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