Truly Tap Your Strengths To Do Better Work and Enjoy It More!
Strengths = Talent + Energy
At Happy Brain Science we teach individuals and organizations how to Truly Tap Strengths by focusing on examining beliefs that may be inhibiting strengths, exploring ways to discover strengths, and strategizing ways to act and build on strengths.
A strength, as defined by strengths researchers, is a behavior that you do very well, that you enjoy, and energizes you. When you act on a strength, your performance is consistently near your peak performance. You look forward to doing these activities and behaviors, you enjoy them while you are doing them, and you feel energized afterwards.
Strengths Impact Engagement
When you use your strengths at work, you are more engaged and you perform better. As reported by Gallup, employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work. Research has found that the largest impact on engaging people and driving performance is getting each person on a team playing to his or her strengths.
Discover Your Strengths at Work
Clarifying the strengths you already know: You have at least a rough idea of your strengths at work: the things that thrive at, that make you happy, that you are a rock star at.
- Create personal, detailed descriptions of these activities, skills and behaviors. Pause and reflect to write down, in your own words, those things that you enjoy and that energize you.
Track your strongest and weakest work over one month: This helps you to notice patterns in your energy levels and disposition.
- Each day, record the projects or tasks you have been working on and how you feel after each task. Do you feel energized? Frustrated? Bored? Track your work and energy levels over one month to further discover those behaviors that you are good at and that energize you and those that do not.
Act on Your Strengths at Work
Make a strong task list each day: You’ll be more energized and engaged throughout the day if you start off the day making progress in an area that uses your strengths.
- Everyday put at least one item on your to-do list that uses a strength you have discovered. If two items are of the same priority, do the one that uses your strengths first.
Make strengths part of the team conversation: Talk about strengths in meetings, in passing and casual conversations, when planning and delegating for new projects, and in reviews and development conversations. Other ideas for making strengths part of the conversation at work:
- Have a strengths meeting where you ask, “what are our top 5 strengths as a team?” “Where do we lack strength as a team?” “What are our individual strengths?” “How do those affect how we work together and where do we excel as a team?”
- Take a strengths assessment like that Gallup’s StrengthsFinder 2.0 or VIA Character Strengths Assessment
- Put your assessment results your email signature, on a name card on your desk, or on a door sign.
- Create a team chart that has everyone’s strengths and then review it quarterly or post it in an open workspace where everyone can see and refer to it. There are many creative and unique ways you can make strengths part of the conversation.
Truly Tap Your Strengths at Work
The science is clear that we can build the most where we are already strong, and that when we are tapping into our strengths at work we are more confident, happier, more engaged and energetic, are more resilient and successful. Truly tap your strengths at work so you can do better work and enjoy it more.
How do you truly tap strengths at work? Let us know how it’s going in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter. If you’d like us to come to your organization to dive deeper into developing your strengths and the strengths of your team contact us at Ask.Us@HappyBrainScience.com.