Deeper curiosity reveals surprising strengths April 2, 2007
Posted by impassioned in Careers, Leadership, Strengths, Talent Management.trackback
Do you know what your colleagues and peers do when they are not at work? What drives them? What gets them leaping out of bed at the weekend ready to face the day? How do they spend their vacation time? Where do they rush to after work?
I don’t just mean the cursory chat about their weekend that takes place by rote on a Monday morning. Are you really curious about what drives the people around you to willingly devote their ’spare’ time to an outside interest? The key to passion at work can be hidden in the natural motivations of your team mates beyond the workplace. Author Marcus Buckingham would suggest that the activities people are naturally drawn to and which they find absorbing may hold the secret to their strengths. He has written several books on the topic of finding and playing to your strengths for peak performance. In his Stronger Teams Blog, Blaine Collins references Buckingham’s book to list the ways strengths can be identified and used effectively to build stronger teams. For a complete write up of the book you can see Blaine’s article on Joyful Jubilant Learning.
I have facilitated many business meetings where icebreakers revealed surprising information about people who had worked together for many years. Colleagues looking with new found respect at someone they thought they knew. How could you not be impressed on learning that a quiet, unassuming member of your team was an Olympian! Or one of your partners used to play with the Beatles before they got famous (giving it all up for a stable career!). Wouldn’t it make you look at someone with fresh eyes when you learn that in their spare time they build houses for Habitat for Humanity or they give skating lessons to youth. These are all real examples from people I know and YES it does make me admire them and want to look for ways their strengths can be used in the workplace. Junior members of the team may have extensive experience of managing groups and projects through their outside interests. Elders may have some tales of inspiration to share in areas well beyond their official title.
As a leader, what do you do to encourage people to bring their passionate interests to work. To help build an appreciation amongst your team of the diverse skills and experience which may be hidden below the surface. Show a deep curiosity about people’s outside interests and you may just reveal some surprising strengths.
Gabriella. I like the point you make that we should consider both our professional and “personal” sides when identifying strengths. Everyone has a rich history that brought them to their current workplace situation. We certainly consider diversity and life paths in the hiring process. Its important, then, take advantage of each individual’s inclinations and strengths once they are part of the team.
Nice blog you have here, too! Thanks for connecting.
Aloha Gabriella,
I have had the same experience with ice-breakers; it is pretty amazing. What you speak of just happened for me yesterday in bringing Managing with Aloha to a group for the first time. This is a larger organization where everyone knows each other – or so they thought. All we did was give them blank nametags as they walked in, pointing them to a table with an array of colored sharpies. We asked them to only write their first name, and a small doodle-type picture of something that makes them feel good. During their breaks, and break-outs for the day, we encouraged them to ask each other what the pictures were all about, doing their best to relate to each other as unique individuals, and not as the holders of the roles they have in the organization. They loved the exercise.
Thank you for your mention of Blaine and our Joyful Jubilant Learning forum; it’s wonderful to find your blog! I’m so with you in the desire for an impassioned workforce!
Rosa