Contents Leadership: Pathways to flourishingInterview with Ryan Niemiec. An overview of strengths with the VIA Institute’s Education Director.
Strategy: Appreciative Inquiry: StrengthBased Influence Eszter Molnar Mills explores how to use strengths in managing organisational development.
Recommended Reads: Soul Keeping by John Ortberg Speaker and author Jon Gordon, our interviewee from issue 11, recommends a book that resonated for him.
5 of the Best… Strengths Tools To help you find out your strengths, there are a number of assessment tools, and we’ve set out the top five.
Impact & Influence: Strengths-Focused Guide to Leadership Review of a practical handbook for understanding and using strengths in the workplace to boost productivity
Words to Lead By Shweta Jhajharia shares the best piece of business and leadership advice she has ever received
Editor’s Note Well, it has been a while since our last issue, and we’re really sorry about that. The important thing is that we’re back, and you can look forward to future issues of People and Purpose, filled with indepth interviews with leading commentators, interesting articles, well-chosen book reviews and our recommendations from the world of leadership, strengths and positive psychology. We aim to publish on a regular basis from now on. I’m particularly excited to be re-launching with an issue on strengths, as I’m really passionate about them. Throughout my work as a coach, trainer and consultant I’ve seen the real benefits for people using a strengths focus: identifying what they are good at and what makes them feel great—then using this to help them overcome challenges and do more of their best work. I very much enjoyed interviewing Ryan Niemiec of the VIA Institute. We talked about all aspects of strengths—what they are, how to use them, and how to develop them further. It was great to talk with someone so enthusiastic, knowledgeable and commited to strengths, and I hope you’ll enjoy the interview itself, or the summary of it that we’ve written up. So once again, welcome back ! Eszter Molnar Mills
Leadership Pathways to Flourishing: interview with Ryan Niemiec We’re proud to present our interview with clinical psychologist Dr. Ryan Niemiec, the Education Director at VIA Institute of Character, and a key thinker on using strengths. Ryan covers a wide range of issues including defining strengths, looking at how we can use them, and using movies to demonstrate psychology principles. He shows how a strength-based approach increases productivity, wellbeing and sense of purpose. Click on the link and watch for yourself, or read our summary:
Strengths For some people, the idea of strengths can get confused with skills and abilities. Ryan shares a straightforward way to thinking about strengths:
1. They are “core qualities of our identity”: they are consistent personality traits, or ‘character’ strengths. While an innate strength such as ‘bravery’ or ‘humility’ can be developed further, it is different from a skill such as ‘public speaking’, which can be learned. 2. They are “linked with many different outcomes”: working with your strengths has positive benefits, because you’re going with the grain. These benefits extend across your life, not just in delivering the work itself, but in how we feel about it, and about others. 3. They “contribute to the greater good”: strengths are focussed on the positive, on aspects of life that are advantageous for society as a whole. Ryan suggests that use of character strengths is a “pathway to flourishing” – leveraging strengths is beneficial for all aspects of your wellbeing. Value + Action = Strength Ryan expounds on the idea that a value – for example for family or hard work - lives in our heads. It is only when the value is put into action that it leads to anything. For Ryan this is the definition of a character strength. Finding and using signature strengths It is not a question of which of the 24 strengths you have, more the extent you have each strength: remember the idea of strength as a ‘potential’ that you can tap into. Ryan explains how working with your top-five ‘signature’ strengths has been found by research experiments to have the most positive impact - including boosting happiness and lowering depression.
But what does ‘using your strengths’ mean? Ryan suggests this is as simple as choosing one of your signature strengths and consciously using it each day in a different way. He suggests ways he could use his curiosity strength ➔ These are just some quick, practical ways of putting his values into action, of building and developing his signature strength even further. But you may ask why bother working on your signature strengths, which must already be well-developed? Surely I can get more movement on improving my lowest strengths? Ryan suggests this is a common thought, but although we can increase our lower strengths, it is the signature strengths where we can make a real change, with exponential growth when we use those strengths in new and different ways. Another approach Ryan mentions is character strengths alignment, following the research by Willibald Ruch and Claudia Harzer. They found significant positive benefit from this approach: •
Identify and list your top seven strengths
•
List your top five to seven work tasks for the day
•
Create an action plan that uses the strengths in each task
for example: I’m going to express interest in the
Curiosity other person
I need to write loads of emails I’m going to convey warmth. to customers Kindness
I could offer them a service, a giveaway
The benefit was increased workplace satisfaction: this approach helps workers align what they are doing with what they are both good at and what they value. This helps them feel “that it is more meaningful work, that it’s an extension of who they are”. And this is not just about wellbeing: boosting engagement and happiness leads to increased productivity. Weave it in vs. ‘one more thing’ Ryan suggests the key is to weave strengths into everything you do, not to use them as an add-on. Think holistically: how to bring strengths into the design of your office environment, your lunch breaks, and not just the actual work. Think about how strengths can be added into 360 appraisals, performance reviews. You’ve convinced me – but how do I begin?
Ryan has four simple steps to help you start using strengths more: 1. Know thyself: you need to know your own strengths before you can progress (see our ‘5 of the best’ article for details). Other tips include keeping a journal to record when you use these strengths, how these strengths benefit your team, and to plan how to use your top strength. 2.
Model: if you’re actively thinking and planning about how to use your strengths, you’re tapping into your best abilities. And
that is authentic leadership: “you’re expressing who you are, and you’re putting who you are out there to the organisation, to your teams, to everybody.” 3. Finding strengths: quite simply, look for strengths in your team members. Ryan points out this is an easy and straightforward approach, which doesn’t even require workshops or for the organisation to be ‘ready’ for strengths, but which has a massive positive impact, and begins to embed strengths into the team culture. He gives a template for the feedback conversation: •
Label the strength
•
Describe the behaviour you saw
•
Express appreciation
Don’t underestimate the importance of appreciation : Ryan cites a New Zealand correlational study which found “those workers who felt appreciated were 30 times more likely to be flourishing than workers who did not feel appreciated.” Ryan suggests you build this approach into your regular practice, and ensure you spot strengths and show appreciation for each one of your team members. 4. Leverage those strengths: once you know others’ strengths, Ryan encourages you to use them, calling on individual members when you have a problem that needs their specific strengths. Ryan Niemiec is Education Director at the VIA Institute on Character, which promotes the use of strengths, and shares the lessons from highquality science and research. Ryan is tasked with sharing the language, concepts and benefits of strengths to a wider audience. Ryan’s books include Positive Psychology at the Movies, Mindfulness and Character Strengths, and Character Strengths Interventions.
Using strengths during recruitment is a great way of understanding what energises candidates to deliver high performance. To help you easily add strengths into your interviews, just download our guide with 9 ready-to-use questions
Strategy Appreciative Inquiry: Strength-based organisational influence by Eszter Molnar Mills We’ve all been there. You are tasked with delivering a significant change to processes, products or ways of working. Before you even start you are told by colleagues or staff that this will never happen, it’s impossible to do and all you feel is push-back. Leading change can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill with the risk that it will roll right back down at any moment. I’m sure this sounds familiar, as it is derived from two commonplace issues – that people often fear change and resist it, and that most organisations introduce changes by focussing on existing problems and shortcomings, such as John Kotter’s famous ‘melting iceberg’. But what comes of this approach? A negative atmosphere as everyone tries to dodge responsibility, and you impose a top-down change that will hopefully fix the problem. And how many times do you fix one problem only to find that you’ve now created another? Or find that people resist adopting your solution at all? If you think about how we apply the idea of strengths for a person – that you can deliver better change and growth by harnessing strengths rather than focussing on weaknesses – then you can imagine there is a similar approach for teams and organisations. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is that approach – it focuses on finding out what already works, and how to leverage those successes and strengths. It is a collaborative approach, because unless you have
everyone involved, you can’t effectively incorporate the multiplicity of perspectives. By co-creating a vision as well as the approach together, you’ll reduce resistance to change and have a more effective and lasting solution. The theory and research underpinning Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is extensive, as is the track record of AI being used effectively in a whole host of settings across industries, countries and sectors. The Appreciative Inquiry process starts with a positively stated topic choice or inquiry question, such as: “How can we deliver maximum value for our customers within our existing resources?” or “Creating innovation through collaboration with other departments or organisations” or “Becoming a high performing and fun team.” Its power comes from the combination of focusing on what works and approaching changes with an open, enquiring mind. The AI process then uses a simple 4D model to address the topic: •
Discover
•
Dream
•
Design
•
Deliver
This may not seem that different from a range of other such models, until you look at what happens in each phase.
Traditionally managers would use root cause analysis to try and understand problems. In Appreciative Inquiry, this phase is about looking positively at what is already working, helping us identify the key ingredients of success for this team or organisation. It embraces the positive traditions and stories that they have about themselves.
Discover
Looking at existing success helps engagement and creativity and generates confidence for the next stage. You may find those existing examples of collaboration or of innovation that can act as the template for wider improvements. Rather than the narrow focus on solving problems with the minimum effort in the minimum time, this visioning phase is about using the positivity so everyone feels safe in challenging the status quo, in thinking about the big picture, and creating a vision that reaches into the future.
Dream
We ask questions like “How does our version of excellence on a budget look, and crucially why does it matter?” When you’re grounded in what’s worked, and because you’re involving everyone, you can build a compelling dream that generates commitment to action.
The Appreciative Inquiry approach is to focus on bridging the gap to your dream, while making sure there is alignment with values, strategy, structures and processes. Co-creation means working with all involved, which ensures that you don’t ‘rob Peter to pay Paul,’ and generates crucial buy-in and jointownership of change.
Design
This stage is when you work together to translate the vision into action plans and share roles and responsibilities in making it happen.
You’ll need to maintain the momentum – keep talking together, challenging each other, reaffirming commitment to change. Agree how you will hold each participant accountable for delivering their commitments, but don’t fall back into negativity and topdown power.
Deliver
Reflect back on what you’ve learned about the traditions and stories people tell about themselves, and use them to overcome any obstacles. Continue to celebrate successes.
As an external facilitator who has used an Appreciative Inquiry approach with many teams, I can tell you that it works. So many top -down change programmes fail because of the fear, resistance or
lack of ownership. With AI, that initial focus on ‘what works already’ gives people security, helps them understand that their particular perspective is valued. This enables them to be creative, to see the big picture and to consider what they individually need to do for the team to reach their compelling vision. While Appreciative Inquiry works exceptionally well on large-scale change or organisational development programmes, it is not just about externally-driven change or solving specific challenges. Some of my best experiences have been using AI approaches in team away-days to help them reflect, define their own vision and agree how they will act differently in the future, all based on what they were already great at. Many of my clients use an external facilitator because it helps create a level playing field for all participants, and because we can more easily ask the big questions and identify the ‘we’ve always done it like that’ assumptions. But any manager can learn how to use an AI approach – there’s a wealth of accessible resources to help you – books, websites, videos, webinars.
Eszter Molnar Mills is a strength-based leadership and organisation development specialist. She helps organisations and individuals reach enhanced performance by reflecting on what works, and by developing skills and strategies for improvement. Through Formium Development, Eszter supports organisations, teams and individuals through consultancy, executive and team coaching, and facilitation.
Recommended Reads Soul Keeping By John Ortberg Jon Gordon is a trainer, consultant and inspirational speaker. His books cover a wide range of subjects aiming to help people be positive and to lead better. Interviewed in People and Purpose 11, he shared with us a book he recommends for others: Soul Keeping by the pastor and spiritual writer, John Ortberg. In this short, accessible book, filled with stories and anecdotes, John Ortberg explores the idea of a soul with reference to films, music, TV and fiction. He describes in detail the nine aspects of care and attention which souls require, asking us to look at ourselves and consider what changes we need to make in our lives. Jon summed up why he loves the book: “You can't be a great leader if you don't tend to your own soul, and this is a book about being a soulful person, a soulful leader, and understanding how you must nurture the soul in order to be able to nurture and lead others. Because if you're broken, if you have these wounds that are not healed, you will act out and lead from those wounds, instead of leading from healing. If you're not a healer, you can't be a helper.� Buy it now on Amazon UK or Amazon USA
Let us know what you think: @People_Purpose
5 of the best… Strength Tools If you want to find out your strengths, your best bet is to use one of these five strength assessment tools. They differ greatly in the number/categories of strengths, what you get for your money, and options for follow-up work, such as bespoke development programmes. We think that each assessment has value and can appeal to a different audience, so spend some time on their websites to make sure you choose the right one for your needs. Information is accurate at time of press (summer 2018), but the models and the reports offered continue to be refined. VIA Survey of Character Strengths No. of strengths 24 Strength Families Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, Transcendence How you use it Online self-assessment What you get for Free: VIA Survey Results - ranks order of all your money strengths 20 USD: ViaMe! Report – categorises into signature, middle and lesser strengths; tips for boosting lesser strengths.
Other features Website Parent Home
40 USD: VIA Pro report – more focus on signature strengths, detailed information and guidance e.g. overuse/underuse Team and comparison reports also available Youth version available viacharacter.org/www/Character-Strengths-Survey VIA Institute on Character www.viacharacter.org USA
Strengths Portrait™ (TotalSDI) No. of strengths
28
Strength Families
People, Performance, Process, Perspective
How you use it
Needs to be facilitated
What you get for your money
Top, middle, bottom strengths Looks at the motivations and reasons behind using strengths Overdone strengths portrait, Feedback and Expectations versions
Other features
TotalSDI Strengths Development inventory assessment: focuses on motivation and value systems Totalsdi.com
Website Parent
Personal Strengths Publishing personalstrengths.com
Home
USA
Strengths Profile (formerly Realise2) No. of strengths Strength Families How you use it
60 Being, Communicating, Motivating, Relating, Thinking Online self-assessment
What you get for your money
10 GBP: Quadrant Profile - for up to 21 key strengths results
Other features Website Parent Home
30 GBP: full Strengths Profile of all 60 strengths, categorised into Realised, unrealised, learned behaviours and weaknesses Team and Manager options also available strengthsprofile.com Capp www.capp.co UK
CliftonStrengths assessment (formerly Gallup StrengthsFinder) No. of strengths Strength Families How you use it What you get for your money
34 Strategic Thinking, Executing, Relationship building, Influencing Online self-assessment 19 USD: CliftonStrengths Starter - provides top 5 strengths only
Other features Website Parent Home
89 USD: CliftonStrengths 34 - gives a full list of strengths and in-depth analysis of top 5 strengths Complimentary copy of bestselling book: StrengthsFinder 2.0 Youth version available Gallupstrengthscenter.com Gallup www.Gallup.com USA
StrengthscopeÂŽ No. of strengths
24
Strength Families
Emotional, Relational, Execution, Thinking
How you use it
Needs to be facilitated
What you get for your money
35 GBP: Standard Profile of strengths including Significant 7, and the actual/ desired visibility of strengths
Other features
Other assessments for incorporating 360 feedback, team, leadership and engagement levels Achieved Registered Test status from the British Psychological Society
Website
Strengthscope.com StrengthscopeUS.com
Parent
Strengths Partnership—strengthspartnership.com/
Home
UK
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Impact and Influence The Strengths-focused guide to leadership Mike Roarty and Kathy Toogood
If you want a practical manual to understanding how to harness strengths, for you and your team, this book is a great place to start, as it: • • • • •
introduces the key concepts of strengths provides the research base for more inquisitive readers illustrates with narratives prompts you with a range of exercises and action points explains how to weave strengths into your practice as a leader.
What really sets this book apart is the emphasis on practicality. Numerous exercises help you engage with the ideas. There are questions, forms and questionnaires for you to use. The book looks at embedding strengths in all your work, including coaching, team meetings, recruitment and appraisals. So even if you know the value of using strengths, this is still a worthwhile read. A further great feature is the use of dialogues, showing the ideas in action (e.g. a coaching session transcript) or as two alternative ‘scripts’ - one using strengths, the other weakness. These stories keep you grounded in reality.
The whys, whats and hows of using strengths The authors define strengths as something that:
They show the advantage of working with strengths: that you are doing more of what you are best at. They set out the alignment between using strengths and increased sense of authenticity and purpose, increasing satisfaction and engagement. This naturally leads into a more productive cycle, with faster and better results. For any readers averse to leaving a weakness-focussed approach, the authors provide both the evidence for focussing on strengths, and also how to address weaknesses with a positive mindset. The MORE model
M
O
R
E
identify and develop My strengths
identify and develop Others’ strengths
apply to Regular conversations
apply to Employee processes
My strengths: To identify your own strengths, the authors offer five different methods: strength spotting, weakness spotting, a 5 steps strengths map, 360 degree feedback and online strengths assessments. They provide the exercises, questions and examples to help you through whichever of these methods you prefer to use.
Roarty and Toogood suggest 8 ways to develop your strengths: Test the limits of your area of
Coach, or train, others
Ask others for feedback, ideas and suggestions
Learn to regulate strengths overplayed
Learn new skills or take on new Practice and develop strengths tasks that will provide that are complementary (crossopportunities to apply the strength training) Incorporate strengths development Find yourself a coach or mentor into your development plan
They also provide 6 ways to manage your weaknesses. To align your goals and strengths, they suggest usual SMART objectives should rather be SMARTIE – adding Important and Energising.
Others’ strengths: The book suggests approaches to introduce strengths as a concept and to support your team in identifying their strengths. Regular conversations: To embed strengths into daily practice, the authors provide checklists and questions which embody the three principles that will help you develop a strengths mindset: • • •
start with an outcome focus focus on what’s working manage weakness from strength
They advise how to use this mindset in one-to-one conversations, development planning, team meetings and coaching: interventions where a strengths-focus has great rewards.
Use a strengths approach with your team for:
Appraisals
Recruitment
Performance reviews
Coaching
Development
Employee processes: Roarty and Toogood provide specific advice for a strength-based approach for performance appraisals, development discussions and recruitment. Particularly interesting is their approach for adapting to institutional reality: that while you may be required to use certain forms, competencies or expected approaches, you can still use a strengths mindset and techniques to provide a better outcome. Leadership and teams The book ends by providing the advice, evidence and resources to use strengths in two key challenges: creating a high-performing team, and in leading change. You can buy The Strengths-focused guide to leadership, by Mike Roarty and Kathy Toogood, on Amazon UK or Amazon USA
Picture credits Front Cover: Ryan Niemiec. Editor’s Note: Fozelek. Appreciative Inquiry: Fozelek. Impact & influence: Triff via Shutterstock, Pressmaster via Shutterstock. Words to Lead by: Shweta Jhajharia
Become a Thriving Leader 79 straight-forward actionable tips to help you: Build on strengths and use Positive Leadership for managers Create a compelling vision and translate the vision into action Build a successful team Coach for enhanced performance and hold effective performance management conversations Develop your management and leadership practice
Words to lead by
Shweta Jhajharia, the multi-award-winning business coach and author of Sparks, contributed the popular article The 6 Ms of Business Strategy to our last issue. Here she shares the best advice she has ever received. Shweta has taken Brian Tracey’s quote as her personal motto:
Goals are dreams with deadlines For Shweta, it is important to achieve a balance between aspiration and structure. As she says: “I think that dedication to focusing on my goals and keeping strict timelines for myself is a trait that has contributed to my business’ success, my clients’ success, and to the success of having an active and present role in my son’s life.” For more thoughts from Shweta, try her new book Sparks, Ideas to ignite your business growth.
Find it on Amazon UK or Amazon USA
In our next issue: An interview with
Tamara Box on Leadership for Engagement
Eszter Molnar Mills on Positive Communication
Valentina Lorenzon looks at recruitment and retention within small family businesses
Review of
Steve Preston’s Winning through Career Change
Tom Wujec on problem solving
Today’s leaders and managers need a reliable source for new ideas and approaches to leadership and performance, to build their management practice, their organisations and their careers. That’s where People and Purpose steps in. We provide thoughtprovoking articles, recommendations, interviews and reviews - both original and curated content. We believe you get the best results by using your strengths, so we focus on positive leadership. If you have insights, ideas or models you’d like to share with our readers , please contact us: support@peopleandpurposejournal.com
People & Purpose is published by Formium Development, a strengthbased leadership and organisational development consultancy. At Formium, we help individuals and teams improve their performance and become more engaged and fulfilled within their work. Through training, coaching and OD consultancy we deliver effective solutions which enable clients to identify and build on their strengths - and do more of their best work. Click here for our regular newsletter, or contact us: Website: www.formium.co.uk E-mail: info@formium.co.uk UK Telephone: 020 7416 6648 (International: +44 20 7416 6648)