Ignite Your Strengths
When thinking about your organization, why do some teammates and teams succeed more quickly than others and sustain that success over the long term? What motivates people from the inside-out to reach for higher levels of success in the first place, and what kinds of habits, training, and support help them improve faster?
When thinking about yourself, have you made progress towards your goals for this year? If not, what’s holding you back?
For starters, are you aware of what your greatest strengths are? How can you develop those more to help you?
To develop your gifts and optimize your potential, consider these 3 ways to ignite your strengths:
Practice
Who do you need to become to get to where you want to go?!?
Think about what you’re practicing, when you’re practicing, and how you’re practicing! Think about quantity AND quality.
For example, if you have a lot of relationship-building strengths, how can you use your gifts to grow closer to 3 friends this month?
The high-energy practice you need involves focusing on improving your strengths, not fixing your weaknesses. You’ll get a greater return on investment by shifting your thoughts to a strengths-based mindset.
Coaching
Who do you admire? What would he/she say to you right now?
A coach may ask the tough questions like:
Do you truly understand your gifts? Are you aware of how you’ve used them as mature strengths in the past?
What are you really afraid of? Can you be more specific? How can you take action on that?
What area do you need more clarity with? Who can you talk to in order to get more clarity on your decision?
What would it feel like to achieve your goals? Let’s set a deadline. When do you really want this by?
Meaning
According to research, the odds of being completely engaged in your job increase by 250% if you work on meaningful projects each day. So, what are you truly passionate about? What things get you excited? How can you commit your learning and attach your development to a greater purpose?
Infuse deeper meaning into WHY you’re doing what you’re doing, and WHAT you’re doing will be more fulfilling. The pursuit of meaning, not happiness, is what makes your life better!
Work should be a purpose, not a place. The more you give your strengths away, the stronger you’ll become. Experts from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics all agree that your strengths come to life through service to others that creates meaningful contributions.
How will you leverage these 3 factors to ignite your strengths this week?
Use Your Gifts!
Melanie Massey Groves and Brian Russell with MoCo: Leadership, Strengths, and Culture Coaching
