By Bill Mason
When you try to accomplish things that you aren’t great at, you tend to move more slowly and make more blunders. This is due to the fact that it takes more time and more effort and higher concentration on things that you are not good at. This is a major cause of unhappiness! So, when you get home, you’ll be physically exhausted and emotionally drained. As a result, you won’t have any emotional energy left over for what matters most to you: your family, partner, children, friends, and interests.
In addition to being less productive, focusing on your weaknesses can also be harmful to your business. For example, if you are a salesperson it is easy to focus on your weaknesses. After all, they are the things that you need to improve, right?
Wrong! Focusing on your weaknesses actually slows you down and impedes your productivity.
In this article, we will discuss why focusing on your strengths is a better strategy for business owners and employees alike. We will also explore how a strengths-based team can help accelerate productivity in the workplace.
When it comes to business, time is money. The faster you can get things done, the more successful you will be. This is why it is important to focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. When you are working on tasks that you are good at, you move faster and make fewer mistakes.
In addition, when you focus on your strengths you are more engaged in your work. This increased engagement leads to higher productivity and better business outcomes.
According to Gallup, many individuals awaken and hurry to workplaces that pay well and provide benefits, yet treat them as interchangeable cogs in a machine.
These businesses lack the cultural components that tie employees to engagement and success, including:
• The greatest motivator of employee engagement is a manager who understands and inspires them – the most powerful element for employee engagement.
• A sense of purpose, which is especially appealing to millennials.
• The potential for development, which is the most common reason individuals leave their jobs, as well as a major attraction for new positions.
A study by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallup Organization found that teams that focus on their strengths-based teams outperform those who don’t by two times.
Strengths-based teams are also more productive, have lower employee turnover rates, and are generally happier in their jobs. According to Gallup’s article on how to develop a strengths-based business, 51 percent of employees say they are looking for a new job or keeping an eye out for vacancies. This dissatisfaction can be caused by toxic corporate cultures.
How can you use the strengths of your business instead of the weaknesses?
For individual clients or executives, at Rocket Fuel Coach we give you a package that includes three simple steps.
Take the Clifton Strengths Assessment.
Complete the Strengths Alignment Course – This five-session course can help you learn more about yourself in just five hours than you might learn in a lifetime through other methods. This training is usually one session a week for one hour in person or remotely via zoom. You’ll find out about your greatest skills and talents, as well as auxiliary skills, intrinsic needs, and how your top talents make you come across at times like Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll in this course.
You and I will meet one-on-one for a monthly subscription coaching for 6-12 months, where you’ll focus on maximizing your strengths while also minimizing your weaknesses. You’ll set your goals, and we’ll help you achieve them through follow-up, accountability, and commitment to you and your objectives.
This is a much more efficient and successful way to improve employee engagement than focusing on your weaknesses. Strengths-based teams are more productive, have lower turnover rates, and are generally happier in their jobs. When you focus on your strengths, you move faster and make fewer mistakes. You are also more engaged in your work, which leads to higher productivity and better business outcomes.
Bill Mason is CEO/Founder of Rocket Fuel Coach, ACC, CPLC, and a Birkman’s Consultant, COSMO Certified Coach and WeAlign Executive Coach. You can reach him at (850) 855-3430.
