Flourishing People

Just before Christmas I took part in a workshop on Strengths.  It was not part of some crisis to regain the muscles of my youth -  this was about realising strengths, in myself and in others.

So much of our work life and possibly our home life as well is about dealing with weaknesses.  The appraisal as an opportunity to point out someone’s short-falling or be given (yet again) the personal development plan to work on that weakness.

We tend to have a wide vocabulary relating to weakness – ‘could do better’, ‘room for improvement’, ‘rise to the challenge’, ‘opportunities for development’, etc.  But how big is our strengths vocabulary?  Can you readily define a strength?  How many strengths do you have?  How many do you regularly use in your work situation?

The Centre for Applied Positive Psychology or CAPP is headed up by Alex Linley.  In his book ‘Average to A+’, Linley defines a strength as follows:

A strength is a pre-existing capacity for a particular way of behaving, thinking or feeling that is authentic and energising to the user, and enables optimal functioning, development and performance.

So it’s something that is already there within our psyche, even if latent and/or underdeveloped.  It may be something we have inherited or developed very early in life.  We are predisposed to using that strength.  When we use a strength, it feels ‘real’ – that we are being true to ourselves rather than acting or showing learned behaviour.

Using our strengths is energising in that we have more vitality, less burnout and swifter recovery.  It recharges rather than exhausts us.  When we use our strengths, we perform and function better.  We tend to feel more in the flow, we learn and develop faster and we are most likely to excel – rather than be average. To be A+ or A star rather than C.

Linley points out that we need to realise our strengths in two ways: to identify those we have, to recognise and appreciate them; and to make use of them, to realise their potential.

CAPP is developing strengths-based interviewing to help organisations identify individuals whose strengths match the requirements of the role. So often organisations focus on the gap analysis – what is missing in the applicant and how it can be bridged.  Just asking interviewees:

• “when are you at your best?”
• “what can I count on you for the most?”
• “what are the things that most energise you?”

will quickly begin to identify strengths.  That is not saying ignore weaknesses.  But a focus on strengths makes many weaknesses irrelevant.  It gets away from the ‘curse of mediocrity’ where we can all do everything or be anything we want to be…

Strength spotting is a fun exercise, especially for anyone who wants people to flourish in the workplace.  Alex Linley’s book is available through the 3D HR Book Store or from CAPP.