Strengths-Based Leadership Skills
Based on Gallup research and the book by Tom Rathe and Barry Conchie, below are my five leadership themes attached to a personal description provided by the report.
- Communication
- Maximizer
- Strategic
- Achiever
- Significance
My Personal Strengths Insider Report
Communication
“Because of your strengths, you readily initiate conversations. Your talkative nature compels you to say whatever is on your mind. You have an ability to talk informally and persuasively. You are completely at ease with an audience. Seldom do you find yourself speechless. By nature, you freely share your ideas or feelings with others. Being tongue-tied — that is, unable to speak freely — is rarely a problem for you. Words quickly come to mind when you are with people. Your ease with language enables you to meet, greet, and treat strangers as if they already were your friends. Instinctively, you customarily facilitate the group’s conversation. You carry yourself with an air of distinction. You take charge quite naturally. Nevertheless you appreciate the willingness of people to openly exchange ideas. Chances are good that you are comfortable telling others stories about your personal habits, qualities, experiences, or background. Your forthcoming nature probably enables others to share their thoughts and feelings with you. It’s very likely that you very much enjoy the animated give-and-take of a lively discussion.”
Maximizer
“Because of your strengths, you sometimes devote your energies to pinpointing what makes people special and unique. Perhaps this knowledge permits you to inspire individuals to do some of their finest work. It’s very likely that you sometimes pause to savor or simply reflect on your current accomplishments. Driven by your talents, you occasionally spend time pondering things you do with ease. Perhaps you concentrate on your good qualities. You may invest little time thinking about your flaws, shortcomings, or mistakes. Instinctively, you are likely to do your best work when someone truly recognizes your strengths. You want to be appreciated for the talents you own, the skills you possess, and the knowledge you have acquired. By nature, you may be determined to enhance your greatest talents rather than spend time worrying about your limitations. You occasionally experience bursts of growth and rapid learning when you work in your areas of talent.”
Strategic
“It’s very likely that you are innovative, inventive, original, and resourceful. Your mind allows you to venture beyond the commonplace, the familiar, or the obvious. You entertain ideas about the best ways to reach a goal, increase productivity, or solve a problem. First, you think of alternatives. Then you choose the best option. By nature, you frequently find the precise words to express your thoughts and feelings. You spontaneously start conversations with total strangers. You quickly discover what interests them. You probably enliven discussions by telling stories to illustrate things that capture your attention. Because of your strengths, you may see solutions before other people know there is a problem. You might start formulating answers before your teammates, coworkers, or classmates understand the question. Sometimes you generate numerous ideas before sorting to the one that makes the most sense in a particular situation. Instinctively, you are known for your ease with language. This ability serves you well when you need to talk with newcomers or outsiders. Your vocabulary probably allows you to tell stories or express your ideas with great clarity. Chances are good that you sometimes acknowledge you have an ability to identify specific types of obstacles, difficulties, or dilemmas. You might respond to questions others refuse to consider. Perhaps you recognize answers or solutions as they evolve naturally.”
Achiever
“By nature, you might put forth a lot of effort to design step-by-step procedures for handling repetitious tasks. Maybe you expect everyone to follow these rules once they are put in place. If you make a habit of using these processes, you may reach some goals a bit more quickly, reduce certain kinds of errors, or avoid missing particular deadlines. Driven by your talents, you may push yourself to be the best or the victor when your performance or results are being compared to those of specific individuals. Periodically you seek answers to resolve doubts you may have about your abilities. You might examine particular assumptions — that is, things taken to be true without proof — rather than automatically accept them. If perplexed, you occasionally investigate the situation. You might do this because you have set certain expectations for yourself. Because of your strengths, you may rely on your physical and mental abilities to create orderly systems for managing your time, work, or resources. Perhaps you arrange the steps of a process or plan before beginning a task. Sometimes you carefully position equipment or tools to enhance your own or someone else’s efficiency. It’s very likely that you sometimes go out of your way to support, inspire, motivate, or embolden individuals or groups. Perhaps you regard this task as worthy of your effort and time. Instinctively, you might argue that hard work influences the course of your life more than anything else. Perhaps you make your own good fortune by preparing yourself to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. When you are successful, you may be able to outline what you did to reach a particular goal. Maybe you link together facts, incidents, conversations, or available resources to understand your accomplishments. Sometimes you resist the notion that life is nothing more than a game of chance.
Significance
“Because of your strengths, you gravitate to people whose work ethic is rock solid. You like to associate with individuals who are driven to excel and highly productive. Chances are good that you are sometimes driven to be “number one” or the best. This partially explains why you continue to forge ahead in the face of difficulties or exhaustion. When comparisons are being made, you may yearn to be the winner. Perhaps your motivation to excel matches your need to be declared trustworthy, talented, knowledgeable, skillful, or accomplished. Instinctively, you sometimes work hard to reach specific personal or professional goals. These include, but are not limited to, earning a pay raise, winning a promotion, receiving a degree, acquiring something you value, or completing a certification program. Perhaps challenges related to status motivate you more than others do. Driven by your talents, you might want to be revered or regarded with fondness by individuals. By nature, you enjoy verbalizing your thoughts. You want others to acknowledge your ideas and feelings. Gaining and maintaining people’s attention pleases you.”