To get the best results in business, we need whole teams of people to flex their strongest muscles. This has two parts to it, one, knowing what those strengths are, two, aligning them to the right projects and ideas.
What do we do well as a team? Where do we get the best outputs, recognition, results?
Too often, people undervalue what they do well. Perhaps it’s because when something comes naturally, or effortlessly, it feels easy and less deserving of a superpower label. If we underestimate the impact of hard-won skills, we may fail to apply them when needed most.
There is a strong business case for recognising, valuing and raising awareness of individual and team strengths. When people feel strong, they explore.
“When people feel strong, they are willing to venture into new territory, to play where others are not, and to consider ideas for which there isn’t yet a market.” – Whitney Johnson
Levelling up – raise awareness
Observing people, especially when they are at their best, or in ‘flow’ as we call it, is a good way to pick up on what they might be undervaluing. Questions and conversation get people thinking about their strengths, or what they are good at:
- What do people compliment you on?
- What compliments do you tend to dismiss?
- What do you think about when you have nothing to think about?
- What frustrates you? (can signal what comes easily to the person, but not to others)
If you want to level up – measure and map your potential to explore, incubate and scale new ideas, new products, and new projects. Tools (we use The GC Index because we like the way it aligns to a natural cycle of change and innovation, but it is certainly not the only one) can provide data points to make better decisions when it comes to people and alignment.
If you can get a measure of where the energy for impact sits in the team, you can design more intelligent solutions to activate that energy and direct it in the system for innovative and lasting results. You shape desired impact in this way, while reducing barriers to performance. Data-led approaches offer more concrete foundations for building exploration, what we call an “Above the Line” function.
When people feel strong, they explore.
What energises your team?
Are you aligning potential and impact, at individual and team level?
What creative tools and methods do you use?
