Strengths-Based Leadership

DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative

Noel Academy for Strengths-Based Leadership and Education

2013 Reunion

Presenter: Karen Lindsey-Lloyd

Today’s Agenda

• Defining Strength

• History of Strengths

• Understanding Strengths

• Leading with Strengths

What is a Strength?

A strength is "a pre-existing

capacity for a particular way of

behaving, thinking, or feeling

that is authentic and energizing

to the user, and enables optimal

functioning, development, and

performance” (Linley, 2008, p.9)

Talent: naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.

History of Strengths

• Developed using theoretical foundation of positive psychology based on the research of Seigelman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000.

• Leadership is relational so you must understand yourself before you can lead others.

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History of Strengths Research on High Achievers

• Dr. Don Clifton, Gallup Organization

• 250,000 interviews of high achieving individuals

• Spend most of their time in areas of strength

History of Strengths Research on High Achievers

• Have learned to delegate or partner

• Apply their strengths to overcome obstacles

• Invent ways of capitalizing on their strengths in new situations

• (Talent + Energy) x (Knowledge + Skill) =

The Strengths Equation

Strength

• Process information

• Experience others

• View time and structure

• Accommodate change • Communicate

Our strengths affect the way we…

A Strengths Perspective

• Not about the tool

• Not about the labels

• Not about the deficits

Definitely about knowing your God-given talents and using them to the fullest covered in prayer

• Individuals already have within themselves what they need to succeed.

• “Individuals gain more when they build on their talents, than when they make comparable efforts to improve their areas of weakness.”

Clifton & Harter, 2003, p. 112

What is a Strengths Perspective?

A Strengths Perspective

• Supervisors spend most of their time working

with the weakest performers and zeroing in on mistakes.

• Parents and teachers focus on students’ lower grades rather than on their highest.

• Weakness fixing prevents failure – strengths

building promotes success

S t r a t e g i c T h i n k i n g

Focus on what could be. Analyze information and help the team consider future possibilities and

making prudent decisions.

Analytical, Context, Futuristic, Ideation, Input, Intellection, Learner, and Strategic

E x e c u t i n g

Know how to make things happen. Implement plans and get things done. Take plans from ideas to reality.

Focus on task completion and goal achievement. Work diligently to

Achiever, Arranger, Belief, Consistency, Deliberative, Discipline, Focus, Responsibility, and Restorative

R e l a t i o n s h i p B u i l d i n g

Skilled at creating synergy within the team and/or organization. Keep morale of team members high.

Consider needs of team members. Minimize distractions.

Adaptability, Developer, Connectedness, Empathy, Harmony, Includer, Individualization, Positivity, and

Relator

I n f l u e n c i n g

Help the team reach a broader audience. Give voice to team’s ideas, plans, and vision. Skilled at taking charge, speaking up, and getting others inside and

outside the organization to buy-in.

Activator, Command, Communication, Competition, Maximizer, Self-Assurance, Significance, and Woo

Rath and Conchie, 2008

Four Domains of Leadership Strength

• Competition, Command – Harmony

• Individualization – Consistency

• Context – Futuristic

• Strategic – Strategic

Strengths That Naturally Conflict

Strengths That Naturally Conflict

• Activator – Deliberative, Analytical

• Responsibility, Belief – Adaptability

• Discipline – Input

• Communication – Intellection

• “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it.”

(Stogdill, 1974, p. 7)

What about leadership?

Personal Action Plan

My Top Five How I use it (currently) Place an “X” here for the strength you use most

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2.

3.

4.

5.

What three things can I do when I return that will better leverage my strengths? (Make them SMART) 1. 2. 3. Who will hold me accountable?

Questions?

• Thank you!

• Twitter: @klinlloyd

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/klinlloyd