2012 Health Meeting

June 13- 15, 2012

Session #11 IF: Improving Yourself and Your

Team through Strengths

Shari Rodriguez

Moderator

Brian Edward Pauley FSA, MAAA

Primary Competency

Leadership

5/30/2012

1

Experience StrengthsExperience Strengths

Personal Journal for:

Shari A RodriguezSOA Health MeetingJune 13, 2012

• Is this a mistake?

Why Am I Here??

• I am not an Actuary! 

2

5/30/2012

2

From This……

3

To This…

4

5/30/2012

3

Our Time Together

Explore

Reflect

Consider

5

Your Expectations

5/30/2012

4

Where Do We Start?

7

Stand up if you almost always…

• Talk to people on elevators, airplanes…bathrooms.

• Clean the house before you can relax.

• Hang the shirts in your closet according to color.

• Are the social coordinator for your family and friends.

• Are a car salesman’s worst nightmare.

• You love the limelight….really, really love it!

• You have to have the last word. 

• Ask lots of questions lots and lots and lots of questions• Ask lots of questions…..lots and lots and lots of questions.

• Find yourself thinking a lot more about tomorrow than today.

• Make a list of things to do.

• Make a list of thing to do ON WEEKENDS.

5/30/2012

5

• What do you all think strengths are?

At Your Tables Discuss…

strengths are?

• Do you think knowing your strengths and the strengths of your team can build on your success? Why?success? Why?  

9

Ways to Discover Your Strengths

We all have strengths, and there are a number of ways you can learn about your own strengths

• Pay attention to what others say

• Look for what energizes you in the present

• Take a strengths survey

5/30/2012

6

• Your spontaneous, immediate reactions to

Clues to Help You Identify Your Strengths

immediate reactions to events 

• Your yearnings, what you're drawn to 

• Rapid learning of certain bsubjects or activities 

• Your satisfactions, what you enjoy 

What is the Clifton StrengthsFinder©?

• An online, 180 question assessment validated  to .89 through years of research, testing and millions of interviews

• Created by Donald Clifton and Marcus Buckingham at The Gallup Organization

• Based on “positive psychology” 

• Resulted in 34 “Themes” of innate talent

• Assessment provides your Top 5 “Signature” Talent Themes

– Areas where you are innately wired to have the greatest potential

– Provides you with a personal development plan to help you focus on your strengths

12

5/30/2012

7

A Strength:

Learn it quickly Positive outcome

Comes easily

Take it for granted

Satisfaction from itYou feel “strong”

*Adapted from Now, Discover Your Strengths, Clifton

Neurological wiringYearning to do it

Time passes quickly

CommunicationIntellection Achiever

HarmonyAnalytical

Woo

A little about the language of strengths….

EmpathyMaximizer

Ideation

Relator

Command

Strategic

14

5/30/2012

8

My Strengths 

Activator

WOO

Positivity

Arranger

Maximizer

All Strengths are Good

16

5/30/2012

9

My Strengths In Action

Tell a story about when you have been highly successful – what were the outcomes?  How did it feel?  What strengths helped to create the success? 

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

People with high Career Wellbeing are more than twice as likely to be thriving in their lives overall

18

*Adapted from Wellbeing: The Five Essential ElementsTom Rath and James K. Harter, Ph.D.

5/30/2012

10

People who are actively disengaged in their careers are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression, have higher stress levels, and have a greater risk for heart disease

19

*Adapted from Wellbeing: The Five Essential ElementsTom Rath and James K. Harter, Ph.D.

Partner Discussion

• Think back to when you were a child….do you see any patterns of positive behavior that have stayed with you since then?Wh h ?– What are they?

– Have you developed these? 

• What specific work activities did you find yourself looking forward to last week?  – Do you always seem to look forward to these activities?

– Why?

h l k h “i h ”?• Was there any time last week that you were “in the zone”? – You found it easy to concentrate and time flew by…

– What were you doing? 

20

5/30/2012

11

What is Positive Psychology?

“A branch of psychologythat studiesthe strengthsand virtues that enable individualsand communitiesto thrive ”to thrive.

Wikipedia 

• 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

Strengths Defined

to the user, and enables optimal functioning, development and performance”o Dr. Alex Linley, Director, Center for Applied Positive Psychology

• “A strength is the activities that make you feel strong…”o Marcus Buckingham,   Author and CEO, TMBC

“A t th i th bilit t i t tl d l• “A strength is the ability to consistently produce a nearly perfect positive outcome in a specific task”o The Gallup Organization

22

5/30/2012

12

PersonalityPreferences

Talents

StrengthsArchitecture

CompetenciesValues

p

23

Defining Flow:  Strengths in Motion

Arousal

A i

High

Control

RelaxationBoredom

Apathy

Worry

Anxiety

CHALLEN

GES

Flow

Boredom

Low HighSKILLS

24

Finding Flow,  Csikzzentmihalyi, 1997

5/30/2012

13

Building Strengths: Investment in YOU

Innate TalentA natural way of thinking, feeling or behaving.    The more natural the ability, the greater its power, and the greater your opportunity for strengthstrength.

Knowledge:What you know.  Can be acquired through formal or information education.

Skill:  The basic aptitude to move through the fundamental steps of a task.  Can be acquired through formal or informal training.

Practice:d f f h f

Personal Investment

+

25

Repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency: Practice makes perfect.

Strength:The ability to consistently produce a nearly perfect positive outcome in a specific task

36.4

21.3

9 1

40.0

Emphasis on Performance Weaknesses

ance

36.4

21.3

9 1

40.0

Emphasis on Performance Weaknesses

ance

A Strengths Orientation Accelerates Performance

9.16.6 5.3 4.2

-5.5

-26.8

0.0Emphasis on Performance

Strengths

Emphasis on Personality Strengths

Emphasis on Specific Outcomes of Formal Review

Emphasis on Specific Suggestions

for Doing the Job Better

Emphasis on Skills and

Behaviors Needed in the Future

Emphasis on Long-Term Career

Prospects

Emphasis on Personality

Weaknesses

Ch

ange

in P

erf

orm 9.1

6.6 5.3 4.2

-5.5

-26.8

0.0Emphasis on Performance

Strengths

Emphasis on Personality Strengths

Emphasis on Specific Outcomes of Formal Review

Emphasis on Specific Suggestions

for Doing the Job Better

Emphasis on Skills and

Behaviors Needed in the Future

Emphasis on Long-Term Career

Prospects

Emphasis on Personality

Weaknesses

Ch

ange

in P

erf

orm

-40.0

Each bar presents a statistical estimate of the maximum total impact on employee performance each strategy will produce. The total impact includes the strategy’s direct impact on performance as well as any indirect impact it may have through employee attitudes. The maximum total impact is calculated by comparing two statistical estimates: the predicted performance level for anemployee who scores “high” on the strategy and the predicted performance level for an employee who scores “low” on the strategy. The impact of each strategy is modeled separately.

Source: Corporate Leadership Council 2002Performance Management Survey.

19,000 interviews in 34 companies and 29 countries

-40.0

Each bar presents a statistical estimate of the maximum total impact on employee performance each strategy will produce. The total impact includes the strategy’s direct impact on performance as well as any indirect impact it may have through employee attitudes. The maximum total impact is calculated by comparing two statistical estimates: the predicted performance level for anemployee who scores “high” on the strategy and the predicted performance level for an employee who scores “low” on the strategy. The impact of each strategy is modeled separately.

Source: Corporate Leadership Council 2002Performance Management Survey.

19,000 interviews in 34 companies and 29 countries

26

5/30/2012

14

Key Underlying Assumptions

Innate talents are enduring and unique

Greatest room for growth is in the area 

of greatest strength

*Now, Discover Your Strengths, Clifton, Buckingham

“We must remember that casting a critical eye on our weaknesses and working hard to manageour weaknesses and working hard to manage them, while sometimes necessary, will only help us prevent failure. It will not help us reach excellence…you will reach excellence only by understanding and cultivating your strengths.”

Marcus Buckingham 

Now Discover Your Strengths

28

5/30/2012

15

I am committed 

Handwriting Activity

to focusing on 

my strengths

29

Bust the Myths

• As you grow, your personality changes– Your values, skills, self‐awareness and some of your behaviors may change, but the most dominant aspects of your personality will remain the same

• You will grow the most in your areas of greatest weakness– You will be the most inquisitive, most resilient, most creative and most open to learning in your areas of strength

• A good team member does whatever it takes to help the team– A great team member is not well rounded, but a great team is

Adapted from Go Put Your Strengths To Work, Buckingham

30

5/30/2012

16

Capitalizing on What Makes Us Unique

Creates Results and Success!

31

• Only 17% of the US workforce believes they use all of their strengths at work

The Reality Is…

strengths at work

• 51% of workers say they play to their strengths “about once a week”

• 87% of the respondents to a large scale recent poll believe• 87% of the respondents to a large scale, recent poll believe that fixing their weaknesses is the best way to outstanding performance

Sources: Marcus Buckingham Company & Gallup, 2006‐08

32

5/30/2012

17

Where is Your Focus?

33

• Blind Spots

Use your strengths in the

Other Insights

– Use your strengths in the right amount

– Use the right strengths

– Put weaknesses in their proper place

34

5/30/2012

18

Clearly know your strengths and weaknesses

Have conversations about your strengths with leaders, peers, and others

Understand how you leverage strengths to build relationships

RatingR, Y, G

Individual Worksheet Evaluate Your StrengthsMindset

Bring what you are best at to your role every day

Appreciate and leverage the best in others

Recognize and reward the use of strengths

Focus on developing strengths

Reduce the times per day that you have to do things that weaken youReduce the times per day that you have to do things that weaken you

Capitalize on the strengths of others to complement your areas of “weakness”

Leverage your greatest strengths to overcome your “blind spots” and “flat sides”

Spend more time focusing on your strengths than your weaknesses

Rating Scale:   Green = Consistent application       Yellow – Adequate, could improve    Red – Area of Opportunity

“Freeing up your strengths is a matter of making small adjustments each week, small shifts of focus, small changes in how and where you spend your time at work.”

Marcus Buckingham

The Truth About You

36

5/30/2012

19

What StrengthsFinder ©  IS 

Useful in building awareness and focusing on individual and team development

What StrengthsFinder © IS NOT

A selection tool

A promotional tooldevelopment

Aligned with our desire to increase performance by leveraging what we’re best at

Multi‐dimensional

p

Do not define a role

Does not define the “whole person”

A replacement for 

Individual means of achieving and approaching competencies and contribution

competencies which define corporate direction and desired behaviors

37

• Our goal is to create leaders and enhance engagement

Connect each associate to their strengths to assign work that is

Humana’s Strength Journey

– Connect each associate to their strengths to assign work that is energizing 

– Leaders understand to develop associates from their strengths and what is unique to them

• Is this any different then your journey?

5/30/2012

20

• Brian Pauley – Managing Actuary – Discipline

Testimonial's

– Achiever

– Significance

– Learner

– Communication

• Michael Lucchese – Managing Actuary – Communication

WOO– WOO

– Maximizer

– Adaptability 

– Includer

39

Strengths Conversation GuideName:_________________________

Date:___________________ Top 5 StrengthsFinder Themes ______________ ________________ ________________ _______________ _______________

Tell me about what it is that you do best?

When have you been at your best in the last year?

What do you enjoy most in your current role?

What feedback have you received about your strengths?

What have you discovered about yourself in the last year?

Dis

cove

rin

g T

ale

nt

What do you believe you get paid to do?

What goals fit your strengths best?

How would you like to use what you do best more fully in your role?

Given your contributions for this year, how can you best position your strengths to be successful?

Tell me about one of your successes where you fully played to your strengths. How will you build on this success this year?

What do you think you will find difficult in the coming year?

Se

ttin

g E

xpe

cta

tion

siv

atin

g

How might you focus your strengths to overcome that difficulty?

What does meaningful recognition look like for you?

What are your ideas for further developing your natural talents and building your strengths?

How do you connect your strengths with the competencies for which you are accountable?

How can we think about measuring the success of your development?

Are there specific learning opportunities you would most value?

Mo

tiD

eve

lop

ing

5/30/2012

21

Now, Put Your Strengths To Work!

Appendix 

5/30/2012

22

Achiever (S) Have a great deal of stamina and work hard. Take great satisfaction from being productive and busy. Thirst for accomplishment. Need to cross the finish line (“I want to get it done).

Activator (S)Make things happen by turning thoughts into action. Eager to see action/movement. Get going. Sometimes impatient. At the starting line rallying the troops (“Let’s get it done).

Adaptability (S)“Go with the flow”. Take things as they come. Focus on the present and the future will unfold. Enjoys change.

Analytical (T)Search for reasons and causes. Think about all the factors that might affect a situation. Look for proof and / or reduce complexity. Boil things down to the essence.

C f f f

Focus (S)Seek or set direction. Follow through and make course corrections as necessary. Single-mindedness and goal orientation.

Futuristic (T) Inspired by what can be. Inspiring to others. Visions for tomorrow.

Harmony (R)Look for consensus. Seek agreement. Down to earth and looking for efficient resolution. Pragmatic. Friction-reducer. Doesn’t like conflict because it isn’t efficient.

Ideation (T)Find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena. Spontaneous innovation/creativity. Open-minded.

Includer (R) Accepting of others. Want everyone to have a voice and be involved.

Clifton StrengthsFinder© Theme Summations

Arranger (T)Can organize, but also has flexibility. Like to figure our how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. Jugglers. Often prefer to be behind the scenes.

Belief (S)Core values that are unchanging. Defined purpose to everything. Often have a “cause”.

Command (I)Have presence. Can take control of a situation and make decisions. Bring clarity. Says what others might be thinking.

Communication (R)

Find it easy to put thoughts into words. Good conversationalists and/or presenters.

Competition (I)Measure progress against performance of others. Strive to win. Revel in contests. Motivated by comparisons with others.

Connectedness (T)

Have faith in the links between all things. Believe that there are few coincidences. Everything has a reason behind it. Seeks global/holistic view. Focus on sum rather than parts.

Consistency (T)Keenly aware of the need to treat people equally. Everyone should l b l l M b di t bl

Individualization (R)

Intrigued with the uniqueness of each person. Value customization. Likes the uniqueness of things and capitalizes on it.

Input (T)Crave to know more. Collect information. Likes the products of learning and enjoys sharing them.

Intellection (T) Intellectually active. Introspective. Need time and space to think.

Learner (T)Desire to learn and improve. Value and enjoy the process of learning. May enjoy a steep learning curve.

Maximizer (I)Seek to transform something strong into something superior. Play to strengths.

Positivity (I) Contagious enthusiasm. Optimistic. Fun. Breaks the emotional “ice”.

Relator (R)Enjoy close relationships. Know certain people in a deep way and accept the risk involved in deepening relationships.

Responsibility (R)

Take psychological ownership for what they have committed to do. Will not let others down. May not delegate well.y ( )

play by clear rules. May be predictable.

Context (T)Enjoy thinking about the past. Understand the present by researching history. Look for past frameworks that might apply to today. The past provides a compass.

Deliberative (T)Serious care in making decisions. Anticipate obstacles. Focus may be on prevention. Methodical.

Developer (I) Recognize and cultivate the potential in others.

Discipline (S) Enjoy routine and structure. Create order within the world.

Empathy (R)Sense the feelings of others. Walk in their shoes. But not always sympathetic. Has an emotional radar and may be emotionally expressive.

(R) not let others down. May not delegate well.

Restorative (S) Adept at dealing with problems. Trouble-shooters.

Self-Assurance (S)

Confident in their ability to manage their own lives. Inner compass. Instinctive.

Significance (S) Want to do something historic. Independent and want to be recognized.

Strategic (T)Create alternative ways to proceed. Spot patterns and issues. Find pathways more so than destinations.

Woo (I)Win others over. Enjoy making connections with many. Uses influence effectively. Enjoys social initiatives.

43

The Language of Strengths

• Four Domains into which all 34 Themes fall 

• Gives us another perspective on our themes and preferences

– Thinking Themes:  the way you perceive the world around you, situations you find yourself in, the future (Ideation)

– Striving Themes: your ability to personally get things done, focus on high levels of personal achievement (Achiever)

– Impacting Themes: your ability to impact others and drive them to actionImpacting Themes: your ability to impact others and drive them to action (Maximizer)

– Relating: how you initiate, develop and sustain relationships with the people and world around you (Relator)

44