Book Review Marcus Buckingham – Go put your Strengths to Work – Six Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance

We often use Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment in our 1:1 and team coaching space – to support people to get real clarity around their innate talents and how they can make the most of what strengthens as individuals and as a team.

For those who want to dive deeper into how they can actually apply their strengths each and every day this is a great book to read. It provides practical structured exercises around six steps …

Step 1: This step focuses on creating the right MINDSET.  87% of people polled either agree or strongly agree with the question ‘Is finding your weaknesses and fixing them the best way to achieve outstanding performance?’ This reflects a remedial mindset that needs to shift if you want to embrace a life focused on capitalising on your strengths.

Step 2: GET CLEAR: Having focused on creating a strengths-based mind-set you need to identify your strengths. Clifton StrengthsFinder offers a signpost towards your strengths – but we need to dig deeper to identify the specific activities you do well and are energising.

Step 3: FREE YOUR STRENGTHS: In this step you learn how to make your strengths relevant – how you can make the most of what strengthens you – each and every day.

Step 4: STOP YOUR WEAKNESSES: This step focuses on how you can navigate away from the activities that weaken you. This is challenging since 87% of us believe that we should focus on our weaknesses and work diligently to improve them!

Step 5: SPEAK UP: This step provides tools and techniques on how you can communicate with others to let them know – where your shoulders are broadest, where they can expect the most from you AND what drains you. It’s about communicating with others so they know how to set you up so that you can make your greatest possible contribution.

Step 6: BUILD STRONG HABITS: When we find ourselves playing to our strengths we;

Look forward to our work
Feel challenged in a way we like to be challenged
Feel authentic, fulfilled and valued

The Greeks call it eudaimonia – ‘of giving your best where you have the best to give, and reaping the rewards of this excellence’

But life doesn’t always flow in this direction! Change brings different activities – some that zap our energies – and we can find we have veered off our strengths path. Step 6 provide tools and techniques to build the right habits to stay on the strengths track.

By Sara Penter