Each of our top 5 signature strengths are like a SAIL that create momentum in life and business.
S: Success
A: Authentic
I: Invigorating
L: Love
Today’s article will give you 5 ideas to HOIST those strengths into the air so you can sail toward your dreams.
H: Hear
What do your family, friends, and customers say you are great at?
Hear their feedback.
In fact that’s an assignment I often give my clients. Go and ask five people who know you best, what they believe are your strengths. Hearing their feedback breaks through our low self-esteem and denial of our own strengths.
What strength is lying dormant in you just waiting to ignite?
O: Opportunities
What opportunities are in your work or community to use your strengths? One of my coaching clients, a leader at Music Mountain Spring Water, used to under utilize her relator strength at work. Going through my www.brentobannon.com program, she has created a company directory recognizing each employee with a picture, personal profile, and a list of the fun hobbies they enjoy, as well as planned company wide social events to increase positive relationships and employee engagement.
In the weekly senior management team meetings she facilitates the question, “How did you best use your strengths this week?” All of this positive momentum in Music Mountain Spring Water is flowing because she saw opportunities in her workplace and hoisted her sail/strength.
I: Investigate
How could you grow your strengths so that they are maximized?
Here are a few questions to help you investigate more deeply into your strength.
- Who could I talk to to learn more about this strength?
- What could I read to expand my knowledge of this strength?
- Where could I visit to see this strength at high performance?
- How could I try on “new hats” with this strength?
Remember that your greatest potential for growth is not in your weaknesses but in your strengths.
S: Strategize
Strategic thinking and planning is the ability to sort through the clutter and find the best route.
How could you design your life and work around your strengths?
A great chess player is always thinking ahead what moves to avoid and what moves to make to win the game. The same is true with your strengths. Ask yourself, “What activities would I love to cut in my work role because it’s not my strength?” Now ask yourself, “What activities would I love to do more of because I am strong at them”
Write that plan down and follow the next step to HOIST your sails.
T: Team
Every strength needs a complimentary strength to partner with to make the best team. A person who is strong at strategic or analytical benefits by teaming up with a person who is a strong activator. The activator makes sure that “paralysis by analysis” doesn’t happen.
What kind of person and what kind of strengths do you need to team up with?
HOIST your sails and enjoy the ride of your life.
