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A Strengths-Based View to How We Get Things Done

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Lesson 11 A Strengths-Based View to How We Get Things Done

“Teams should be well rounded precisely because we as individuals are not.”

It can be difficult to understand every nuance of the 34 CliftonStrengths themes. Looking at CliftonStrengths Themes through the lens of the four domains makes it easier. The domains answer the question, "How do I make sense of the world on a greater scale than just my individual CliftonStrengths themes?"

People tend to think about what they don't do well, or what weaknesses they need to work on. The domains can help people understand where they're most powerful, and how to use that power to make their greatest contribution.

The four domains summarise what every leader and team need to accomplish. This is about partnership as teams should be well rounded precisely because we as individuals are not. All leaders and teams need to be able to

  1. STRATEGICALLY THINK “The What” Help consider what could be.  Absorb and analyse information for better decisions  Watch the Video

  2. INFLUENCE “The Why” Take charge, speak up and  make sure the team is heard Watch the Video

  3. RELATIONSHIP BUILD “The Who” Build strong relationships that hold the team together to make it greater than the sum of the parts Watch the Video

  4. EXECUTE “The How” Know how to make things happen Watch the Video

Watch

Watch For more on the four domains watch the video

Activity How do you work?

Turn to Page 10 of your White Workbook, ignore the dark shaded squares for now, mark on the grid with an “X” where you think you will be placed based on

  1. A major task in your work?

  2. When you are at home?

  3. When you are with your friends?

  4. When are you doing a hobby, activity, sport you most enjoy?

  5. A day where you feel most energised?  Write down what you were doing?

  6. Think about a recent success you have had?

Whether leaders and teams can accomplish these using their own Strengths or must rely on partners and their Strengths, the CliftonStrengths Domains help us understand and meet the demands of our roles and responsibilities.

Activity Where does Gallup see you work?

Describe how you contribute to a team to get things done by identifying the domains where your strengths naturally sit. 

  1. On Page 10 of your White Workbook, look at where Gallup places your Top 5 CliftonStrengths themes to see which domain/s they sit in.  The domain that has most of your strengths will be an indication of your working preference/leadership style

  2. If your strengths are evenly spread across several of the domains, then choose the domain that most relates to you from watching the videos above  Often, you can be in more than one domain. See the definitions of the four domains on Page 11 of your Black Workbook.

    • Strategic Thinking

    • Influencing

    • Relationship Building

    • Executing

  3. Be able to describe your leadership style e.g. I am a Strategic Relator, Influencing Executor, Relational Executor etc

When viewing these results consider

  • Focus on what you do best For example, someone strong in the Executing domain knows they can be counted on to get things done. They can use that knowledge to better understand how to collaborate with others and how to be a complementary partner to people who aren't strong in the Executing domain.  This knowledge helps set your partnerships up for success.

  • It is an indication As a profile cannot tell us everything about ourselves.  In addition, your Top 10 CliftonStrengths themes are in dominance, which may change the result.

  • “Low Walls” Be careful not to let the four domains limit your thinking. If you don’t have any top themes in a particular domain, don’t worry. That doesn’t mean you can’t think strategically or build relationships, for example. Everyone accomplishes tasks, influences others, builds relationships and processes information. You just use your stronger themes in different domains to get to the same outcome.                                                     

Ways to leverage the domains                      

  • Bend and blend Our themes work together to blend, and this is where something of our uniqueness is found.  We cannot be described in one word.  We are instead a story that starts with a word and when words are connected, they create a sentence.  This sentence is combined with other sentences which form a paragraph and when these are joined this becomes a "story" - our unique story.  A good question to ask is, “How could I use one of my strengths themes to get an outcome?”

  • Partnership Our strengths are influenced by where we are, what we are doing, who we are with.  A good question to ask is, “Who might you seek out to help you?”

  • Support Systems A good question to ask is, “Are there any tools or resources that might support you with this?"                                                                       

Partner for Impact

Activity Whether leaders and teams can accomplish these using their own Strengths or must rely on partners and their Strengths, the CliftonStrengths Domains help us understand and meet the demands of our roles and responsibilities.

  1. In your Black Workbook on Page 13 note a project you would like to do, are currently working on, or skill you’d like to learn

  2. On Page 10 of your White Workbook, identify either your more prominent domain or if you are evenly spread across them, your preferred domain.  Note how could this help you on Page 13 of your Black Workbook.  Keep this handy for when you are working with a team to know where you can best contribute

  3. Identify which leadership domain you would like more of.  What specifically do you need help with?  Start the statement with “I need…” (If you have access to a team strengths grid reporting tool, you will be able to identify others in your team that you could potentially partner with). 

  4. Write the name of someone who you work with, who is strong with this style that you could leverage.  Ask them the question “What advice do you have?” for the above development objective.  Be intentional to connect with them and ask them for their advice on a project you are working on

Optional Read When planning, one way to leverage the strengths of the team is to ask the Strengths-Based planning questions which will automatically draw on the strengths of the team.  See the blog post Four Questions to Make Any Planning Conversation Work.

Team Leader Debrief

That’s the end of this week’s online learning.  Do you have a 15 minute debrief booked with your team leader/sponsor?  Aim to answer the questions

  1. What is one discovery you have made?

  2. What is one thing you will do differently?

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