Strengths-Based Coaching Only?

Hi Cindy:

I do not believe that the exclusive focus on the strengths is appropriate for all circumstances.

Timothy Gallwey in its development of “The Inner Game of Work” clearly defines the factors that increase performance. Although I am not friend of mathematical formulae in the context of human development, Tim explains:

P (performance) = P (potential) – (interference)
See this link: http://www.theinnergame.com/html/Chapter1_popup.html

This means on the one hand, that increasing the potential through the strengths increases the performance, but on the other hand, that if the interference is “high” block or limit the same performance.

Based on this theory, I can say that the focus on the exclusive strengths is not always helpful in any circumstance and with anyone.

Another way to understand is that when the “weaknesses” or “problems” are stronger than the strengths, need to be worked, or the result never reach expectations.

Furthermore it is important to take into account the time that has been worked strengths, and whether they have worked properly.

I hope that this theoretical framework will be useful

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Spanish version

No creo que el enfoque exclusivo en las fortalezas sea apropiado para todas las circunstancias.

Timothy Gallwey en su desarrollo del “El Juego Interior en el Trabajo” define claramente los factores que aumentan el desempe‚àö¬±o. Aunque yo no soy amigo de las f‚àö‚â•rmulas matem‚àö¬∞ticas en contextos de desarrollo humano, Tim lo explica as‚àö‚â†:

P (performance) = P (potential) – I (interference)
See this link: http://www.theinnergame.com/html/Chapter1_popup.html

Esto significa, por un lado que el aumento del potencial a trav‚àö¬©s de las fortalezas aumenta el desempe‚àö¬±o, pero por otro, que si la interferencia es “alta” bloquear‚àö¬∞ o limitar‚àö¬∞ el mismo desempe‚àö¬±o.

Basándome en esta teoría puedo decir que el foco exclusivo en las fortalezas no siempre es útil en cualquier circunstancia y con cualquier persona.

Otra forma de comprenderlo es que, cuando las “debilidades” o “problemas” son m‚àö¬∞s fuertes que las fortalezas, ‚àö¬©stas deben ser trabajadas, o el resultado nunca llegar‚àö¬∞ al esperado.

Por otro lado es importante tener en cuenta el tiempo que se han trabajado las fortalezas, y si se han trabajado correctamente.

Espero que este marco te‚àö‚â•rico sea ‚àö‚à´til.

“Leadership Coaching” by Tony Stoltzfus gives a definition of coaching:

“Simply stated, coaches are change experts who help leaders take responsibility for their lives and act to maximize their own potential…A coach is someone who sees you as made in the image of God and tells you the truth about who you really are. A coach pushes you to think, to stretch yourself, to take responsibility for your life and get done what you know you need to do. A coach is also someone who will hold you accountable and challenge you to live out your values.” (page 6-7)

The strengths finder self-assessment is very useful and a good place to start in helping clients understand who they are and where they are…however, it takes only a picture of the client from one angle by providing the top 5 innate signature talents. Other self-assessment tools results can provide a more complete understanding of how the client thinks and feels about things in their life. For a directory of self-assessment tools, go to: http://www.SelfAssessmentCenter.com

“Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. (The Free Press) helps you to identify your innate signature talents so that you can build them into leadership strengths. You can find this book at your local bookseller or purchase online by clicking here: self-directed learning . On the inside of the book jacket cover there is a code number to take the online Strengthsfinder.com self-assessment. When you receive your top five “signature talents” report, you need to keep them in front of you so when a situation arises, you may refer to your top five signature talents and decide which to put into action when facing the situation. Note: At your bookstore there is another book called “Strengthsfinder 2.0″ that utilizes the same self assessment.

Self-Directed Learning is a life-long process. Guided by a personal coach, it can provide a good foundation for building a person’s leadership capability over time.

“The crux of leadership development that works is self-directed learning: intentionally developing or strengthening an aspect of who you are or who you want to be, or both.” Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee (Harvard Business School Press) Your emotional intelligence competencies are not innate talents, but learned abilities, each of which has a unique contribution to making leaders more resonant, and therefore more effective.

Will continue post after return from vacation on 3/27..thanks!

The Gallup work defines a strength as “the ability to consistently produce a positive outcome through near-perfect performance in a specific task”.

But they also go on to say a strength is made up of Skills, which are your basic abilities to perform the fundamental steps of a task, such as your basic ability to move through the fundamental steps of operating a computer. Knowledge, which is simply what you know, such as your awareness of historical dates and your grasp of the rules of a game. and Talents, which are the ways in which you naturally think, feel, and behave, such as the inner drive to compete, sensitivity to the needs of others, and the tendency to be outgoing at social gatherings.

I like this definition as it makes 2 of the 3 components things we can acquire. In my mind, this enables room for the areas for growth to emerge. However, including the third element -talents- we are able to focus on what I believe most of us ignore or overlook. I would like to determine a new formula:

PERFORMANCE = SKILLS + KNOWLEDGE + TALENTS (REALIZED TALENTS – UNDISCOVERED TALENTS) – INTERFERENCE (ENVIRONMENTAL + SELF-LIMITING BELIEFS)

Thoughts?

My short answer… the strengths based approach is best. The core of motivation is competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Working outside of your competence is a losing battle. I distinguish between knowledge and strengths however… strengths are more how your are hardwired.

I use a personality assessment called the “Hiring Suite” from Advanced Psychometrics. My assessment correctly says I have a very high imagination and decent organization. This is why I make a decent consultant. I can think abstractly but then put order to it that leads to action. The flipside of that strength is that I HATE bookkeeping. As a business owner, conventional wisdom is that I should do my own bookkeeping. However, I outsource it. The win-win is that I get to keep that energy I used to lose doing it and focus it on building more business and value to my clients PLUS my bookkeeper LOVES to do bookkeeping.

Someone else loves doing the things you hate to do. You are more profitable when you are doing things you love.