Episode 37 - 5 best practices for Launching your business and playing to your team's strengths with Jeremy Gray

Play to your strengths – they are your greatest asset Wendy Anderson

Nothing happens without people and unless you are a solo practitioner you will be working with others as you launch your business. Your partners, employees, backers are not perfect, and it is your role as the leader of your business to keep the team together and provide an environment where they can perform at their best. ​ An article in HBR published in 2016 cited some remarkable results when companies focused on their employee’s strengths: 10%-19% increase in sales 14%-29% increase in profit 3%-7% increase in customer engagement 9%-15% increase in engaged employees 6- to 16-point decrease in turnover (in low-turnover organizations) 26- to 72-point decrease in turnover (in high-turnover organizations) 22%-59% decrease in safety incidents A Gallup survey found that the more hours in a day that an employee used their strengths the more likely they were to report feeling energized, happy, learning and being treated with respect. Further people who used their strengths everyday were 3X more likely to report having an excellent quality of life and 6X more likely to be engaged at work. How can you have happy team members and deliver impressive business results? First, of course you need to identify your employees’ strengths. Look for broad areas of talent. You probably already have a good idea of their areas of expertise. This can be refined, look to where they naturally gravitate. What do they do quickly and efficiently? When do they procrastinate? Talk to them about where they see their skill set. Leadership As the leader of your organization you need to set the tone were focusing on employee strengths is part of the culture. All senior managers must embrace this concept if it is to be effective. Employees should believe in the statement: My manager focuses on my strengths Generate awareness and enthusiasm for a strengths-based leadership style. One company displayed the employee’s top five strengths in their office or cubicle. Identify and publicize when employees use their strengths to be successful Keep strengths in mind when developing project teams. Assemble teams where team members can play to their strengths and support each other As your company grows build a network of strengths advocates who support all employees using what they are good at to their best advantage.

Now, let’s be honest: employees can’t completely avoid their weaknesses. That just isn’t possible in the real world. But instead of having people waste too much time trying to improve in areas where they’re unlikely to succeed, managers can form strategic partnerships and thoughtful processes that help them work around their weaknesses. Data suggest that focusing energy on improving in areas that come most naturally to people reaps high returns, as employees and organizations that incorporate strengths as a strategy tend to realize significantly positive business results.