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Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow

Below you will find the suggested partnerships among strengths as listed in Strengthsfinder 2.0.  Some strengths have no obvious partnerships.

—-

Achiever= NONE (recommendation: work with other hard-working people)
Activator= Focus, Strategic, Futuristic, Analytical
Adaptability= Focus, Strategic, Belief
Analytical= Activator
Arranger= NONE LISTED
Belief= Futuristic
Command= Woo, Empathy (Circumvent problems)
Communication= NONE LISTED
Competition= NONE LISTED
Connectedness= Communication (helps with real-world examples)
Consistency= Maximizer, Individualization (accomodate differences)
Context= Futuristic, Strategic
Deliberative= Command, Self-Assurance, Activator
Developer= Individualization (Identify talents to develop)
Discipline= NONE LISTED
Empathy= Command, Activator (take action)
Focus= NONE LISTED
Futuristic= Activator (Take action on plans)
Harmony= Command, Activator (confrontation)
Ideation= Analytical (Question and challenge to strengthen ideas)
Includer= Activator, Command (Deliver tough news)
Individualization= NONE LISTED
Input= Focus, Discipline
Intellection= NONE LISTED
Learner= NONE LISTED
Maximizer= Restorative (solve problems)
Positivity= NONE LISTED
Relator= NONE LISTED
Responsiblity= Discipline, Focus (stay on track and help avoid overload)
Restorative= NONE LISTED
Self-Assurance= Strategic, Deliberative, Futuristic
Significance= NONE LISTED
Strategic= Activator (action)
Woo= Relator, Empathy

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In Today’s Leadership Nugget:  If someone asked you “What are the most important things for a leader to do?”, what would you say? Here’s 3 critical responsibilities of a leader and what to actionably do about fulfilling them.

And here’s the image if you liked it:

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Begin Transcript:

James Wang:   Have you ever had a situation where somebody is asking you for help and for some reason you find yourself not really wanting to help them, or if you do help them, you’re doing it very reluctantly? It probably is because of the way they’re asking. As a leader, it’s critical to be able to feel comfortable asking people for help if you’re doing anything of value in this world.

Today in this Leadership Upgrade Leadership Nugget we’re going to be covering a possible set of questions that you might be using, or phrases that you’re using, that might be causing people to not want to help you out and how to avoid them. Let’s dive into it.

Announcer:      Leadership Nugget.

James Wang:   Alright, let’s dive into today’s Leadership Nugget. Here’s a quick observation: Oftentimes we can use phrases like, “That’s easy, right?” or, “That’s not gonna take you a lot of time, is it?” to demean what it is that we’re asking somebody to do for us when we don’t actually know if it is easy, or how much time it is going to take. Let’s backup and let’s talk about when we’re asking people for help, the position we are actually coming from. If our minds are really in that place, it makes it a lot easier to ask for help in a quality way.

If you’re asking somebody for help on something that you don’t have the skillset for … For example, I know Photoshop but I am not a graphic arts genius. If I’m asking somebody to help me out with a flyer, realistically I don’t know how much time it’s going to take, and I also don’t have the skills personally to put it together. At least not at the level of quality that someone else on my team who does possess those abilities is able to do.

Understanding that, approaching my ask, if I say, “Hey, I’ve got an event that we’re working on here and we need to put together a flyer. Can you put that together? That’s easy, right?” Saying that might really make somebody feel that you don’t value their effort. Especially if you don’t fully understand what effort is involved there.

That’s the last thing you want because you don’t want them to have that gut reaction of, “Oh, well if you think it’s easy, I’d love you to go ahead and try it, and find out how not easy it is.” Which is really counterproductive to everything, and would actually bring friction to your relationship, so that’s the last thing we want to do.

How can we flip that around? The real value of what it is that we’re doing as leaders, we’re offering opportunities for people to be able to work alongside us in a mission that we’re all trying to accomplish. If money is not involved in your ask, then what are you offering? You’re offering an opportunity for people to feel fulfilled, and that’s specifically in the action that they’re doing, that they’re chosen, that they matter. Avoiding the, “That’s easy,” and that, “I’m sure that’s gonna be real quick for you, right?”

If you are using something like that and you catch yourself, I would say that the thing to really think about is mentioning, “That’s easy for you, right?” because you don’t want somebody to feel like that you’re just throwing a job at them that you think anyone can do, if it’s not true. If it really is something anyone could do, then you’re just asking for a favor, and that’s fair.

I’m going to wrap todays Leadership Nugget with this: When you’re asking, be careful that how you’re phrasing the question doesn’t cause people to feel like they want to pull away because they feel undervalued and that their time isn’t respected.

In the reverse side of things, when you are asking, really emphasize that what you appreciate about them being able to help in a certain area and how you do recognize people’s skills and abilities, and why you are asking them specifically to do it. I know for me, when I’m being asked things, that’s something I really appreciate, and I think that’s something that we can all appreciate.

Announcer:      Leadership Nugget.

James Wang:   My name’s James Wang, thanks for joining us for this Leadership Nugget.

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Podcast/Article:
The Art of Inviting Feedback – Part 2

URL:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AndyStanleyLeadershipPodcast/~5/5-XzcES1–Q/The-Art-of-Inviting-Feedback-Part2V2.mp3

Description:
In this podcast, Andy concludes the discussion with a next generation leader about a question that all leaders need to ask.

This content comes from:
Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast

URL:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/AndyStanleyLeadershipPodcast

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“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”  -Peter Drucker

I love Drucker, but I’m actually a little torn about this quote.  I agree with the pragmatism, but don’t fully like how this could be taken.  Character is critical, and I could see someone taking it in what I would think is “the wrong way” which would be “results are all that matter, no matter what kind of person you are”.  I take his quote as “being nice or popular won’t get you the gold.  Only your performance can do that.  Your results speak for themselves”, which I can agree with.  The character is critical though.  Here’s the thing, if you aren’t producing, the question has to be asked, “what’s missing?” if someone is so great in character.

I was listening to a Robert Kiyosaki talk and he had a quote which was “Make an effort, not an excuse”, which I kinda feel ties into this.

This week, let’s take a good look at ourselves as leaders.  What results are you expecting or are expected of you?  How’s that going?  Let’s make an effort and choose to call excuses for what they are.

Here’s to adapting, adjusting and crushing it.  Thoughts?  Questions?  You know what to do

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Podcast/Article share: The Art of Inviting Feedback – Part 1 URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AndyStanleyLeadershipPodcast/~5/icwaVVoVRw4/The-Art-of-Inviting-Feedback-Part1.mp3

Description: In this podcast, Andy talks to a next generation leader about a question that all leaders need to ask.

This content comes from: Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AndyStanleyLeadershipPodcast

This post brought to you by risingrocket.com

You manage things; you lead people. —Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

Something worth asking ourselves as leaders once in a while is, am I starting to treat my people as things?  That can happen as things get move faster and faster.  Things can be told what to do.  People, on the otherhand, need to be encouraged, won over and coached.  Things do not.

How do you look at your team?  What are examples of whatever your last statement was?

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This post brought to you by risingrocket.com

Don’t have the book yet? Pick it up here:

I’ve put the test into digital form so you can use it as a regular diagnostic tool to find which laws you should focus on and track how you are improving over time.  Enjoy and let us know if you have any feedback as you take the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership test!

This is a test from the back of the 10th Anniversary Edition of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell.  Use this as a tool to help you track your areas of strength, areas of potential improvement and areas where you may want to consider partnering with someone else who has a strength in that law.

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Page 1 of 21

The Law of Addition

Leaders Add Value by Serving Others

1. A) Rather than being annoyed when team members have issues preventing them from doing their jobs effectively I see the issues as an opportunity to serve and help those people.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

2. B) I look for ways to make things better for the people I lead.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

3. C) I find great personal satisfaction in helping other people become more successful.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 2 of 21

The Law of Buy-In

People Buy into the Leader, Then the Vision

4. A) I recognize that a lack of credibility can be as harmful to an organization as a lack of vision.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

5. B) I wait until I see that most of the people on the team have confidence in me before asking for a commitment to the vision.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

6. C) Even when my ideas are not very good, my people tend to side with me.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 3 of 21

The Law of Connection

Leaders Touch a Heart Before They Ask for a Hand

7. A) When I am new to a leadership situation, one of the first things I try to do is to develop a personal connection with the individuals involved.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

8. B) I know the stories, hopes and dreams of the people I lead.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

9. C) I avoid asking people to help accomplish the vision until we have built a relationship that goes beyond the nuts and bolts of our work together.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 4 of 21

The Law of Empowerment

Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others

10. A) I embrace change easily and become dissatisfied with the status quo.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

11. B) I believe that no matter how talented the people who work for me are, my position is secure.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

12. C)  It is my regular practice to give people I lead the authority to make decisions and take risks.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 5 of 21

The Law of Explosive Growth

To Add Growth, Lead Followers - To Multiply, Lead Leaders

13. A) I believe that I can grow my organization more rapidly by developing leaders than by any other method.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

14. B) I spend a significant amount of time every week investing in the development of the top 20 percent of my leaders.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

15. C) I would rather see leaders I develop succeed out on their own than keep them with me so that I can keep mentoring them.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 6 of 21

The Law of Influence

The True Measure of Leadership Is Influence - Nothing More, Nothing Less

16. A) I rely on influence rather than on my position or title to get others to follow me or do what I want.

Never

Rarely

Occassionally

Always

17. B) During discussions or brainstorming settings people turn to me and ask for my advice.

Never

Rarely

Occassionally

Always

18. C) I rely on my relationships with others rather than organizational systems and procedures to get things done.

Never

Rarely

Occassionally

Always

Page 7 of 21

The Law of Intuition

Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias

19. A) I can easily gauge morale, whether in a room full of people, on a team, or in an organization.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

20. B) I often take the right action as a leader even if I cannot explain why.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

21. C) I can read situations and sense trends without having to gather hard evidence.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 8 of 21

The Law of Legacy

A Leader's Lasting Value Is Measured by Succession

22. A) I posses a strong sense of why I am in my job and why I am leading.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

23. B) In each position I've held, I have identified people who can carry on after me and I have invested in them.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

24. C) One of my strongest motivations is to leave any team I lead better than I found it.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 9 of 21

The Law of Magnetism

Who You Are Is Who You Attract

25. A) I am satisfied with the caliber of people who report to me.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

26. B) I expect the people I attract to be similar to me in values, skills and leadership ability.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

27. C) I recognize that no personnel process can improve the quality of people I recruit compared to improving myself.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 10 of 21

The Law of Navigation

Anyone Can Steer the Ship, but It Takes a Leader to Chart the Course

28. A) I spot problems obstacles and trends that will impact the outcome of initiatives the organization puts into place.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

29. B) I can clearly see a pathway for the implementation of a vision, including but not only the process but also the people and resources needed.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

30. C) I am called upon to plan initiatives for the organization.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 11 of 21

The Law of Priorities

Leaders Understand That Activity Is Not Necessarily Accomplishments

31. A) I avoid tasks that are not required by my leadership, don't have a tangible return, or don't reward me personally.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

32. B) I set aside time daily, monthly and yearly to plan my upcoming schedule and activities based on my priorities.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

33. C) I delegate any task for which a team member can be at least 80 percent as effective as I could be.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 12 of 21

The Law of Process

Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day

34. A) I have a concrete specific plan for personal growth that I engage in weekly.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

35. B) I have found experts and mentors for key areas of my life with whom I engage on a regular basis.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

36. C) To promote my professional growth I have read at least six books or taken at least one worthwhile class or listened to twelve or more audio lessons per year for the last three years.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 13 of 21

The Law of Respect

People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger Than Themselves

37. A) People are naturally drawn to me and often want to do things with me just to spend time with me.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

38. B) I go out of my way to show respect and loyalty to the people I lead.

Never

Rarely

Occassionally

Always

39. C) I make courageous decisions and take personal risks that could benefit my followers even if there is no benefit to me.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 14 of 21

The Law of Sacrifice

A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up

40. A) I know making trade-offs is a natural part of leadership growth and I make sacrifices to become a better leader as long as they don't violate my values.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

41. B) I expect to give more than my followers do in order to accomplish the vision.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

42. C) I will give up my rights in order to reach my potential as a leader.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 15 of 21

The Law of Solid Ground

Trust Is the Foundation of Leadership

43. A) The people I lead confide in me regarding sensitive issues.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

44. B) When I tell someone in the organization that I will do something, he can count on me to follow through.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

45. C) I avoid undermining others or talking behind their backs.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 16 of 21

The Law of The Inner Circle

A Leader's Potential Is Determined by Those Closest to Him

46. A) I am strategic and highly selective about which people are closest to me personally and professionally.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

47. B) I regularly rely on some key people in my life to help accomplish my goals.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

48. C) I believe that 50 percent or more of the credit for my accomplishments goes to the people on my team.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 17 of 21

The Law of The Picture

People Do What People See

49. A) If I observe an undesireable action or quality in team members, I check for it in myself first before addressing it with them.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

50. B) I am continually working to try to make my actions and words consistent with one another.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

51. C) I do what I should rather than what I want because I am conscious that I am setting an example for others.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 18 of 21

The Law of Timing

When to Lead Is As Important As What to Do and Where to Go

52. A) I expend as much effort figuring out the timing for an initiative as I do figure out the strategy.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

53. B) I will launch something using a less-than-ideal strategy because I know the timing is right.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

54. C) I can sense whether or not people are ready for an idea.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 19 of 21

The Law of Victory

Leaders Find a Way for the Team to Win

55. A) When I lead a team, I feel ultimately responsible for whether it achieves its goals.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

56. B) If members of my team are not unified in their efforts to achieve the vision, I take action to get them on the same page.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

57. C) I make personal sacrifices to help ensure victory for my team, department, or organization.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 20 of 21

The Law of the Big Mo

Momentum Is a Leader's Best Friend

58. A) I am enthusiastic and maintain a positive attitude every day for the sake of my team members.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

59. B) Whenever I make a major leadership decision, I consider how that decision will impact momentum in my team, department, or organization.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

60. C) I initiate specific actions with the purpose of generating momentum when introducing something new or controversial.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

Page 21 of 21

The Law of the Lid

Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness

61. A) When Faced with a challenge my first thought is Who can I enlist to help? not What can I do?

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

62. B) When my team department or organization fails to achieve an objective my first assumption is that it's some kind of leadership issue.

Never

Rarely

Occasionally

Always

63. C) I believe that developing my leadership skills will increase my effectiveness dramatically.

Never

Rarely

Occassionally

Always

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