The Strengths Foundation

The Strengths Companion: F is for Friedrich Froebel

Mike Pegg — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:24:10 +0000

Friedrich Froebel was an educational pioneer who lived from 1782 to 1852. He gave birth to the kindergarten – ‘the children’s garden’. He believed children needed a place where they could be cherished and helped to flourish. He said: “Children are like tiny flowers; they are varied and need care, but each is beautiful alone ...

3 tips for ensuring your team has a common language

Mike Pegg — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Winston Churchill said that first we shape our buildings, then our buildings shape us. When I began working with people, I was told: “First we shape our language, then our language shapes us.” This is particularly true when working in teams. So let’s explore how you can enable people to develop a language that helps ...

3 tips for working well with your new manager

Mike Pegg — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 03:35:54 +0000

Imagine a new manager arrives to lead your team. You are a little uncertain about their style and your own future. Whatever your feelings, you will be super-professional. Your role is to help the manager, team and organisation to reach their goals. So it is important to make them feel welcome, make clear contracts about ...

The Strengths Companion: I is for Intuition

Mike Pegg — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:42:02 +0000

There are many books about intuition. Some authors prefer to use other phrases, however, such as ‘Rapid Cognition’ and ‘Thinking without Thinking’. Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus referred to this ability in their book Mind Over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer. After studying superb practitioners in several ...

The Strengths Companion: N is for doing what comes Naturally

Mike Pegg — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:32:50 +0000

There are many approaches to finding your strengths. One approach is to focus on ‘what you cannot help but do,’ or to, put it another way, ‘to do what comes naturally.’ Building on these natural drives, you can then become the best kind of artist, writer, engineer, teacher, leader or whatever you want to be. ...

3 tips for recognising when somebody is an achiever

Mike Pegg — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:21:18 +0000

How can you be a good talent spotter? How can you tell whether a person is hungry? How can you judge whether they will translate their potential into performance? This piece outlines five qualities you can look for to recognise achievers. Such people start by having the right attitude, ability and application. They then add ...

3 tips for helping people to feel in control

Mike Pegg — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:52:00 +0000

Imagine that somebody has asked you for help with overcoming a setback. They may have suffered a redundancy, lost a relationship or experienced some other difficulty. You may be working as a mentor, coach, counsellor or whatever. There are several things you can do to help a person to shape their future. People like to ...

3 tips for creating a person’s strengths profile

Mike Pegg — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:32:59 +0000

Everybody has strengths. But sometimes it is hard to communicate a person’s essence through a conventional biography or CV. Imagine that somebody has asked you to write their personal profile. Obviously much depends on what they want to achieve with the document. They may want to use it to get a job, produce as a ...

The Strengths Companion: M is for balancing Money, Meaning and Magic

Mike Pegg — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:01:12 +0000

The strengths approach encourages people to do satisfying work. It also focuses on how they can use their talents to help other people. People often want three things from work: money, meaning and magic. Money feeds the stomach. But meaning and magic feed the spirit and the soul. Imagine you want to get the right ...

3 tips for giving a person feedback

Mike Pegg — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:05:42 +0000

Imagine a person has asked you to give them feedback on their performance. This sounds easy, but there are several reasons why it can be difficult. First, the person may or may not be open to your views – even if they say they want a reality check. Second, there is an art to giving ...