A Two-Part Team Exercise that Shifts Focus and Elevates Performance
Lousy leaders focus on what’s wrong with you.
4 lousy-leader-behaviors:
#1. Lousy leaders obsess over people’s flaws and weaknesses.
#2. Lousy leaders complain about the wrong people.
Under-performing leaders complain about others. But nothing changes until you focus on your performance first.
What can you do to help bring out the best in others? Leaders own their own performance AND the performance of their team. Blaming is self-justification. Leadership is taking responsibility.
Turn your complaining tongue on yourself if you enjoy complaining about others.
#3. Lousy leaders talk to you when things go wrong, but ignore you when things go right.
#4. Lousy leaders know what you suck at, but don’t know your strengths.
A team exercise that shifts focus:
Part one:
I recently asked a team to list the top three strengths of the 13 people around the table. People felt affirmed and energized. Some were delighted that their colleagues saw them so clearly. There were a few surprises, but not many.
Part two:
Part two of the exercise centers on elevating performance through the lens of strengths.
Stop trying to fix weaknesses. Focus on maximizing strengths. Stop obsessing on things people don’t do well and start concentrating on things they do well.
Consider a team member’s strengths and ask:
- What jobs would you assign to a person with these top three strengths?
- What tasks might cause this person to stumble or perform poorly?
- How might you maximize this person’s strengths?
- What weaknesses might come with these strengths? What would you like to do about that?
- How might you energize a person who has this set of strengths? De-energize?
Note: Dealing with problem behaviors is necessary. Let’s save that for another day.
What questions on the above list do you find most useful?
What questions would you add to the above list?
Bonus material:
Global Study: ROI for Strengths-Based Development (Gallup)
Why You Should Stop Wasting Time Trying to Improve Your Weaknesses (Inc)
What questions on the above list do you find most useful? They all seek a direction, #3, How might we maximize their strengths?
As leaders we need to build the strengths and weaknesses to a level attainable in a reality sense, knowing some individuals will require more direction than others, the self starters compared to those who don’t have the vision of what’s next? Some see the picture others only see a portion of the picture.
What questions would you add to the above list?
What is it about your job you enjoy?
What is it about your job you dislike?
How would you like to change your job and what would you change?
Thanks Tim. Your questions are so helpful. They give power to others. Making people feel weak doesn’t take you where you want to go. People who feel powerful get more done and enjoy it more.
We all know that people tend to hire people like themselves. I’m curious how frequently teams are found to be largely monolithic, with similar strengths and weaknesses, because of this, and how a manager is to move forward with such a team when most of the members are best suited for the same tasks.
Thanks Ken. Your observation is useful. Uninformed leaders tend to hire people they like and they like people who are like them.
Transparency about the similarities on the team seems like a reasonable beginning. Perhaps the team might have some ideas about how to best address current challenges/opportunities with the strengths represented around the table.
This is an exercise I have been doing with my team for about 6 years. The only addition I have is that I ask each individual to list three weaknesses or areas where they feel they could improve. That is for them to reflect on and to consider ways to seek support either in peer training or working with another sales pro in order to overlay their weaknesses with another strengths. I have found that my team has switched from working silos to better performing as a team to complete larger projects.
Thanks Even. I appreciate you sharing your experience. I have clients who want to break silos so it’s good to read your experience.
It feels powerful to reflect on weaknesses and explore ways to seek training and/or connect with someone who can compensate.
Lousy leaders never ask—What could I have done differently?
Thanks Paul. So true! Makes me think that we can’t expect different results until we choose different behaviors.
lousy leaders how did they become a leader and keep being leader?
Thanks Gerry. Happens all the time. Sometimes it’s good people who are promoted to their level of incompetence. Other times they are promoted because they know the right reason. Sometimes lousy leaders are good people who are over-confident.