She reminded me of a young and possibly more outrageous Madonna. The eighties flare in her voice and that macho feminine swagger across the stage all brought me back to the bold ’90 release of Vogue. She opened her HBO special by getting ready for her show and gave us a glimpse of the troubled teenager that was unsure of her own worth and treated by those around her as if reaching for her dreams was ridiculous. When she came on stage – each outfit more intriguing and twisted – I saw a girl rising above her own voices and using her talent to show others they can do whatever it is they were born to do.
You might be wondering what a Lady Gaga concert could possibly have to do with helping your business improve. Though the costumes and scenery changed from song to song – the message was always the same: Be yourself. The lyrics to her very popular song “Born This Way” says it best “I’m on the right track, baby – I was born that way”. You might have a sense of who you are – but do you really know the people you’re working with and building your company with? You might have socialized with them from time to time and have a sense of who they are. It’s even more likely that they have hidden talents or work methods that you may have never seen.
Well, there is a great way to get amazing insight on the talents of your core team and an even better understanding of how they best fit into the business environment; and how they tend to work with others. Two tools that I have used for several years in my consulting practice tend to give a well rounded insight into the people you work with. Granted, there are many assessments out there that attempt to give you some of the same insight. However, I have found that the combination of these two tools provide a truly well rounded understanding and great insight.
The first is an amazing work released by the Gallup organization and is titled StengthsFinder 2.0
. The actual assessment takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to complete. The result is a list of your top five talents. These are the strengths that you were born with – those things that you simply do really well naturally. I can tell you with absolute confidence that this one tends to be a game changer in many peoples’ lives. Once they know what they do well naturally people tend to focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t do.
. The actual assessment takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to complete. The result is a list of your top five talents. These are the strengths that you were born with – those things that you simply do really well naturally. I can tell you with absolute confidence that this one tends to be a game changer in many peoples’ lives. Once they know what they do well naturally people tend to focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t do. The second is called a DISC assessment. This wonderful little assessment can be done completely online – as the StrengthsFinder can – and the result is a very simple matrix of how you tend to interact with the world around you. Talk about structuring a team for the best possible outcome – this assessment will tell you who the natural leaders are and who will make the best team players. It will even help you understand why some people seem flaky – they're usually not; rather they are the amazing creative’s amongst us – and which team members will love repetitive tasks; no matter how mundane those tasks seem to be.
When you decide to take this journey into knowing your team better there are a couple of things I really want you to keep in mind . . .
Be Positive: Never use someone’s strengths against them or make them feel bad because of their strengths. No strength can be called good or bad – it is how you use your strengths that determine a positive or negative result. The same goes with the DISC assessment. Never put someone in a box based on the result – its purpose is to help you work better together. If you’re not sure how to best navigate your teams strengths have a consultant come in and help you – yes, that was a plug.
Own Yourself: Really take some time to understand what your strengths are and how they will help you and your team accomplish whatever goals you have. I would even suggest putting your results in some kind of a frame and hanging it on your wall in the office or at home. Really tune into these super-powers you have. You could even put them on placeholders for a team meeting and spend time talking to others about strengths that are similar to yours or ones that you don’t have to better understand your team.
So, what’s the end game here; what difference will it really make? Well, the more you have people working together that you know will naturally gel, the more they will enjoy their work. The same goes for putting someone in a position to constantly be working in their strengths. The more someone does the things they are really good at naturally, the more they will enjoy what they do. It just feels good to know you’re on the right track because you were born that way. It’s easy to make the connection that happy and motivated team members bring a boatload of productivity, creativity, and heightened efficiency to the team. And we both know that all these things translate to higher profits.
Be Positive: Never use someone’s strengths against them or make them feel bad because of their strengths. No strength can be called good or bad – it is how you use your strengths that determine a positive or negative result. The same goes with the DISC assessment. Never put someone in a box based on the result – its purpose is to help you work better together. If you’re not sure how to best navigate your teams strengths have a consultant come in and help you – yes, that was a plug.
Own Yourself: Really take some time to understand what your strengths are and how they will help you and your team accomplish whatever goals you have. I would even suggest putting your results in some kind of a frame and hanging it on your wall in the office or at home. Really tune into these super-powers you have. You could even put them on placeholders for a team meeting and spend time talking to others about strengths that are similar to yours or ones that you don’t have to better understand your team.
So, what’s the end game here; what difference will it really make? Well, the more you have people working together that you know will naturally gel, the more they will enjoy their work. The same goes for putting someone in a position to constantly be working in their strengths. The more someone does the things they are really good at naturally, the more they will enjoy what they do. It just feels good to know you’re on the right track because you were born that way. It’s easy to make the connection that happy and motivated team members bring a boatload of productivity, creativity, and heightened efficiency to the team. And we both know that all these things translate to higher profits.
Until next time, focus on what you know and keep doing a better job of what you love to do.
PS: Are there any tools that you use and think will help other entrepreneurs? Any suggestions you have for building a better team are very welcome. Do you have issues with your team that you would like advice about? Post a reply and I’ll be happy to post a response.
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