Leaders – do you focus on strengths or weaknesses?

Research has shown us that focusing on strengths creates powerful results. Based on research conducted by the Gallup Organization and Tom Rath (published in Strengths Based Leadership) with 20,000 leader interviews, 10,000 follower interviews and 1 million work team studies, the difference in individual engagement can shift from an 9% – 73% depending upon where their focus rests. Where is your/your people’s engagement level?

This fable comes from the world of education and the concept can be applied within any industry or organization. Are you and your people focusing on opportunities to celebrate and leverage strengths? Does your performance management/evaluation system focus on strengths?

The Fable for “School People”

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world”. So they organized a school.

They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor, but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his web feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class, where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the tree-top down. He also developed cramps from over-exertion and got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well, and also run, climb and fly a little had the higher average and was top of the class.

The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their child to a badger and later joined the ground hogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

By G.H. Reavis

Cincinnati Public Schools

Assistant Superintendent

Photo credit ~ Jeff Ratcliff

Related articles

• Lessons from The Animal School Fable in Leveraging Strengths (forbes.com)

Is it about me, Is it about you … what comes first?

It’s curious to me that when in conversation and trying to connect with others in relationship, there’s a choice we have on the focus of our thinking, how we listen and the choice of subject when talking with others. Over the past months I’ve noticed the phrase “It’s not about you” come out of many people’s mouth. Over the years, my intention in my various roles as consultant, facilitator, leader, colleague, friend, sister, daughter, mother, has been to operate from the paradigm that it’s not about me. While I’m not great at it all the time, it’s a curious subject to me. So, when is about me? When is it about you? What is.. it?

Our most fundamental human need (after air, food, shelter etc) is to be known: to be seen, heard, and understood. Steven Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People talks about seeking first to understand, then be understood. So, for us as humans who are seeking to be known, to be most effective with others, it would seem focusing on someone else first will be important. And yet, for me, when I’m with someone who is listening well; providing me time, asking me questions, listening intently, I will jump in and talk first, clearly not seeking first to understand. The human drive to be heard can be very strong. There are so many variables, family history, personal experience, extrovert and introvert, that impact how and when we seek this need to be known. And, someone needs to go first!

How can we be most effective with each other, bearing witness to each other, creating the opportunity for being seen, heard and known by each other and yet also ensure that we will personally be heard as well? I see relationships as a dance, sometimes we lead, sometimes we’re lead and sometimes we stumble together or into each other. Paying attention to the dance of our relationships by having conversations with our “dance partners” and seeking feedback will help us individuals learn how we can be most effective with each other.

When is the conversation about you and when is it about me? I think what’s most important is knowing this need exists in all of us and learning to forgive ourselves and each other when we might have not asked to be heard in a way that’s helpful or respectful or when we might be so in need of being heard that we can’t hear each other. I look forward to your thoughts, comments and experiences. It’s about you now…

Nine Rules for Being Human

As we all review what we are grateful for over the past year (s) and make plans for the next year, these are wonderful reminders that in the end it’s all about our own choices; our perspective, our attitude, our focus, our behavior.

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “works.”
4. A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. Then you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is no better than “here.” When your ”there” has become a “here,” you will simply obtain another “there” that again, looks better than “here.”
7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need; what you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
9. The answers lie inside you. The answers to life’s questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

May your new year be filled with learned lessons and choices that provide you what you need!

These rules for being human come from an anonymous source many years ago.

Want behavior change? Check your environ

Want behavior change? Check your environment.. ~ http://ow.ly/8fDRK