The one thing and working with strengths - The Cultivated Management newsletter

Hi,
 
Hope you’re having a good week.
 
I’ve been reflecting a little about the purpose of work and why it’s so important to ensure you’re working in alignment to your goals, values and strengths.
 
One of the most important questions to ask of yourself and to ask your direct reports is this:
 
Do I have the chance to use my strengths every day?
 
If the answer is "No", then something needs to change. If the answer is "Yes", then it’s likely you’re in a good situation.

Of course, not every day will align around your strengths, but the majority of days should. If they don’t – well – some change needs to happen to feel engaged in your work.
 
A classic barrier to this question though is that some people have no idea what their strengths are. If you aren’t sure what yours are, then there are plenty of resources to help guide you, but my simplistic advice is this:

Whenever time flies when you are doing something, and you’re having fun, and you could keep going with high energy, then you’re likely working with a strength.

Make a note of it. Make a note of every time this happens. These are usually your strengths at play.
 
As a manager, it’s your job to spot the strengths in others.

It’s often a case that people don’t spot their own strengths because they come so naturally to them. For example, good listeners don’t realise listening is a strength. Good meeting facilitators don't realise it's a strength.

It’s your job to observe and study your people and find what they are good at. Then make sure they get the chance to do more of that.
 
There’s a saying that people don’t leave a bad job, they leave a bad manager. Or more correctly maybe: people don’t leave a bad job; they leave a manager who doesn’t put their strengths in to use. Or something like that.
 
The reality is that people perform well when they are using their strengths. They are happier. They are more engaged.
 
The hard part is uncovering those strengths. Once you’ve done that put people to work with their strengths.
 
And as a manager make sure you know what your strengths are – and align your work around them as best you can.
 

Book of the week – The One Thing

 
The One Thing is a great book by Gary Keller. Fundamentally it’s about focusing on one thing.

One thing that will move you along. One thing that will improve your life. One thing that will take your business to the next level. One thing that will make your dreams come true. One thing that will fix your health.
 
It’s a book about thinking big, working out the steps to achieve “big” and then taking the next step - the one thing. It very much reminds me of the reasons why I use Kanban at work. Limit the work in process – work on fewer things - get more done.
 
Good book, lots of insight, lots of ideas on how to be productive. The hardest part might be working out which “big” ideas are the right ones in the first place.
 

This week’s writing

 
The Blazingly Simple Guide to Surviving a Conference (On LinkedIn). A guide for those attending conferences.
 
A commonplace book for managers – why a notebook full of ideas/observations/thoughts is so important.
 
When hiring and you don’t have huge salaries to offer, you need to balance cash with other things.
 
People must feel like the job develops them - simple really - people want the job to help them grow.

Until next week.
Rob..