Tag: personal development

  • Avoiding the stuffed anteater: striving for authenticity

    Avoiding the stuffed anteater: striving for authenticity

    In recent times we’ve grown used to the idea of ‘fake news’ and doctored photos, and even been warned about technological advances enabling ‘fake video’ – but the story a while ago of a photographer accused of using a stuffed anteater in a competition entry was sadly amusing. It was followed up by a couple of articles about the cheats regularly used in wildlife photography… like the bizarre practice of putting ants in the freezer. And all this is in contrast to – and possibly the reason for – the demand for authenticity that is current in brands, politics and a host of leadership and management books (and a fair few blog posts, too).

    And this poses a dilemma for many people. We’re pretty good at looking at other people and weighing up how authentic they are. But how do you ensure that you’re being authentic, and not inadvertently being, to paraphrase Holden Caulfield, a phony? How do we remain authentic whilst operating within the parameters of corporate polices, or when the responsibilities of our role means we have to step away from our usual habits? I’m thinking about those disciplinary meetings, difficult conversations, and other situations where as a manager you might have to act in a certain way that doesn’t come naturally – ‘feeling the fear and doing it anyway’ as Susan Jeffers said.

    In short, as managers and leaders we don’t always act naturally, but we should always act authentically. One of the ways in which I help leaders to do this is through using your strength, not just those things you are good at, but which energise and fulfill you. This is the key difference between strengths and skills (your ability to do something well). If you are using your strengths you will be ‘going with the grain’ – by working with what comes naturally to you, you will be authentic.

    You might ask what does this mean in practice? If I have strengths of Perspective, Hope or Prudence, how is that going to get me through a team meeting, or performance review? In his recent interview with me for People and Purpose – the Positive Leadership Journal, Ryan Niemiec of the VIA institute described how you can look at each task you have to complete from the position of your top five signature strengths, and planning out how you could actively use your strengths as you complete your tasks. Here’s a very basic example of using Curiosity and Kindness strengths:

    The great thing about using strengths is for those situations where you are less confident, where you have to step outside of your comfort zone. Sit down and plan ahead – how can I use what I’m good at to help me in this situation. This means that you will be authentic even if you are having to ‘play a role’ of manager.

    The other thing you can do is work with the strengths of your team. If you’re getting them to align what they do with their strengths, then they will experience that sense of fulfillment for themselves. So not just increasing productivity, but reducing the likelihood that you’ll come in one day and find they’ve used a stuffed anteater…

     

    Here’s some further things you can do:

     

    Watch

    See Ryan Niemiec’s interview in People and Purpose – the Positive Leadership Journal for more about how you can harness strengths.

    There’s a video and we’ve also written up a summary to help you.

     

     

     

    Read

    For practical information and guidance about helping your team find and harness their strengths, we’d recommend the Strength-Focused Guide to Leadership by Mike Roarty and Kathy Toogood.

    You can read the summary of the key ideas on our website to see if you’d like it.

     

     

    Investigate

    If you want help in finding your strengths, there are a number of different tools available, which use a series of questions to identify your relative strengths.

    To simplify thing, we’ve summarised five of these tools: Investigate strengths models

     

     

     

     

    If you’d like more articles like this:

  • 5 of the best… Strengths Tools

    5 of the best… Strengths Tools

    If you want to find out your strengths, your best bet is to use one of these five strength assessment tools. They differ greatly in the number/categories of strengths, what you get for your money, and options for follow-up work, such as bespoke development programmes. We think that each assessment has value and can appeal to a different audience, so spend some time on their websites to make sure you choose the right one for your needs.

    Information is accurate at time of press (summer 2018), but the models and the reports offered continue to be refined.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Finding your strengths is the first step to accessing the enhanced performance, motivation, engagement and commitment that comes when you are harnessing your strengths in your work and life. At Formium Development we can help you with all aspects of finding and harnessing your strengths, through training, coaching and assistance. If you’d like our help, please get in touch.

     

     

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  • Where does the courage come in?

    Where does the courage come in?

    I fairly recently went to an event on Women’s Leadership Careers organised by the Chartered Management Institute’s (CMI) Women in Management (WiM) Network. The keynoter was none other than CMI’s CEO Ann Francke, an remarkably dynamic and engaging speaker.

    Ann shared her wealth of knowledge and experience about progressing in the ranks of organisations as a female member of staff. Among the many things she referred to was the 3 C’s: Competence, Confidence and Connections – the important components in order to get noticed and to ensure your mark in your field. She recommends keeping a list of your competencies and your accomplishments. Have confidence in yourself – avoid the tiara syndrome, i.e. waiting for someone to notice you, and the sorry skirts, connoting apologising for yourself. And the ever important C – connections – reach out to people. Look for colleagues and managers who can guide you, advise you and “sponsor” you.

    As I was taking all this in, words of Sir Winston Churchill rang so true: “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities . . . because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” I add ‘courage’ as the 4th C to Ann’s list.

    Courage could be the stepping stone to acknowledging your competencies, to speak up to the person at the office, who you want to connect with. And the courage to leave when you know something is not working – it could be a job that does not nurture your capacities, a relationship that does not support you in achieving your targets. It takes courage to review a past project and to be honest with yourself about what went great and what could have been done better.

    It requires courage to lead a team, to disband a team and to implement change when it is needed. However, courage is not about being abrasive. It is very much about being gently assertive with yourself and taking that one extra step – making your competencies list or drawing on your confidence to connect with a colleague. After all, Churchill also purported that “courage is what it requires to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

    Reetu Kansal