Category: strengthsfinder 2.0

Insights into Finding a Mentor

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Guest Post by Charles Lee
Mentorship is one of the primary pathways for growth in my life.
I’m fortunate to have some great people in my life that continue to shape how I think (mind), what I value (heart & passion), and how I get things done (skill-set). I learned early on that what I deem to be “success” will have a direct correlation with the kinds of people investing in my life. I always have my eyes open for individuals who embody the kind of life that I hope to live. People of deep compassion, unwavering integrity, innovative thinking, and undeniable generosity inspire me.
In seeking mentorship, I’ve found the following thoughts to be helpful in finding the right mentor:
Mentor Your Strengths – Too many people focus on strengthening weaknesses and overlooking the need to strengthen strengths. While it’s important to get help in areas of one’s weakness, I’ve found that mentorship works well when you’re working on strengthening your strength. I think this context will also inspire your mentor to be more engaged since the questions you bring up are probably what they have considered or continue to ponder. It’s definitely not a bad thing to have some mentors that help you develop your weaknesses. Nevertheless, don’t forgot to engage some that will strengthen your strengths and help you go from good to great.
Take Time to Explore Mentorship Expectations & Objectives – Most, if not all, mentors you seek are probably extremely busy! You may want to take some time and develop a realistic plan for engagement. Be clear on why you think they would be a good mentor and gauge their level of interest by asking them. How often are you hoping to connect with them and why? In person? Phone? Email? Be upfront and be open to them shaping the experience. Also, be sure to clearly articulate what you hope to get out of the mentorship as well as how you hope to support or even contribute to their work. Never underestimate the value you bring to a mentor relationship.
Not Everyone Is A Good Mentor – Don’t confuse the public success of a person with their ability to mentor. I’ve found that there is NO direct correlation between a good public leader and their ability to mentor. If possible, find out who they’re already mentoring (or have mentored) and see if you can get in contact with them. Ask them about their experience and some of their main takeaways. This may help you gain insights into the main strengths of the mentor.
Don’t Rush Mentorship – The success of a great mentorship experience is often wrapped around timing. Given the ever-changing climate of our lives, no two mentorships will be alike. Be open to progressing steadily. Mentorship rarely happens at the speed you would like. Stay patient. The greatest benefit to having a mentor in your life is that you have access to them. That’s a gift. If they have committed to being your mentor, they want to help you. Just be sure to stay flexible on how and when they can be helpful. If they believe in you, they will make time.
Continue to Learn – I try to stay up on the lives of my mentors. Even if I’m not meeting with them in person regularly, I make sure that I’m reading their works, listening to their talks, and sending quick notes of appreciation or thoughts about their recent work. We’re all fortunate to have technology that allows us to stay connected. Why not use it?
It’s truly a privilege to receive mentorship from a person you admire. Therefore, it’s important that we make most of these opportunities and engage well.
Charles Lee is the CEO of Ideation, an idea agency that specializes in helping organizations and businesses take their ideas and make them remarkable via creative strategy, organizational development, branding, design, marketing, web, social media, and influencer engagement. He is also the author of Good Idea. Now What?, a book that guides people in implementing ideas well. In addition, Charles is the creator of grassroots efforts including the Idea Camp, Ideation Conference, andthe Freeze Project as well as the co-founder of JustOne. Charles regularly speaks around the country on topics such as creative process, idea-making, innovation, branding, new media, and social entrepreneurism.

Growing Pains

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When your startup is going through a growth stage, new members are being brought aboard and different layers of tasks are created. Now you’re not just responsible for the vision and strategy, but also managing new employees. Here are some suggestions to streamline the process:   

Know your Strengths. Think of an athlete. They are paid to do one thing very well. Identify what value you bring to the business and make sure you stick to doing that. What one aspect of the business will fail if you don’t focus on it? Consider outsourcing or delegating everything else.

Build around Fit. Recruit talent, not your friends. Picture puzzle pieces fitting together. Compliment your team by adding people who are different from you. Hire for roles versus just titles. A strong team consists of everyone in the right seat on the bus. 
Get an Outsider’s Perspective. When you’re close to the situation, you’re susceptible to blind spots. Bring someone in that can look at your company objectively. Listen to their observations about chemistry and execution. The goal is to let the business run efficiently on it’s own.
As a company grows, there becomes three layers of skill sets. 
Executives focus on strategy and growth of the company.
Managers are responsible to lead the team under their supervision.
Technical employees take care of the customers and complete the assigned tasks.

Growth is a good thing, but unless you deal the pains associated with it, it can take you down. Don’t lose sight of why the business exists and keep growing forward!

What DWTS and Your Career have in Common

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Each week a celebrity couple gets excused from the competition, but is it just me, or are the wrong people getting sent home? When you add “America’s Vote”, it no longer becomes about competence, but popularity. How is this similar to your workplace?

Skills are vital, but politics and popularity rule. Look around your workplace to see who gets “promoted.” In DWTS, the judges play a more objective role, yet the viewers ultimately keep couples around each week. In the workplace, you are judged on more than just performance. How well do you get along with your co-workers? Do you stand out to other department managers? Have you given your supervisors a reason to look your way? Politics and popularity are part of the game. You may want to sit on the sidelines, but I suggest you participate.
Playing the game isn’t about selling your soul or going against your morals. It means your job isn’t just about you. It’s about the organization. You can be the most skilled worker, but if you can’t get along with your co-workers, do you think they will want to help you? It’s important to be socially and self-aware. For example, my wife and I are frequent Disneyland visitors and it never ceases to amaze me how unaware people are in the parks. Whether they stop right in front of a crowd or let their kids run wild, they’re blind to how their actions affect others around them. Today, take a step outside of yourself and think how your actions affect others. 

Your career is much more than experience, skill set and performance. Those are all very important, but remember how much “people” are involved. Some of the best leaders don’t carry a big stick. They don’t need to be the best performer or the smartest. Think of the best leader you’ve had…they were probably great listeners, cared for people, humble, confident, etc. Instead of thinking of how you can get ahead, pause and ponder how you can help others around you. What will you do to raise the level of your team?

Why I Chose Coaching

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Life is about choices. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can choose how to respond.
11 years ago, a supervisor asked me the day after I was hired, “Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?” My response, “Not here.” I said that because I always dreamed of owning a business; I just wasn’t sure what kind of business. Let me share with you how I came to my decision of being a coach.
“Client” Seat – I experienced coaching first as a client. Jay (my coach) met with me weekly or bi-monthly for about a year and a half. During our conversations, I loved how the focus was on my goals, my pace and my agenda. He listened, gave suggestions, but ultimately it was up to me to accomplish my goals. Similar to having a personal trainer, but for my mind. Towards the end of our professional relationship, I asked Jay what I needed to do to become a coach.
StrengthsFinder – Leadership was a hobby before it became part of my career. I decided to go back to school in 2005 to get a Masters in Organizational Leadership. Through the process, I met Dave, a classmate, who was getting certified in the StrengthsFinder assessment and part of his requirements was to take 10 people through the test and discuss their results. A year later I liked the assessment so much I got certified in it and to this day it’s the only test I give to all my clients. Knowing my top 5 strengths affirmed that coaching was the perfect “fit” for me.

At the Core – A coach is more of who I am, rather than what I do. My job title can change, but I’ll always coach people. I’m not a fan of job descriptions because they put people in a box. Why not create a role based on someone’s strengths? When I coach someone one-on-one I’m at my best. Coaching is my sweet spot. I look back on my past and realize I’ve been coaching others from an early age. I just didn’t know it was called coaching. I’m very fortunate to have found my ideal career. Coaching is just an extension of who I am.

Based on my faith, I believe everyone was made to do something special. Your career is a mixture of passions, strengths and experiences. What were you born to do?

My Fave 5: Books

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Charles Barkley has his fave 5 numbers in his cell phone. This week I thought I’d share my fave 5 books based on categories. This list should change in the future, because personal development is essential to growing as a leader:
This is a must read for college students. Relationship marketing is the way of business. It’s about who you know, not what you know. Your personal network = your personal net worth.
Rock coined the term “Neuroleadership.” He studies leadership from a scientific point of view. Understanding how the brain works will help you be a more effective leader.
It’s one thing to self-initiate change, but to get others to change is an entire skill in itself. Kotter focuses on one aspect of his change model to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Change isn’t talking about it. Change is about doing it.
Have you ever challenged the myths of starting a business? Jason and David do. Less academic, more practical. Ultimately, there are no formulas for success. Yet, it’s nice to know there are several ways to make it big.
As a graduate of a M.A. in Organizational Leadership, I’ve taken a multitude of psychological tests in my lifetime. The power of the StrengthsFinder is the application. Each person has their top 5 natural talents. The most successful people in the world (in any industry) maximize theirs on a daily basis.
Leadership starts with you. You can’t take anyone where you haven’t been yourself. Make personal growth a priority and teach others what you are learning. Leaders are readers. 

What are your top 5? 

The Power of Pods

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The Navy SEAL’s employ a great leadership tactic called “pods.” Instead of training as a large team, they break people into small groups. These groups do everything together and create tight bonds. Observe human nature and watch how people naturally cluster in small groups. 

Paul Azinger, captain of the US Ryder Cup team in 2008 and professional golfer, used this strategy to perfection. Instead of pairing his team based on talent, he grouped them according to personality, background and values. In pods, under pressure communication increases when behavioral style is compatible. 

Pods can be implemented in any organization. Take for instance your company. Normally groups are formed based around skill set or position, but that doesn’t always work. What if psychological assessment were used such as the StrengthsFinder, DISC or Myers Briggs, then people were grouped based on personality fit? The result would be increased performance based on shared values, personality and background.

This sounds simple, but we are relational beings at our core. Here are some takeaways from Azinger’s book “Cracking the Code:”
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  • Implement a strategy that creates the best environment to succeed
  • Focusing on relationships produces positive results
  • Team unity comes from understanding the unique behavioral style & contribution of each person
  • Giving responsibility and authority fosters trust and confidence
  • Message people according to their needs (not ours) encourages peak performance

The leader’s job is to create an environment where others have the best chance to succeed. This happens with intense preparation and taking the needs of your people into consideration. Don’t micromanage, instead set the structure, communicate the message, then trust your people by releasing control and letting them do the job. 

The next time you’re forming teams, try using the pods strategy. You’ll be amazed at the power of the pods! 

 

What are YOUR Strengths?

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The StrengthsFinder 2.0
People always ask me, “What assessments do you use for your clients?” There is only ONE I use with everyone, the StrengthsFinder 2.0. Let me explain why…

1) Uniqueness. The SF 2.0 is an online assessment that explains your top 5 talents. Did you know the odds of finding someone else with the same 5 talents in the same order as you is 1 in 32 million?! It’s all about being unique. It’s what separates you from the rest. Who doesn’t want to know what they are good at?

2) Growth. The greatest room for growth is in your area of talent/strengths. This makes sense. Stop trying to be the jack of all trades. Focus on what you do well and do more of it! Think about the top athletes in the world. They get paid to do one thing well. How much more successful would you be if you spent more time developing your strengths?!

3) Results. Your answers don’t change over time. Most assessments are behavior-based, which means they change over time. The SF 2.0 is based on “who you are.” You were born with these talents, you can develop these into strengths and you will always be good at them. When you are using your strengths, others will positively reinforce you. Who doesn’t want to be recognized for what they are good at?

After hearing that, you might be compelled to buy the book. Let me make it easy for you: Buy SF 2.0

The real power of the assessment is revealed through an appointment with a Strengths Coach. Fortunately, I am one, so if you are interested in learning how to make your strengths work for you…