Coaching: Turning Talent Into Strength

How do you coach your associate to own their StrengthsFinder talent themesand turn them into Strengths?

Remember a talent theme is defined as a naturally recurring pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving that can be productively applied. WOO (Winning Others Over) has the potential to being drawn toward strangers and making a connection.

Strength is defined by Gallup as the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific activity. An example of turning WOO into a strength is the ability to build a network of supporters who know you and are ready to help you.

Here is my process and questions to coach others to turn talent into strength. (By the way email brent@brentobannon.com if you want the worksheet)

1. What is the name and # of my talent theme? Ex: Individualization is #2

2. What is the Gallup definition of my talent theme? Individualization is intrigue with unique qualities of people. They have a gift for figuring out how different people can work together productively.

3. What are the 3 best words or phrases from your Gallup Insight Report that best describe this strength in me? * You can easily identify what people are thinking and feeling. * You intuitively understand people’s hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows. * You can predict how someone will react in different situations.

4. What are the best stories from your life that demonstrate this strength? It is not uncommon for people to open up to me about their hopes and dreams one on one. Away from the hustle and bustle of life they can get perspective to help them with goals, relationships, and life.

5. How does this strengths work for me? How does this strength work for others? Individualization easily builds trust and rapport with people. It helps me be authentic and perceptive of people. It helps me customize my message. It helps others to feel safe to be confidently vulnerable to gain clarity and perspective for life. This strength is able to ask powerful coaching questions that draw out deep purposes from people’s hearts.

6. How does this strength work against me and others? Individualization can slow me down rather than speed me up. I have to be careful not to make assumptions of people and check it out with them directly.

7. What are 3 action items to maximize, mobilize and monetize this strength? * Study personality theory, human development & coaching. * Spend quality time asking questions to customize presentations and coaching. * Charge higher prices for one on one VIP Coaching Intensive’s.

8. What person or best practice has helped me better develop this strength? Getting me MBS degree, Gallup Certification, and PCCI coaching classes.

9. What professional and personal goals can this strength help me achieve? * Become a world class strengths based coach. * Develop more intimate relationships with wife and two kids.

10. What is a fun name, memorable motto, or phrase to best remember this strength in me? Strength Spotter

11. Write your strength affirmation (Personal, Positive, Present tense, Precise, Purposeful, & Passion) and repeat daily. Brent is easily engaging, coaching and drawing out the best from people successfully with his Individualization strength.

12. How many MPH am I driving this strength professionally and personally? (0-40, 40-80, 80-120 on the Strengthometer) I’m driving 75 MPH professionally and 50 MPH personally.

Bring GALLUP Certified Strengths Coach and Convene Resource Specialist Brent O’Bannon to your Forum Day or organization and learn the art and science of Strengths Based Coaching. Learn more at http://brentobannon.com/strengthsfinder-keynote-and-workshops/

Pursuing The Right Numbers: The Only Place Where Profitability Should Come Before Prosperity Is In The Dictionary

But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today. - Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV)

As business leaders, we are inundated with numbers. Sales, profit, revenue, dividend payouts, market share, ROI, PE ratios, compensation levels, tax brackets, income statements, cash-flow projections, balance sheets, and budgets are often a part of our daily narrative.  Numbers.

From a global perspective, many of us are focused on stock market indices such as the S&P Index, NASDAQ, NYSE Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, Korea’s KOSPI Index, Britain’s FTSE-100, France’s CAC-40, and Germany’s DAX 30.  More numbers.

The core of most of these numbers, or metrics, is centered on one concept:  Profitability.  

Business growth and profitability are certainly important for us as His ambassadors in the  workplace and in the marketplace.  But, how do we keep all of these numbers in the right perspective?  A Godly, Kingdom perspective?   

One way to keep our focus on God when it comes to the numbers, is to reflect on what His Word says.   We know that it is God who gives us the ability to gain wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18) and that He desires for us to prosper (3 John 1:2).  Let’s take a moment to compare and contrast the concepts of profitability and prosperity.

Profitability vs. Prosperity

We know that profitability is generally defined as the state or condition of being profitable or yielding a financial profit.  An enterprise is typically deemed profitable or unprofitable based purely on its financial status and results. In this way, profitability is defined based primarily on the parameters of financial results.

Prosperity, on the contrary, is generally defined as a prosperous or successful condition or a state of good fortune. The concept of prosperity is broad in scope and includes a number of elements and criteria that may deem an enterprise or individual as being prosperous. Unlike profitability, prosperity is not based primarily on financial parameters.

One way to think of prosperity and profitability, in relation to one another, is that prosperity is an overarching umbrella concept, which includes many different forms of success with profitability being just one of them. Unlike profitability, prosperity denotes a broader range of richness and wealth. Prosperity is not just about money. Prosperity is a state of spiritual and material abundance that extends beyond the temporal boundaries of the world. Prosperity transcends beyond the worldly parameters of economics, materialism, and consumerism. Prosperity extends beyond revenue targets, compensation packages, and tax brackets.

The business world values profitability, but God values prosperity. “Trusting in the Lord leads to prosperity” (Proverbs 28:25, NLT). As Christian business leaders, we must detach ourselves from the world’s value system and not relegate ourselves to just focusing on profitability.  We must raise our value systems to a Higher level by pursuing total prosperity instead of just profitability. Don’t pursue money. Don’t worship the numbers. Pursue and worship God.  Follow His financial plans for your business, and you will prosper (2 Chronicles 26:5). Prosperity should be our primary concern, and profitability should be secondary because profitability is simply one aspect of prosperity. The only place where profitability should come before prosperity is in the dictionary.

Heat up or chill out

A recent conversation with a colleague ended with the comparison of these two commonly used phrases, and an “Aha!” type of insight.

HEAT UP – What we want to happen when we are enacting strategy.

CHILL OUT – What we want to happen when we are figuring out mission, vision, values and goals that lead to those strategies.

It is not a good idea to get them confused!

Heating up adds fuel, combusts, gives warmth, attracts a crowd.

Chilling out — condenses, reduces, solidifies, and slows.

Another way to understand this is to consider fog. Fog isn’t warm enough to evaporate and it isn’t cold enough to solidify. It is in between. When we face a tough and confusing issue in business, we may feel foggy. What to do?

We do well to chill out first, and then begin to heat up.

If we start acting before we’ve reduced a critical issue to its essence, people end app working frantically, and not from a common understanding. In such a case, heat leads to destructive forms of conflict, regrettable actions and/or reduced profit margins.

Chilling out is a way to get to the:

• WHY are we working at this?

• WHO will work at this, WHO supervises them, WHO needs to be consulted, WHO holds decision power over this, and WHO is funding this?

• What is the criteria for our success?

• WHEN must the work be completed?

• WHERE will the work be done?

• HOW will we proceed from here and in what order of steps?

Chilling out in this way helps all the key players collect the fuel needed to heat up and to do it together, from a common point of reference. Heating up happens far more efficiently that way.

Yes, it probably feels silly to ask, “Should we chill out or heat up?” when faced with a big one. But before completely rejecting this idea, you might ask yourself what question you are asking (or not asking) in its place.

Leverage Strengths to Win the Breakthrough You Want

What situation in your business or personal life has you dismayed,terrified, and running with fear? What breakthrough do you want? The Israelites and Philistines were lined up for battle across from each other in the Valley of Elah as described in I Samuel 17.

A giant champion warrior named Goliath taunted Saul and the armies of the living God for 40 days.

Saul and his army were dismayed, terrified, and ran with great fear. V.11,24

This is the exact place God wants to show you how to win the breakthrough you want leveraging your God given strengths.

How did David leverage his strengths to win the battle against Goliath?

I Samuel 17:40 states David chose five smooth stones from the stream with his sling as he approached Goliath.

David’s five stones are like our top 5 strengths that can be leveraged to win against our Goliath.

What top five strengths from StrengthsFinder could we spot in David?

1. Responsibility – 15, 17 David was found faithful taking care of his father’s sheep as well as delivering food for his brothers on the battle line.People with the responsibility talent take psychological ownership to get the daily grind done. They are servant leaders.

2. Belief –26, 37, 45 reveal the strong value in God as the victorious champion and his passion to stand up for what he believes. David is not just confident in himself but in the character of who God is!

3. Positivity –32-34 show how David saw the upside rather than the downside of danger in the battle. He encouraged his brothers and the armies of the living God with his success stories of killing the lion and the bear.

(Notice how Eliab, David’s oldest brother burned with anger and thought David was conceited and just wanted front row entertainment on the battle line. V.28)

Beware of thinking that people of positivity are just naive.

1. Command – 29 shows how David is not afraid to speak up against his brother’s negative attitude or the crisis that confronts the Israelites. Though he was youthful and undersized he had a sense of strong presence in the face of conflict.Notice v.38-40 how Saul and others will many times try to force us to wear their armor; as a leader this is a fatal mistake to force others into an exact replica of ourselves. David said, “I cannot go in these, because I’m not used to them.”

Being authentic in his own strengths, David chose his tools that he was acquainted and experienced with – the Shepherds staff, pouch for his 5 smooth stones, and his sling.

1. Strategic – 48-51 David quickly assesses his options and knows he cannot defeat Goliath in hand to hand combat. He chooses one stone, places it into his sling, running toward Goliath  increasing his leverage (likely up to speeds of 60-90 MPH), aiming his stone into the one place that Goliath is vulnerable.Intentionally David stuns Goliath enough that he falls forward and finishes the job cutting off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s sword.

   David maximized his strategic strength with knowledge, skill, and practice in the field as a Shepherd, killing the lion and bear.

Like David, God has designed us uniquely with talent for kingdom purpose.

It is our responsibility to multiply those talents into strengths that are leveraged intentionally for individual and community breakthroughs.

Bring GALLUP Certified Strengths Coach and Convene Resource Specialist Brent O’Bannon to your Forum Day or organization. Learn more at http://brentobannon.com/strengthsfinder-keynote-and-workshops/

3 WORDS THAT CAPTURE YOUR SOUL

At the 2014 Convene Summit, guest speaker Nancy Ortberg told the audience of her first encounter with Patrick Lencioni.   Ortberg asked Lencioni: “What are your core values?” Lencioni didn’t hesitate. He told her his core values were humble, hungry and smart. Ortberg decided right then, this was someone she could consider working with. As Lencioni’s success has demonstrated, these three values, lived out well, can provide a path to success. Not surprisingly, these values, grounded in truth, have proven to produce a significance beyond success.

A missionary named Paul wrote a letter to a church in Philippi and demonstrated the worth of these values.

Paul addressed humility in his doctrine of kenosis. He instructed us to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” and to “look to the interest of others”.

A man once approached Winston Churchill, puffed up his chest and said: “I am a self-made man”; Churchill said: “You have relieved God of a very solemn responsibility”.

Paul himself demonstrated great hunger – hunger for knowledge of Christ, hunger to press toward the goal, hunger to win the prize that God has called us to, and created us for.

Smart? Paul knew how to leverage all he has been given. He found power and confidence beyond himself. He gained and knew the secret of contentment. He had the confidence that he could “do everything through Him who gives me strength”.

The extraordinary athlete Bruce Lee said “empty your cup”.

Humble, hungry, smart…..do these three words capture your soul?

Lencioni’s three core values. They have gotten Lencioni more than a few book sales and speaking engagements. For the early church, for Paul, they were a key part of ultimate success, of lasting significance.

Maybe those three words, lived out well, can help you and I get to what God has destined us for.