Communication and Strengths

“Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

When your team meets, do you really know who is at the table?  Can you easily identify the brilliance, power, and dynamics of each person’s true strengths?

We often ask the question “how would you prefer I communicate with you? “We usually answer and, think in terms of the delivery system of our communication i.e.: email, text, or phone call.  But consider this, just because I use your preferred method of texting, phone call, or email, does not mean I have communicated with you in a meaningful way. Knowing the delivery system the team member prefers may provide some insight into how to best communicate with them but, it is truly the tiniest tip of the iceberg.

Awareness of our team members on a deeper level, understanding what Strengths they rely on to perform at their best, also opens the doorway to much stronger and effective communication.  Strengths Based communication builds community through acknowledging the mutual value of each team member.  By creating an awareness of each person’s unique strengths and how they use them to achieve success, we ensure that what we have said, is understood. This type of communication opens up possibilities and offers solutions.  It keeps people engaged in their work because the conversations, no matter what delivery system may be, allows for meaningful connection by talking with, vs. talking to.

If you haven’t taken the time to identify the Strengths each team member brings to your organization, I encourage you to start by making a Clifton StrengthsFinder investment today.  When a team is focused on using their strengths (doing what they do best), they are 6 times more likely to be engaged in their jobs.  Communication within strengths-based teams has proven to bring about more productivity, stimulate innovative and creative moments, and compels more positive interactions between coworkers.  Strengths based teams are more effective because of these three attributes:

• Everyone knows and intentionally uses their unique talents and strengths.
• Everyone knows and appreciates each other’s strengths.
• Team members combine their strengths with those of others to achieve success.

So just as Oliver Wendell Holmes pointed out, we see better results when we grow our ideas through the help of others and their talents.   StrengthsFinder creates a common language that team members can use to not only understand each other, but it drives communication that is powerfully effective.