Founder of The Strengths Foundation
Professional offerings:
Mike helps people to build on their strengths and achieve their picture of success. The approach is positive and yet practical. It enables people, teams and organisations to achieve peak performance.
Peak performers do what they do best and do it brilliantly. They build on where they deliver 'As' and manage the consequences of their 'Bs' and 'Cs'. They focus on their passion, translate this into a clear purpose and deliver peak performance. They always do the basics and then add the brilliance.
The strengths approach enables people to follow this path in their own way. It goes beyond working with individuals. It also enables people to build super teams and superb organisations. They frequently have clear story, strategy and road to success. The strengths approach provides practical tools that people can use to take these steps.
The approach is encouraging, but also tough. It invites people to take responsibility. It is based on what works. But, like any approach, it will only work if people are serious and prepared to sweat. At the same time, it is extremely rewarding. We are happy to put you in touch with people, teams and organisations that have made it work in their own ways. The approach always starts by:
Clarifying people's picture of success
Clarity is crucial. People start by clarifying the 'What' – the real results they want to achieve – before moving to the 'How'. They can then keep focusing on the 'What, Why, How, Who and When'. People need to know what mountain they are climbing, why they are climbing it and when they will reach the summit. They also need make sure they are climbing the right mountain. The strengths approach then provides practical tools that they can use:
* To build on their strengths, set specific goals and achieve their picture of success.
* To build super teams that have a clear story, strategy and deliver success.
* To build superb organisations that are structured, stimulating and successful.
Background to the Approach
The strengths approach is based on studying success. It studies when people, teams and organisations perform brilliantly. So what do people do right to reach their goals? Certainly they follow certain strategies. But they also frequently build on their strengths and manage the consequences of their weaknesses.
The strengths approach clarifies the principles that people follow to do great work. It translates these into positive models and practical tools. People can then use the tools to follow the principles in their own ways.
The approach is also based on several other key principles. These are:
* People have tremendous strengths.
Every person, team and organisation has strengths. They also have a successful style of working. People can learn from the times when they have performed brilliantly, overcome setbacks or found creative solutions to challenges. They can build on where they deliver ‘As’ and manage the consequences of their ‘Bs’ and ‘Cs’.
* People can take responsibility for shaping their futures.
People make choices. Each choice has consequences, with both pluses and minuses. People can choose their attitude. Attitude plus ability equals achievement. People can aim to be positive, professional and peak performers. They can take responsibility for shaping a successful future. They can encourage, educate and enable other people to succeed. They can pass on their knowledge and give hope to future generations.
* People, teams and organisations can build on their strengths and achieve their picture of success.
People can perform superb work. They can build on their strengths and employ their inner strength. People are ingenious. They can find creative solutions to challenges. They can do this by continually focusing on clarity, creativity and concrete results. They can always do the basics and then add the brilliance. They can create magic by adding that touch of class. People can achieve and maintain peak performance.
Application of the Approach
The strengths approach has been used for many years. (See the section on Strengths Philosophers.) We are happy to put you in touch with people who have used it successfully. These include people in large companies and those in, for example, the digital sector. They will be able to tell you how they have adapted it to achieve their goals. The aim is to encourage, educate and enable people to achieve ongoing success.
Mike continues to work with individuals, teams and organisations. He also gives away lots of know-how. You can access this via the free downloads on The Strengths Foundation site. He encourages people to ‘take the best and leave the rest’. They can use the ideas in their own ways to achieve peak performance.
If you want to contact Mike, the best way is by email. He normally responds within 4 hours on a business working day.
Contact:
Web: www.thestrengthsfoundation.org
Email: mike@thestrengthsfoundation.org
