The Strengths Blog September, 2010

Everybody is an artist, everybody is creative, everybody has something special to give to the world. So how can you find a person’s talents? Here are three sets of questions you can use to help them to find their strengths, set specific goals and achieve success.

1) You can focus on the person’s strengths.

Everybody can find activities in which they quickly reach 7/10. The challenge is to find a niche in which they consistently deliver at least 9/10. So how can you help a person to identify their ‘A’ talent?

One approach is to focus on three themes. a) Their strengths – ‘What’ they do best. b) Their successful style – ‘How’ they work best. c) They can then combine their strengths and successful style to clarify their special contribution. You can help a person to clarify their talents by asking questions such as:

What are the activities in which you deliver ‘As’, rather than ‘Bs’ or ‘Cs’? When do you feel in your element – you feel at ease at yet also excel? When do you quickly see the destination – the picture of perfection? When do you go ‘A, B…then jump to……Z’?

Where do you quickly see patterns? When do you flow, focus, finish and, as a by-product, find fulfilment? How do you work best? Looking back on your life, describe what for you have been satisfying ‘projects’. What for you made them satisfying? Can you see any patterns? How can you combine your strengths and successful style to clarify your special contribution?

After establishing a person’s strengths, move onto the next step.

2) You can focus on the person’s specific goals.

Everybody can set specific goals. So how can you help a person to clarify their picture of perfection? If they feel it would be useful, you can focus on three themes. a) They can set specific goals. b) They can, if appropriate, find potential sponsors. (A sponsor is somebody who may hire them for doing what they do best.) c) They can clarify their strategy for achieving their specific goals. You can help them to take these steps by asking questions such as:

What is your picture of success? Imagine you are looking back at your life when you are 80. What will be the three things you will have done that will mean your life has been successful? 

If you want to get paid for doing what you love, how can you find potential sponsors? What are the key challenges they face? How can you use your strengths to help them to achieve success? Once you have found potential sponsors, how can you make clear contracts with them?

Returning to your long-term picture of success, what are the three key things you can do to give yourself the greatest chance of success?”

After establishing a person’s specific goals, move onto the next step.

3) You can focus on the person’s success.

Everybody can work hard to achieve their picture of success. Peak performers, for example, develop good habits and do the right things in the right way every day. Overcoming setbacks along the way, they work hard until they reach their goals. Sometimes they also add that ‘touch of class’.

Here are three steps the person may wish to consider on their own journey. a) They can do superb work. b) They can find solutions to challenges. c) They can achieve their picture of success. How to help them to chart their route toward their goals? You can ask questions such as:

How can you do superb work? How can you follow the daily disciplines? How can you satisfy your sponsors? How can you encourage yourself along the journey? How can you anticipate and manage any setbacks? How can you find creative solutions to challenges?

How can you stay proactive? How can you keep tackling issues that are in the green, amber and red zones? How can you be a good finisher? How can you do everything possible to achieve your picture of perfection? How can you then add that touch of class? How can you keep improving? How can you find the next satisfying project?

There are many ways to help somebody to develop their talents. If you wish, tackle the exercise on this theme at the end of this piece. Describe the specific things you can do to help a person: a) to find their strengths: b) to set specific goals: c) to achieve success. Try completing the following sentences.

Strengths

The specific things I can do to help
a person to find their strengths are:

*

*

*

Specific goals

The specific things I can do to help
a person to set specific goals are:

*

*

*

Success

The specific things I can do to help
a person to achieve success are:

*

*

*

There are many models for understanding the stages people go through in their lives.

Here is one that is based on the five seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter and then your second spring. The actual ages mentioned below are approximate, because they can vary for each person, but let’s explore these different seasons.

1) Spring and Summer.

Childhood is your first spring. The fields are green, the sky is blue and you can wander forever. Providing you are given encouragement, every day is an adventure. You can discover the world, discover your talents and follow your dreams.

Summer is a time for sitting in cafes and discussing how to change the world. Teenage years throb with idealism. Providing you receive guidance, you discover your vocation and pursue the path of giving what you can to the world.

How was – or is – your spring and summer? What have been the positive things? What have been the challenging things? Try completing the following sentences.

Spring

The positive things about my spring were/are:

*

*

*

The challenging things about my spring were/are:

*

Summer

The positive things about my summer were/are:

*

*

*

The challenging things about my summer were/are:

*

2) Autumn And Winter.

Autumn is the time when you begin worrying about ‘security’. Perhaps idealism doesn’t work after all; perhaps you had better get a ‘proper job’.

You look for a life-partner, forget your life-passion and begin saving for a life-pension. You get a mortgage, work hard and try to establish security. Providing you hit the company targets, you gain promotion and climb the corporate ladder – perhaps gathering more debts.

Winter arrives. Sitting in a traffic jam one day, you say: “I am successful, but I am not happy. What do I really want out of life? How can I do it straight away?” Failing to see an immediate answer, you numb yourself and gain another promotion.

One day another wake-up call arrives. You hear about a school friend who has died. They were the same age as you. So you embark on the existential journey travelled by people over the years: “Who am I? What do I want to do? How can I do it? And when?”

Savvy people may stay in their job, but begin pursuing a parallel strategy. People develop – they don’t change. “Be who you are, only more so,” is the message. You learn how to channel your personality, rather than change your personality.

Accepting your talents, you search for people who will pay for what you do best. You say ‘Yes,’ to spending time with positive people – but ‘No,’ to negative people. Winter is a tough, but it can also be beautiful. Here comes the sun.

How was – or is – your autumn and winter? What have been the positive things? What have been the challenging things? If you are not reached these stages yet, how do you think they could be? What may be the upsides and downsides to these seasons? Try completing the following sentences.

Autumn

The positive things about my autumn were/are/could be:

*

*

*

The challenging things about my spring were/are/could be:

*

Winter

The positive things about my winter were/are/could be:

*

*

*

The challenging things about my winter were/are/could be:

*

3) Second Spring.

Choosing to live life, you embrace Neil Young’s words: “It is better to burn out, than it is to rust.” There is nothing more delightfully dangerous than a person in their second spring.

You recapture your zest and feel alive. You do what you want, dress the way you want and spend time with the people you want. Life is for living and you enjoy every day. That doesn’t mean everything is rosy.

Sometimes you go through all five seasons in one day. But now you have perspective. Paradoxically, you have stronger control needs, but accept some things you can’t control. So you focus on ‘controlling the controllables’. You do good work in your ‘Garden’, whilst contributing toward building a better Globe.

How is – or could be – your second spring? What may be the positive things? What may be the challenging things? If you are not reached this stage yet, how do you think it could be? What may be the upsides and downsides? Try completing the following sentences.

Second Spring

The positive things about my second spring are/could be:

*

*

*

The challenging things about my second spring are/could be:

*

“Life is about finding yourself, accepting yourself and, finally, forgetting yourself,” we are told. You are here to serve. So it is time to plant more seeds of hope in your second spring. You may not see them blossom, but that doesn’t matter. Sometimes your flowers will grow tomorrow.