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“Build on your strengths” is all the rage in business and psychology these days. Good employers are supposed to hire people based on the strengths they already posses since strengths endure and are hard to teach. This is an appealing message. After all, it sounds a lot more fun to do what comes naturally than to slave away trying to overcome weaknesses or learn new skills. But if you want to find meaning at work and in life you need to do more than strut your strengths and expect others to applaud. You need to build on strengths that energize you and strengthen others. Finding your identity by building on your strengths is one of seven drivers for finding meaning explored in The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations that Win (2010, McGraw Hill).
The “strengths” referred to here don’t mean how much weight you can lift, how fast you can type, or how much you know about the Cold War. Instead we are talking about character strengths (like optimism, integrity, or persistence), personal strengths (like imagination, focus, or resilience), interpersonal strengths (like persuasion, explaining, or compassion), and organizational strengths (like planning, problem solving, or strategizing). Identifying strengths you have that might be useful to others is made a little easier by taking one of the tests available on www.authentichappiness.com (free), www.strengths2020.com, or available through books like Strengthsfinder2.0 (Rath, 2007). The point is to figure out the top half-dozen strengths that come naturally to you that are not so easy for everyone, and that you find energizing and enjoyable.
Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it is a strength. You may be good at behaviors you’ve been rewarded or punished into, but still find them draining. In contrast, genuine strengths energize you. They bring a deep sense of meaning by connecting what you are doing to your deepest sense of who you really are. You are more apt to find meaning at work when you regularly get to use energizing strengths. And, successful leaders learn to develop new strengths over time to adapt to changing business requirements.
Research suggests that people who use their real strengths in new and creative ways see a significant boost to their sense of happiness and well-being. Identifying genuine strengths you don’t currently use much holds the most promise for future development and enjoyment. Working on your weaknesses is not as much fun, but even tackling weaknesses is less draining if you can use your strengths to do so – like using a strength of competitiveness to tackle a weakness by keeping track of your progress and competing with yourself to improve.
The downfall of the strengths movement is that not everyone has a boss who sees your personal enjoyment as a priority, or a job that calls for your strengths. It falls on you to position your strengths to be useful and serviceable to customers, colleagues, and management. Making your strengths strengthening to others becomes a personal priority for those who want to find more meaning at work.
But what if you are the boss? Be reassured that making meaning also makes money. Help employees identify, develop, and use strengths that strengthen others. In doing so you also build organizational capabilities that are hard for competitors to replicate. Matching individual strengths to organizational strengths helps build the brand identity that is among your greatest assets.
Spend some time (and maybe a little money) identifying your strengths – the traits and skills you find energizing and enjoyable. Take a good look at where you currently use these strengths at work. Get creative about even little ways to develop and use these strengths every day this week in your job. Especially look for less-used strengths you can bring into service. When you need to tackle a weakness, find a strength you can use to help you. And especially, use your strengths to strengthen others – to serve customers, collaborate more successfully with colleagues, and support legitimate goals of management. Such strengths connect us to our deepest values, and to humanity at large. This is where meaning resides.
