In a previous post I explored how to interpret your Strengths profile. Here I focus attention on how to harness your strengths to move into a leadership role. For this to be of value you’ll need to be prepared to either complete a FREE Starter Strengths profile or willing to invest £15.00 on completing an Introductory Strengths profile.
Your Strengths profile
Your profile is unique. The strengths listed in it are like a finger print. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with an identical match.
From 60 possible Strengths, your profile reflects your responses to statements which aim to identify in particular those things you are good at, enjoy and have the opportunity to use (your Realised Strengths). In addition, those things you would be good at and enjoy if only you had the opportunity to use them (Unrealised Strengths).
Where the magic happens
It’s where you start to explore how your Strengths combine that gets to your real Strengths DNA. You can have a lot of fun playing around with combinations of your top Realised Strengths. You can begin to see what you could bring to a leadership role with your particular combination.
Personal Statement
You can create a personal statement drawing on 3 or 4 of your top Realised Strengths. You could put this at the top of your CV. You can nuance the statement depending on the job role.
For example: ‘An empathic leader, motivated to get the best from people by accepting others unconditionally while setting high standards.‘
Or, ‘A persuasive leader with a clear mission, persistent in the face of challenges who gets things done.’
Two examples of quite different approaches to leadership.
Avoid Jargon
You will notice I don’t use the Strengths terminology in these examples unless they are self-explanatory. ‘Gets things done’ is Action in the profile. Setting high standards is Pride. Don’t let jargon obscure your message.
You’ll observe too, that there is no need to embellish the statements with adverbs. This can feel uncomfortably self-promotional. In an interview you may be asked to provide examples of where you’ve used particular Strengths, so it’s helpful to have reflected on each Strength in your profile to provide supporting evidence.
The benefit of doing this? Once you start to gather evidence of your Strengths, you’ll begin to believe that this really is you- and that you own these Strengths.
Useful Strengths Leadership Questions
It’s helpful to consider the following questions, using your profile to complete them. It will enable you to decide how you might approach potential leadership questions on the application form and at interview.
- ‘A realised Strength I bring as a leader is……….. This Strength is especially helpful when……….'(insert one of your Realised Strengths into the first gap).
- How have you used your Realised Strengths to deal successfully with a particular leadership scenario or challenge?
- How might you harness some of your Unrealised Strengths to overcome a current challenge?
- How might you use your Strengths to overcome a Weakness?*
*Ah yes. The dreaded Weakness question. You should have between 1 and 3 identified Weaknesses to draw on so use one of these. I would recommend the least deal-breaking one for the role you’re applying to. Share your Weakness. This shows you are both human and self-aware. Then illustrate how you work around it. Look at your Strengths and Learned Behaviours to see whether these do or could help you to overcome your Weakness.
Let’s say your Weakness is Detail. There may be times when you’ll need to pay close attention to presenting data accurately. If you have Pride in any of the other categories, your desire to deliver work of a high standard will ensure you invest the necessary time to making sure your information is spot on.
Each of the questions above can help you prepare how you might respond to a hypothetical scenario the panel might ask you about. They also help you to think yourself into the role. This will build your confidence when you go the interview.
Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths. —John Zenger
