Trevor Cousins’ leadership blog

I use the Gallup StrengthsFinder with my clients and have recently taken the questionnaire for the 3rd or 4th time – I forget which. The philosophy behind the Strengths profile is that we should hone our strengths – to make a more powerful and satisfying contribution – rather than trying to shore up our weaknesses. This approach turns conventional training wisdom on its head but its gaining currency around the world. Playing to your strengths makes you stand out, is more fun, enables you to take risks or attempt challenges more successfully and helps you gain the sense that what you are doing is worthwhile, significant and what you were born to do. It’s really important for both leaders and their team members to know where they are strong so that they can take full advantage of what nature has gifted them. It’s also a great platform for generating ideas for new initiatives and directions.

Although my strengths had pretty much stayed the same, it was great to get a refresher about where I am strong and how to work with my strengths. It made sense of a lot of things that I am playing with at the moment and where I am showing up strongly.

I recommend it to you as it’s powerful yet cheap – just £8.99. If you are curious about your strengths, go to Amazon and search on “Now discover your strengths Tom Rath”. Buy version 2.0. When you get the book it will give you an access code for the strengths questionnaire website. You then take the questionnaire and it will tell you your top 5 strengths from 34 that Gallup have researched extensively. The book lists all 34 profiles and gives a list of actions you can take to bring your strengths to the fore.

My clients and friends love it and believe in the power of playing to their strengths. Why don’t you do the same.

By the way, my strengths, to whet your appetite are: individualisation; connectedness; empathy; maximiser and communication.