Fix a weakness or build a strength?

It’s a pretty straightforward question: to improve your performance at work should you fix your weaknesses or build on your strengths? But where would you place your bets?

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Yet a growing body of research suggestsfocusing on our strengths can boost our engagement in tasks by up to six times, making it easier to achieve our goals, lower our levels of stress and improve our feelings of well-being.It seems eighty-seven percent of us believe we should take dead aim at our weaknesses and work diligently to improve them.

So which should you be doing?

I believe you should do both – which might sound surprising come from someone who’s trained thousands of people around the world to use their strengths.

Let me be clear.  I believe you should be as capable at identifying and fixing your weaknesses, as you are at identifying and building on your strengths. 

I also believe you should be able to make an informed choice so in different situations, for different outcomes, you know which approach will serve you best.

Why do you need both?

Researchers have found your greatest successes and greatest growth comes from regularly using your strengths in your work.  This is because your brain is hardwired to perform at it’s best by drawing on the thoughts, feelings and behaviours you’ve practiced over and over and over again, because they’re things you like doing and you’re good at.

No matter what situation I’m faced with, I always start by seeing if there’s a strength I can build on.  The reality is using my strengths makes things easier, more engaging and more enjoyable, meaning it takes less effort and time to see the results I want.

For example, one of my strengths is curiosity.  I love learning new things.  When I need to master something I haven’t done before my strength of curiosity is a great way to get me to dive into figuring things out.

But what if you don’t have a strength that would help?

Scientists now know our brains continue learning right throughout our lives, so it’s absolutely possible to take a weakness and turn it into a strength.  But, it’s important to be realistic about the amount of effort this requires.

Current estimates are that it takes between 8,000 and 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to take a weakness and master it.  Put that into context and we’re talking about a couple of hours a day, every day a year for about 8 – 10 years.

Are you being realistic about your weaknesses?

If I don't have a strength to draw upon and fixing the area of weakness is important enough that I’m willing to invest the 8 – 10 years of effort, then I set realistic expectations and start showing up.

For example, when I discovered the field of positive psychology, my strengths were purely in the domain of marketing.  Not a huge amount of help.  I knew my strength of curiosity could help me stick at what I needed to learn, but I was also realistic about the time and effort it would take to close my knowledge gap.  And then I put in the hours of practice.

Had I walked away simply because I didn’t have a psychology strength to build on, I would have missed out on the most rewarding work I’ve ever done.

So what’s the right question to be asking?

When it comes to improving my performance I’ve learnt to always ask: in this particular situation, for this particular outcome, am I better to build on my strengths or fix my weaknesses? 

Now where would you place your next bet?

Michelle is a Premium member of Business Chicks, request her online business card and connect with her here. 

Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author, workplace well-being teacher and playful change activator.  She is passionate about translating cutting-edge research from positive psychology and neuroscience, into practical strategies for health, happiness, and business success.

She holds a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania  and her work has been featured in Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post and more.

Michelle lives to help women discover their strengths, move beyond their fears, and finally discover what it truly takes to flourish with confidence.

Can You Spot Others’ Strengths?

When was the last time you walked into a meeting with a colleague with the deliberate intention of spotting their strengths?  If the answer doesn’t roll off the tip of your tongue, don’t feel bad.

The truth is while it’s relatively easy to spot the worst in others, finding the best in people and ways you can bring more of this out in their work isn’t something most of us naturally excel at.

Scientists have long understood that while we all share a deep psychological need to be respected, valued and appreciated, the negativity bias hardwired into our brain makes us much better at spotting what we don’t like about people, rather than their strengths.

So is there a way you can retrain your brain to help you see the best in others? 

Why is it worth spotting strengths in others?

Well to be honest here the science is still catching up.

There is a growing evidence base that when leaders focus on spotting and appreciating the strengths – rather than the weaknesses – of their employees, people perform better.

But how does it impact people whom we’re not leading?

I saw the power of this spotting strengths in others first hand, when I was lucky enough to spend more than a decade working alongside a man named Jim Stynes.  Jim was an Irishman who came to Australia to play professional football and along the way donated his time to help thousands of teenagers find the confidence to achieve.

He was a master and looking for the strengths in others and then telling them what he saw and in today’s episode of Chelle McQuaid TV I’ll share his secret.

How can you start spotting strengths in other people at work?

If like me you’re not as proficient as Jim was at seeing people’s strengths, try these three simple steps to spotting strengths in others.

Firstly, before you head into your next meeting or conversation at work remind yourself to look for the best in the people you’ll be seeing.

As things get underway look for the moments where they’re more engaged, energized and enjoying what they’re talking about or doing.  Often their bodies will literally start to lean in to the conversation, the body language might become more animated and the tone of voice and pace of speech tend to be uplifted.  You’ll find more tips on spotting strengths here from Dr. Alex Linley.

Secondly, as you leave the meeting or conversation use the cheat sheet below of VIA Character Strengths to help you spot which strengths they may have been using.  Again think back to those moments when they lit up, which strengths might have been in action.

Finally, follow up your interaction with a call or a note of thanks for their time and include a little appreciation for the strengths you saw in play.

For example if you think their strength might be curiosity you might say: “Thanks for taking the time to meet today, I really valued the questions you were asking to help us get a better outcome on this project.”

As I’ve experimented with this in my own relationships at work I’ve discovered more important than actually getting the strength right every time, is showing up with the willingness to look and offer appreciative feedback.  It takes only a moment of my time and it’s been instrumental in improving even my most difficult relationships.

Want more help on spotting strengths in others? Read more here from Dr. Alex Linley on strength spotting or watch this short video with with Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener.

What happens when you spot strengths in others?  If you’d like a little help with more practical, tested approaches to spotting strengths and how to appreciate people for them just ask below!

- See more at: http://www.michellemcquaid.com/

Need An Energy Boost?

Ever have one of those mornings where your energy is so low you’re struggling to get out of bed?  The thought of all the things you’ve got to pull off is enough to make you want to put that duvet right back over your head?

Even after all these years and all I’ve learnt about well-being, I still have days when all I want to do is crawl back under the covers.  Despite all my good intentions about the life I want to be living, sometimes the fears and the failures leave my energy levels running on empty.

Sick of sleep walking my way through life, lately I revisited one of my favorite positive psychology tools to help me tune in more closely to what boosts my energy and what depletes it.  Want to see how I found the energy to show up for the life I want to be living?

How Your Emotions Impact Your Energy

Professor Barbara Fredrickson‘s research suggests when we strike the right balance between the amount of positive and negative emotions we’re experiencing, we reach a tipping point that gives us the intellectual, psychological, physical and social energy to flourish.

Fredrickson‘s studies have found negative emotions like fear, anxiety and stress spark a downward spiral of negativity that cause us to feel helplessness, despair and left unchecked leave us to languish with very little energy.

On the other hand positive emotions like joy, hope, love, interest, pride, amusement, serenity, pride, gratitude, inspiration and awe spark an upward spiral of positivity that improves our sense of confidence, self-belief and ultimately move us towards flourishing so we have the energy to live a life we love.

The goal is not to get rid of all negativity.  Although it can sap up our energy, negativity that we can learn and grow from is a healthy part of human development. Rather, Fredrickson suggests the goal is find the right balance between the amount of negative emotions and positive emotions we’re experiencing.

While there’s hot debate in the scientific community about what this level might be, it’s important – like any piece of research – you put it to the test to find what’s best for you.  In today’s episode of Chelle McQuaid TV, I’ll show you how you can do just this to boost your energy levels.

How To Boost Your Energy

To see what you can do to boost your energy levels start by taking Fredrickson’s free positivity ratio test.  It takes about two minutes and she recommends you do it for two weeks to get an accurate gauge on how you’re doing rather than let one day skew your results.

As you track your positivity try to pay attention to what’s creating positive emotions in life and what’s creating negative emotions.  Notice how this impacts your energy levels each day.

Finally, experiment with what you can do to dial up your positive emotions or dial down your negative emotions to improve your ratio.

In her book “Positivity”, Fredrickson suggests dialing up your positivity by getting close to nature, performing acts of kindness, ritualizing gratitude, connecting with others and meditate regularly.  Try dialing down negativity by avoiding sarcasm and gossip, monitoring your media consumption and breaking the grip of rumination.  You can watch Fredrickson talking more about these strategies here.

By tracking my positivity ratio I became much more aware of how my energy ebbed and flowed over the course of a day based on the experiences I was having.  It helped to remind me that when the negativity is piling up, I don’t need to just crawl back into bed.  Instead by injecting some positive emotions back into my day, I can balance out what I’m experiencing and find the energy to continue showing up.

What are your favorite approaches to recharge your energy?  How do you slay the energy zappers in your life? And if you’d like a little help with more practical, tested approaches to play with just ask below!

- See more at: http://www.michellemcquaid.com/