Leaders at Mitchell Martin recently gathered for a lesson in Strengths Finder, as well as participated in some thought-provoking exercises. Strengths Finder was created by Dr. Donald Clifton and Gallup introduced the online assessment in 2001. The training was led by Dana Shaw-Arimoto, with Phoenix5, who is a Certified Coach in Strengths Finder. The goal of the session was to encourage our managers to learn their strengths, the strengths of their colleagues and how to use their natural strengths and talents to become the best version of themselves. Equipped with Strengths Finder knowledge, managers can lead their teams more effectively, get more accomplished, as well as increase levels of employee engagement!
The Initial Assessment
We began with some pre-work a couple of months ago when managers took their Strengths Finder assessment. These assessments are grouped, by traits, into following categories: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking. As a team, we found out that we have 29 out of the 34 categorized traits. We also learned that we are a high achieving, executing group, with lots of influencers! This is not an assessment that can be tricked or manipulated; therefore, the results are very accurate, and it was interesting (and fun) to see how everyone was profiled.
Analyzing Our Strengths
Once we reviewed individual results, it was time to look at our team and who possessed complimentary traits to one and other. It’s important to work within our strengths but it’s also important to work with others whose strengths are complementary to our own. Playing off one and other strengths can lead to a dynamic, engaging and high performing environment! Since the management team possesses a majority of traits from the assessment, we identified a lot of opportunities for us all to work together and collaborate while working in our individual strengths. As the lesson came to an end, the team was aware of their strengths, the strengths of others and who they could partner with to get stuff done! There was a feeling of synergy and excitement in the room!
Working Together as a Team
Putting what we learned into practice, we launched into an exercise called “The Best of Me”. With our knowledge of our top strengths and talents, we were able to identify when we are best selves, when we can be counted on, when we are our worst selves, what we need from our manager (or company) to be the best version of ourselves and what we are bad asses at! As a group, we like to get stuff done, solve problems, and to come up with ideas; we also love networking and plenty of communication and feedback! The next exercise was a team challenge. We identified certain traits, as a company, where we were lacking; we committed to developing those traits into strengths for the future. Each of us walked away with a commitment of what we would do, based on this training and these exercises.
Overall, the Strengths Finder training was a great learning opportunity, as well as an opportunity for managers within the company to come together and get to know one and other even better. Mitchell Martin is committed to continual education and we are looking forward to our next manager training session in the Fall. (Spoiler alert: Crucial Conversations)
