Autumn

I recently had the good fortune to address a group of about 100 employees of the B.F. Saul Company about my book HUM.  In the book, and often in my work with clients, I discuss the many lessons that organizational groups can learn by observing how systems work in nature.  It therefore wasn’t a surprise when one of the themes that emerged from our lively conversation was how many of us were eagerly anticipating autumn.  It seems as if we each have deeply buried in us a “back to school” outlook that leads to setting goals, getting organized, making plans, and reconnecting with those we have been away from over the summer.  The crisper air energizes us to get back into healthy routines and look at ways to improve our lives and workplaces. 

It is no coincidence, then, that fall is always a busy time for us at the Schiller Center.  Over the summer, when the pace slows down a bit, many organizational leaders have an opportunity to reflect on the wide range of issues impacting their group, their employees, their productivity, their growth, and vision.  Once fall arrives and people get back into the grind, many of these leaders are eager to implement change.  Even if they don’t know exactly how to go about tackling their most pressing issues, many of them return in the fall with the conviction that they don’t want to repeat patterns of the past.   For us, it is a time of renewed energy and enthusiasm as we welcome the many requests we get for consultations and strategic planning retreats, eager to examine the unique context of each group and help create meaningful change.

Take the opportunities autumn presents to ask yourself if your workplace is performing as smoothly as it could be.  Are all team members invested in the same shared goals?  Is each member positioned to contribute his or her strengths?  Are there gaps or overlaps that need to be addressed?  Is the culture of your team positive and productive?  You can also use this time of year to set personal goals and determine dates by which you will achieve them, as well as who can support you in their accomplishment.  Happy Fall to All!

Strengths Finder 2.0

 

Those of you who have worked with me know I have loved the Gallup work on strengths-based leadership, management, and personal development from its inception almost forty years ago.

One of my clients asked me to tie strengths-based leadership into their upcoming strategic planning retreat a few weeks from now.  Every board member was sent a copy of  Tom Rath’s Strengths Finder 2.0, a great summary of the research supporting strengths-based development (actually, as Tom points out, it’s really “talents based” development, as we have the responsibility to invest in our talents in order to turn them into strengths.)  The book also provides definitions of the 34 identified strengths, with examples and steps for improvement for each.  The best part, though, is that each book comes with an access code to a website where you can take a reliable, valid inventory that reports to you your talents, along with ideas about how to apply and develop them.  It’s bound to open your eyes and make you feel great.

Each of the participants in our upcoming board retreat will have taken the inventory and read Strengths Finder 2.0 before they attend the meeting.  We will use their results as a springboard for discussing the strengths members see in one another as well as in themselves, and how these can be used in complementary ways to achieve their business goals.

I confess that I can’t understand why more organizations don’t take the strengths-based approach instead of focusing on what each person lacks, insisting they overcome their weaknesses, or simply ignoring their talents.  I was observing just such an organization recently, where roles were rotated automatically around the group, so each member was required to serve as chair, treasurer, secretary, etc.—regardless of where their talents were.  It was painful to watch, especially since the assumption was that this approach was very egalitarian—giving everyone equal opportunity for each role.  Imagine a baseball or football team where every member rotated through each position!  

High performance can only be achieved and sustained when members are encouraged to play to their strengths. Yet, over the past decade, more than 10 million people have reported to Gallup about how they’ve been engaged at work, and only one-third “strongly agree” with the statement: “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.”  And, of course, for those who don’t get to play to their strengths every day, the costs are staggering—for them as individuals, for the teams on which they serve, and for the organizations which employ them.

Do you know your strengths, and do you get to use them at work every day?  If you have any doubts, pick up a copy of the book and take the inventory—it just might lead you in a new career direction!

'Tis the Season

What’s your favorite season?  I’d love to conduct a survey of nonprofit leaders to discover their answer to that question.  I’d bet more would answer, “Autumn,” than any other season.  Just as bakeries and ballets are their busiest during the winter holiday season, nonprofit leaders seem to get into the spirit of strategic planning in the fall.  

Every autumn, I rejoice at the renewed attention nonprofits give to where they want to go and how they can best get there. I think the reason may be that nonprofit leaders still identify with and relate to the school year calendar.  We take time to reflect during the summer, while members of our staffs alternate time away for summer vacations.  We think about what worked and didn’t in the last year as well as what we want to do differently in the coming year. We think about our strong leaders and how we can use their strengths to advance the organization’s agenda. Of course, we also ruminate on those personnel problems we have left unaddressed, knowing in our guts that they never get better without attention.  Over the summer, we also notice trends and patterns in our external world that send signals about how we may have to adapt to how we serve our members or customers.  And we have experiences that cause us to look at our organizations, cultures, and leadership styles through fresh lenses.  If our organization was a boat, what kind would it be?  If we had to identify our culture as that of an animal in the zoo, which would it be?  If we treated our customers as we are being treated in this B+B, what would we do differently?

Children going back to school at the end of summer triggers an almost salmon-up-the-stream-to-spawn urge among nonprofit leaders to make improvements, start fresh, and tackle neglected issues—all through strategic planning initiatives.  Maybe this is why fall is my busiest and favorite season.  I love the energy nonprofit leaders invest in the interest of better serving their constituents, and am always grateful for the opportunity to be their guide, coach, and facilitator on that journey.  

If you are a nonprofit leader, give in to the spirit of the season and use these next few months to better align your culture, services, structures, and processes with your mission, vision, and core values.  You’ll find it’s like catching a wave and riding it to shore—exhilarating and satisfying.  When you begin the next calendar year, you will be doing so on a firmer foundation with clearer, measurable strategies to achieve the vision and goals to which you and your team have recommitted.