Leading with Your Strengths: The Key to Authentic Leadership
Leadership, Strengths and Connection
Those who follow my LinkedIn posts will have seen I attended a leadership conference a couple of weeks ago, and I was struck by one of the speakers, Neil Jurd, and his four simple elements to Leadership. I say struck, not because I didn’t know these, but more because of the simplicity and clarity with which Neil explained them. No corporate jargon, no complex theories. Just a clear and simple message.
I’m going to pick up on one of the leadership elements in this blog: Connection.
Being “A Different Person” At Work
Neil explains ‘connection’ in his book as “…get to know people…break down the hierarchy, bureaucracy and status conscious around you to really get to know people…” (Jurd, 2024). I also really liked Neil’s explanation at the conference: “Build relationships and just be you. People can’t connect to you if you’re putting on a front”.
The simplicity of this last statement makes it even more impactful in my eyes. How many people have you worked with (or for), who say they’re a ‘different person’ at work compared to who they are at home?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think, due to a number of factors, that anyone can be 100% the same person in both situations. But if you’re putting on a front at work (maybe because you don’t feel able to bring your true self to work, or you feel that you have to be ‘someone else’ there), consider how that may be impacting those around you. If they try to connect with you, who are they actually connecting with? Is it an authentic connection? How is that impacting your leadership and the impact/influence you have with others?
Self-Awareness and Self-Understanding
So, this got me thinking – if you understand yourself better, are you able to connect with others in more meaningful and authentic ways to deliver better results? Understanding yourself here means understanding what really energises you, what completely drains you, what your values and principles are, and so on.
There’s a whole world of stuff out there to help with understanding yourself better, from self-help books, courses and retreats to conversations or feedback from peers and full-scale assessment tools. There’s no one ‘right’ approach because each of us is different, so anything that helps raise your self-awareness and understanding is a good thing.
Assessing Your Strengths
One of the tools we use to help our clients raise their self-awareness is the Strengthscope® assessment.
Strengthscope® helps people understand what energises (strengthens) them, and what drains them. This assessment isn’t about competency though, as Marcus Buckingham beautifully describes:
“Strengths are not activities you’re good at; they’re activities that strengthen you. A strength is an activity that, before you’re doing it, you look forward to doing it; while you’re doing it, time goes by quickly, and you can concentrate; after you’ve done it, it seems to fulfil a need of yours.” (Buckingham, 2008)
Strengths-Based Leadership
In the workplace you can be very competent at something that absolutely drains you. Over time, if this becomes the ‘norm’ (i.e. spending more of your time in this ‘draining’ state than focusing on things that energise you), then it could have a negative impact on people’s ability to connect to the authentic you. That, in turn, impacts your effectiveness as a leader.
When we talk about strengths-based leadership, what we mean is a style of leadership that focuses on identifying and using your natural talents and abilities to achieve goals and inspire others. That’s where Strengthscope® can help you (and your teams), by helping you to understand what energises you, what drains you and what happens when your strengths go into overdrive.
I’m often asked what makes Strengthscope® different from other tools when we use it in workplaces to support leaders, teams and individuals. Well, Strengthscope® identifies what energises and strengthens you (unlike general personality measures, which tend to describe behavioural preferences). It focuses on the behaviours and activities that make you feel strong, powerful, and energised, helping individuals and teams understand how to apply their unique strengths effectively.
Strengthscope® is the only strengths assessment with British Psychological Society (BPS) registered test status, ensuring it is scientifically validated and free from bias. It is written in a clear, simple language that makes it easy to integrate the approach into everyday conversations, supporting behavioural and culture change.
My favourite part of a Strengthscope® report though, is the wheel, which provides a visual conversational framework helping people to explore their strengths, overdrive strengths, risks, and non-strength areas. It’s a fabulous tool to hold coaching conversations from, getting clients to really think about their own results and how they apply. This self-awareness and understanding of yourself is a great foundation for personal growth and authentic leadership.
There’s a lot more to Strengthscope® that I haven’t covered here, but if you’d like to chat more about how this tool could help you / your teams, please drop me a message.
More Authentic Leadership
So going back to my question at the start: do I think that by understanding yourself better, it helps you be a better, more authentic leader that people can connect to? The answer is yes, I do.
The best leaders and colleagues I’ve worked for and with have been self-aware of their impact on others and very human (i.e. they screw up occasionally!). They’re also honest, open and transparent with it. And they recognise and value what their team brings to the table, acknowledging that with the individuals on a regular basis.
That, for me, comes back to connecting effectively. As Neil said, build relationships, get to know people, and be your authentic self to enable the best connections. That’s what leading with your strengths is all about.
If you want to chat further about this, or how Strengthscope® can help you and your teams, give me a shout.
Author: Heather Grisedale, Experience & Engagement Lead
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