Strengths-based leadership is an approach that believes leaders can optimize productivity by focusing on people’s strengths. It’s based on the idea that humans grow fastest in areas where they are naturally strong.
Leaders using this leadership style encourage higher engagement by helping employees play to their strengths, strengthening them, and supporting their use at work.
Table of Contents
Self-awareness
A key to strengths based leadership trait is self-awareness. This means leaders are mindful of their strengths and weaknesses, which can help them build stronger relationships. It also allows leaders to identify and maximize their team members’ talents. Self-awareness can be especially useful in improving communication and conflict resolution in a workplace setting. It helps individuals recognize their emotions, which can then be used to understand the perspectives of others better. Moreover, it allows leaders to choose challenging tasks without overwhelming them. One study found that 92% of leaders rated as highly self-aware have teams with high employee engagement levels.
One way to practice self-awareness is by seeking out constructive criticism from trusted peers and family members. Try to approach these criticisms with compassion rather than defensiveness or resistance. Another way to become more self-aware is by journaling. This process isn’t for everyone, but it can be a powerful tool for becoming more conscious of how your actions affect others. The more you understand your strengths and weakness, the better you can capitalize on them for success in any role.
Collaboration
Collaboration is a necessary skill for leaders to have to build and maintain a strong team. However, collaboration can only be achieved with the right tools and techniques. Strength-based leadership can make collaboration more productive and effective for everyone involved. When a leader is collaborating, they must be open to sharing their ideas and listening to those of others. This will allow them to gain a better understanding of the project as a whole and how all the pieces fit together. It will also allow them to discover common goals and concerns that may hinder the collaboration process.
Leaders practicing strengths-based leadership recognize that they cannot do everything themselves and must delegate tasks to other team members. This helps free up their time to focus on areas where they are most skilled. For example, suppose a leader is weak in emotional intelligence (EI). In that case, they can ask their team to help develop this area. This way, they can grow as individuals while still getting the work done that is essential to the company’s success. Thus, collaboration builds a healthier environment.
Empathy
Empathy is a key trait of strengths-based leadership. Empathetic managers are good listeners and can identify and understand their team members’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences. In addition, they’re able to collaborate with others. Empathy, or the ability to sense another person’s feelings, can lead to higher job satisfaction and employee performance. It’s important to note that empathy differs from sympathy, which involves compassion for another person’s misfortune. Strengths-based leaders recognize that they cannot do everything independently and need their team’s help. They also recognize their team member’s talents and focus on capitalizing on those strengths while working to minimize weaknesses. If you want to enhance your empathy, try reading more fiction or watching movies that have characters with diverse backgrounds. It’s also helpful to be aware of cognitive biases, which can prevent you from empathizing with someone different than yourself. This is particularly true regarding global news or disasters, where people often have difficulty feeling empathy for those suffering abroad.
Accountability
Leadership is difficult, and the skills required to create productive, innovative, aligned, and impactful teams are vast. To succeed, leaders must possess many competencies, including emotional intelligence, conflict resolution skills, team building, and various leadership styles. One of the most critical attributes a strength-based leader must possess is accountability. Leaders accountable to their team members, the company, and themselves drive the highest levels of productivity, engagement, and performance in the organization.
Motivation
Unlike the typical leadership style that focuses on the weaknesses of employees, strengths-based leaders encourage their teams to work together as a team. The goal is for each member of the team to recognize the strengths of one another, as well as their unique talents and skills. The team members can then synchronize their signature strengths to achieve organizational goals.
This type of leadership also helps to motivate employees. It allows them to feel confident in their abilities and that they have the support of their managers. This can lead to increased productivity in the workplace, according to experts. A strengths-based leader can develop empathy with his team, which makes them feel valued. He can also identify his strengths and those of his team to help them develop and grow as individuals. In addition, he can align his team’s strengths with the organization’s goals to accomplish tasks and projects efficiently.
