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How do you allow your staff to flourish?

As a business owner, there’s a constant temptation to… well, manage. You want to roll up your sleeves, give instructions, monitor, hand-hold, regulate and so on. But there will come a point where you step back and ask yourself,

“How do I get the most out of these people?” – and not in a selfish way, but out of a desire to see them succeed and be happy in their work. Should you take your hands off the wheel?

Should you offer them incentives? What is it you need to do to help them reach their full potential?

Let Them Thrive Where They’re Strongest!

About Being ConnectedIt’s so simple in theory, but so rarely executed – find your staff’s strengths, and give the opportunities to shine.

If you’re spending all of your time enforcing the rules and checking in on their job performance, you’re missing the opportunity to identify what makes that specific person strong at what they do; the characteristics unique to them and the places they can achieve like nobody else in your organization can.

In the research, this is called “Signature Strengths”.  You can do surveys and tests to find them. There are even validated and accurate online tests that over a million people have completed.

There are over 24 signature strengths, including love of learning, bravery, vitality, leadership, humor, curiosity, persistence and others. The goal is to find that staff member’s top five strengths, then sit down and have a discussion with them about these strengths.

The conversation should be about finding ways to deepen and broaden those strengths, finding ways to focus on their strengths and give them a chance to use them. Instead of highlighting where the employee has fallen short or is weaker, as managers are so prone to doing, you shift the conversation to where they excel.

It changes their thinking from a fear of falling short to an excitement about outperforming and constantly growing the things they already know they are good at.

Don’t Impose – Empower!

All too often we see managers try to impose things on staff to help them improve: Deadlines, benchmarks, projects and so on. Instead, give the employee the chance to operate from a place of strength, and watch how they soar to become what they have the potential to be – and take your company with them!

See our video on this topic by clicking here (new window).

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