Leveraging Your Strengths

James: 0:03

I’m James.

Jimmy: 0:04

Hi, I’m Jimmy.

James: 0:05

Welcome to A Job Done Well,

Jimmy: 0:11

grind

James: 0:13

good morning We’ve got two festive episodes coming up for you. They’ll both set you up for 2024 and all the things, exciting things you’ve got to do

Jimmy: 0:23

So today’s episode is all about how to play to your strengths and how to develop them.

James: 0:29

Isn’t that just like a motherhood and apple pie then Jimmy, to your

Jimmy: 0:33

Nah, no, no. Playing to your strengths is obvious, but do you always remember to do it? Today’s focus will also be on developing strengths, and that’s much more unusual as development focuses nearly always on what weaknesses are.

James: 0:46

Yeah. I’m going to start frothing when I start thinking about that. Anyway, before we get into that, how was your week?

Jimmy: 0:51

was your week? My week was good, yeah. One of the things I, reflected on was that I’ve had a few really good experiences recently from small businesses. We went to lunch in London last week and we hadn’t been to that restaurant. It was only a small Italian, hadn’t been there for four or five years. And the owner still remembered us and was was very friendly and welcoming. But also, you know, just a number of small businesses local to us in Nottingham get great service from them. I think larger businesses have lost their way a little bit in terms of serving their customers.

James: 1:23

It’s not true though. He didn’t remember us. He just remembered Jimmy and his wallet, I think. I’ve been busy. I have been buying Mrs. L’s Christmas presents. I’ve been playing to her strengths. She’s only got one strength, bless her, but it’s a very strong one. And I do hope she doesn’t listen to this podcast because she’ll know exactly what I’ve bought her for Christmas if she does.

Jimmy: 1:41

Christmas she does. Which is? Which

James: 1:43

is what? What, her strength? what have you bought her for Christmas? I think you’ll find that you won’t be in

Jimmy: 1:53

think you’ll find that you won’t be in the doghouse because you’ve unveiled her Christmas present. But you might be in the doghouse because you just said she’s got one strength,

James: 2:01

yeah but it is a fantastic one.. So, lets remind ourselves what are we talking about, playing to people’s strengths, why should you play to people’s strengths? Because you get the best results possible also It makes you, gives you a healthy and happy team. You have more energy and the guys who are working for you have more passion. How’s that? Have I

Jimmy: 2:23

passion. How’s that? Maybe

James: 2:25

more Alright, lost on me. There’s obviously some sort of football reference in there. you also get more engagement and the thing that you really want, more momentum.

Jimmy: 2:35

this is obvious but, we’re agreed playing to strengths is the way forward. But why do we spend so much effort in improving weaknesses, not the strengths that we’re trying to play to?

James: 2:48

much effort in improving weaknesses, not the strengths that we’re trying to play to? And my theory is that your boss has to find a way of justifying why you didn’t get the rating that you thought you should get. So you then get into this downward spiral where they tell you what you’re not so good at rather than what you are good at and you get this sting of criticism in your year end review and you start to worry how you can stop that happening next year so you end playing to your weaknesses rather than playing to your strengths.

Jimmy: 3:29

feedback isn’t really there to, to help you, it’s just to justify a decision.

James: 3:34

Oh, absolutely. I think

Jimmy: 3:35

Also Something else to consider is, that approach is drummed into us from childhood, really. Where at school, you focus on your weaknesses, what you’re not good at. And, you have extra lessons, extra tuition, extra homework on the things you’re not good at. And that just carries on into work, good example of that would be, from my perspective, I am absolutely crap at Excel. I’ve never, never mastered it and I never will. I don’t have that skill, but the reason I don’t have that skill is because I’ve been surrounded by people like you, James, who are absolutely. So why do I need to be good at something that I’m not, I don’t enjoy and I don’t have the skill for when I’ve got people like you around? It’s just a waste of my time.

James: 4:24

The skill for when I’ve got people like you around? The reality is actually, I’m quite good. I can, I know there are a couple of people who are laughing when I say I’m quite good, but I can pull together a Gantt chart, I’ll tell you what your critical path is, you can have risks and issues logs coming out of your ears, actions, the whole nine yards. But the thing is, it just it sucks the life out of me when I have to do it. I really hate doing it. I went on one of those personality test things where they tell you how you behave in different circumstances. The only time I ever start writing a project plan is when I’m under deep stress. So why would you put me in a position where you want me to do more project management and more project planning, when I don’t like it and really you’re wasting your time trying to get me to do it? And so to that point, focusing on people’s weaknesses can either be a waste of their time or you’re just sucking the life out of them.

Jimmy: 5:20

definitely a choice thing for you. And there are a number of project managers I know that you’ve worked with who will testify to the fact that they carried you through many, many projects.

James: 5:29

Yeah, carried is the word, but you’ve just got this whole sort of paradox of human psychology going on, haven’t you? That people will remember the criticism, but they respond to praise. Whereas if you criticize something, people just become defensive about it So really focusing on strengths far more successful way forward than focusing on weaknesses. so let me tell you a story. There was a chap called Harry, who was in the Second World War. And he was in a terrible state of health, right? And one of his daughters described him as a small, sick looking sort of man, looking like a very sad dog. This man, he was not in a good way at all. any normal organization would have, have pensioned him off. But the truth was, his name was Harry Lloyd Hopkins, and he was a strategic and diplomatic Genius. He was the man who persuaded, President Roosevelt to help the British during the Second World War. He

Scarlett 2i2 USB-6: 6:23

was

James: 6:23

also

Scarlett 2i2 USB-6: 6:23

the guy who

James: 6:24

worked with the Russians to set up the United Nations after the War. he had this real talent, but you wouldn’t have known it by looking at him. So you really need to play to people’s strengths.

Jimmy: 6:33

When you look at, the research on developing strengths, there’s not really a lot of it.,

James: 6:40

I did find two theories. the first one is about, well it comes down to brain plasticity. So as you get older, you develop skills. And those skills actually, they get folded into your brain as your brain develops. But actually, what you’re good at doesn’t necessarily change that much throughout life. So understanding what you’re good at and playing to it is all important because it’s really difficult to learn new skills. And then there’s another theory, which is the economic theory of comparative advantage. I won’t go into it in great depth, but the point is, we worry about getting the best person for the job. But actually, you’re far better off worrying about what the best job is for the person. Because if you can give every person the best job, the thing they can do most effectively, then you’re getting the most out of your team in total.

Jimmy: 7:25

out Of your team, in total. What they’re good at, they focus on getting even better at the things they’re already strong at. take Harry Kane as an example. Harry Kane James is a footballer, Plays for Bayern Munich in England. One of the greatest forwards of our time. Well, he focuses on the parts of his games that he’s in the team for, and that’s scoring goals. He doesn’t focus on, Defending, or God forbid, you never ask Harry Kane to be a goalkeeper. You focus on him being a goal scorer. And I think that’s a really good example, in sport, it’s accepted that you’re going to play to people’s strength, and you’re going to develop strengths, and you’re going to keep focusing on strengths. You practice and practice what you’re good at, and get even better. In work, we tend to ignore that and focus on weaknesses. Yeah,

James: 8:18

we’d probably ask him to improve his interpersonal skills, wouldn’t we?

Jimmy: 8:21

we? Exactly. Well,

James: 8:22

Well, I do have for you a sporting analogy, believe it or not. Well, it’s not an analogy, it’s a story. if you look at, ice hockey players in Canada, there’s a Premier League or whatever it’s called, you find out that all the players are either born in January or February, and there are few who are born later on in the year. year. And the reason for that is the Canadian school year starts in January. So you’re born in January, then you’ll be one of the big kids. Whereas if you’re born in December, then you’ll be one of the small kids. Which means that, of course, when you start playing ice hockey, and you’re one of the big kids, you’re better just because you happen to be older. But then, you get picked for the next team, and you get to play more games, and then you get picked for the next team, and you play more games, and you practice, and you start to shine, and the whole point is success goes to the successful. And of course that isn’t just, ice hockey, It really is about building on the skills you’ve got.

Jimmy: 9:14

you’ve got. I think playing to and developing strengths works on two levels. And we should consider each of those, James. It works on an individual level and a leader, level. So, as a leader, how should you think about developing the strengths of your team?

James: 9:30

I suppose the first thing is, the skills that you have got and think about the skills that you need. And then hire to fill the gaps. Yeah, if you’ve got weaknesses, the easiest way to mitigate those is to hire the people who’ve got those skills in the first place. Get the right people on the bus and get them sitting in the right seats. Then, of course, start to buddy people up. So, as you’ve said earlier, I always work with a project manager. And they really help me because it’s not what I’m good at. So, buddy people up who’ve got complementary skills. And as a last resort, of course, what you can do is you can sack people, I’m always a little bit worried about that because if you come around to sacking people then you’ve got to ask yourself as a manager whether or not you’ve really done everything that you can. I

Jimmy: 10:15

think the other thing is you have to think of it as just sacking people always. You’ve got to help people find opportunities that they are good at and play to their strengths. Sometimes that’ll be in, within your team and sometimes it won’t be, but if it isn’t in your team, you’re probably doing them a favour by helping them move on to find something that they are more suited to.

James: 10:37

Yeah, and your team will thank you for that, and they’ll realize that you’re looking after So next, you know, you really

Jimmy: 10:41

interests. So next, to get people to play to their strengths and in order to do that, you need to know And what they’re good at ask them what they’re good at and observe what they’re good at and give them projects that they will be good at. Yeah,

James: 10:55

Yeah, I used to work for an American company and they had this horrible phrase, you need to set them up for success. You like my American accent in

Jimmy: 11:01

quite, that’s quite

James: 11:02

very good, yeah. But, alright, trite as it may sound, that is the trick, set people up for success.

Jimmy: 11:08

I think that would be more motivational for them, I mean you get the classic, a development opportunity, which is, it’s, it’s code word for something I don’t want to do that, might help you grow your skills. Yeah,

James: 11:21

I used to call them golden opportunities. Now is your time to shine.

Jimmy: 11:25

But, you know, we’ve all heard that or used that phrase, this will be good for your development, but will it?

James: 11:32

So that’s all about playing to your strengths, and that’s great, but you can take it that bit further. What do you need to do next?

Jimmy: 11:38

You really need to give them the opportunity to develop their strengths. leader, Leader, I think quite often people feel the need to be the best in the team. Versus I need the best people around me. I always believed that everyone in my team needed to be better at their chosen expertise than I was going to be.

James: 11:59

That’s proof I was working for an idiot.

Jimmy: 12:02

I think I was a moron,

James: 12:03

moron, wasn’t it?

Jimmy: 12:04

Anyhow, I think getting great people around you and then you as a leader creating the environment for them to be successful is one philosophy. But if you come from the other camp, which is, I need to be the best, you are putting a massive limit on what you and the team can, possibly achieve. Second is, as we touched on earlier, I think leaders have it drummed into them as kids that you develop people’s weaknesses. What are they not good at? We believe that we just want well rounded employees who are average, everything. If you’re not careful, it’s not really diversity, is it? You want people with different sets of skills and different ways of thinking in your team. Yeah,

James: 12:45

darts team versus managing a football team. You really do want that diversity. You don’t want everybody playing the same game. A football team. Is a group of people with diverse strengths, not uniform mediocrity. so I honestly think your job is to create that environment where people really can focus on their strengths.

Jimmy: 13:04

So you need to manage weaknesses within your team, but not necessarily weaknesses within the individuals in your team.

James: 13:11

team. Yeah, okay. So we’ve talked about teams. What about the individual then? So as an individual, what should you do? I

Jimmy: 13:17

think it’s similar to, how you look at teams, but subtly different. So let’s explore that a bit. First off, what we touched on the end, how do you mitigate some of the things that you’re not good at, So rather than focus on them, just get them to a base level. No, no, no more. a great example of somebody who didn’t do this, in my opinion, is Dominic Cummings, supporting our old mate Boris he was clearly highly skilled at policy and strategic thinking. In terms of how he treated people around him, he was an absolute arsehole. but, he obviously didn’t think that he needed to mitigate that. In fact, he played it up. Whereas, actually, if he had treated people decently, how much more could he achieve?

James: 14:08

Yeah, totally agree. But it’s about getting to a base level, I think, isn’t it? No further. Yes,

Jimmy: 14:12

isn’t it? Yes, absolutely. Also, you can to my example about Excel, find people around you that are good at the things you’re not good at, that can help you surround yourself with those sorts of people. So, I don’t need to be a genius at Excel when I’ve got one sitting opposite me.

James: 14:28

Yeah, and don’t rely on your boss to do that for you. Get on and do it yourself. and I think there is another point here. Actually, sometimes you do find yourself in the wrong job, and it will feel uncomfortable. And when you are there, you’ll find another job, change direction, but start to manage your own career.

Jimmy: 14:45

that’s a really important point and I have definitely had times when I did jobs that I was managing and I was doing okay at, but they felt tough because they didn’t play to my strengths.

James: 14:56

But that’s all about mitigating your weaknesses. What do you do next? And how do you play to your strengths? First

Jimmy: 15:01

First off, I think you’ve got to establish what those strengths, what your real superpowers are.

James: 15:07

are. Yeah. And I think that’s quite difficult for most people because we’re very good at hiding our light under a bushel.

Jimmy: 15:13

Yeah, I agree. James. It’s also a challenge because I think you get self perception bias creeps in. So you start to think, what should I be good at or what do I want to be good at? So, as an example, I have a preference. I would like to be good at being a strategic thinker.

James: 15:29

The world doesn’t need, I And that’s why I keep, keep telling my kids, but I think the key point here is the, you know,

Jimmy: 15:47

and that’s why I keep, keep telling my kids, but the, the key point here is being really self aware of what you’re good at. So being really objective Often that means getting feedback from others who can often be more objective, see how you can go further with that strength.

James: 16:05

Yeah, you need what’s known as a strength buddy, mate. That’s what you need.

Jimmy: 16:09

You’re right, James. It can be really hard to be objective about what your strengths are and then your progress as you develop them. So having somebody to partner up with and give you some objective, important challenge is hugely valuable. So I think then it’s about visualizing what me being better looks like. So if, if I am good at, presentation skills. What does a better version of me look like at presenting? Then, I think also, really challenge yourself and think what world class looks like. So, elite sportsmen or elite performers, wherever they may be. and really visualize what that looks like. So, in my example about being a better presenter, how does Barack Obama present?

James: 16:55

Yeah, and a lot of these things, I honestly think, It’s known how to do stuff. There’s no rocket science to it. It’s about turning up and practicing and keeping on with it. So really explore the gap, and list out the things that you need to do, and crack on with them.

Jimmy: 17:13

then there are huge amounts of resources probably within your organization, your networks or online that can help you grow those strengths. what you do really depends on what the strength is you’re trying to develop. In summary, as a leader, we want strong, diverse teams, not bland, uniform ones. Get the right people on the bus and get them in the right

James: 17:40

And then give them their chance to shine.

Jimmy: 17:42

As an individual. Focus on playing to your strengths and developing your strengths like Harry Kane does. Don’t get hit up on what you’re not good at. Focus on what you are good at and build that even further.

James: 17:54

good At Build that even further. Hell is mitigating. So Jokes,

Jimmy: 18:02

least mitigate them, more. We actually had a question last week from, Richard from, from Burton Joyce

James: 18:12

Joyce. Absolutely. In

Jimmy: 18:12

near Nottingham And, Richard raised a couple of points. One was, he suggested a future episode, which is how do you get your boss stroke moron on board with your ideas? So we will definitely do a future episode on influencing.

James: 18:26

Yeah, but if you’ve got any more questions, keep them coming.

Jimmy: 18:29

Secondly, the other bit of Richard’s feedback was he said it sounds at times like I’m in an aircraft hangar when we’re recording. which does bring up another subject, which is we’re now seven episodes deep what do you reckon to this, this podcasting,

James: 18:44

life. All right, hard work. So, you’re, we’re surrounded here by wires and computers and software and the software. We really don’t know what we’re doing. It must be said. Yeah, so to Richard’s point, we have no idea what ASMR can and ain’t got, because it’s in the technical stuff that

Jimmy: 19:05

Yeah, so to Richard’s point, we have no idea why I sound like him in an aircraft hangar because it’s in the the technical stuff that we’re still learning, which is an interesting point because back to the subject of, of today. we’re playing to our strengths in terms of talking about stuff that we know, but we are completely out of our comfort zone with recording it on a podcast and then trying to edit and distribute it. And we also have to worry about, how we sound. As I’ve said to you in the past, James, I think I sound like a sophisticated Cockney version of James Bond.

James: 19:39

Yeah, when we start worrying about how you sound, then we really are hitting rock bottom, I think.

Jimmy: 19:43

Well, as soon as we start playing it back, I clearly should be selling lighters on a market stall. Anyway, if you liked the podcast so far, please help spread the word, share the podcast with one person.

James: 19:57

person. Yeah. And in the interim, have a happy Christmas and a good new year.

Jimmy: 20:01

Have a good one. Hope you and your families have a fantastic time and here’s to a successful 2024. We’ll be back. Early in the new year with an episode on setting goals. Thanks, everyone. If you’d like to find out more about how James and I can help your business, then have a look at our website at ajobdonewell.Com.