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A sales manager asked me to provide training to his team around a certain assessment. Although I could have signed up his team for the assessment he asked for, I wanted to understand why he wanted it. As we talked, I learned that it was the only one he had heard about, which is why he asked for it. But I knew there was a better assessment to meet his goals and current work situation. So together, we chose a different one.

As a coach and consultant, I...

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I recently led a Strengths workshop for the leadership team of RIVANNA Medical, a medical device manufacturer and distributor based in Charlottesville, VA. The company was started in 2010 by graduate students at the University of Virginia when they recognized a need in the marketplace. Now the company holds 45 global patents and is on its way to disrupting—and improving—the way ultrasounds are performed.

This workshop was memorable for a couple...

Over the last five years, I’ve led hundreds of training events, mostly around CliftonStrengths®. Usually, the idea for an event begins with team leaders wanting to do something for their team.

Maybe there’s a team retreat coming up, or there’s a team problem to solve, or they want to offer professional development, or they’ve heard of the CliftonStrengths assessment (formerly StrengthsFinders®).

Different reasons have brought them to me, but most events end the...

You probably have heard the name Michael Phelps, but have you heard the name Bob Bowman? Phelps won the most Olympic medals of any athlete (28) and is most known for winning eight gold medals in a single Olympics. However, if not for Bowman, you may not have ever heard of Phelps.

Bowman was Phelps’ long-time coach and Phelps credits Bowman for much of his success. Together they built a partnership that achieved extraordinary results. What could a strengths-based partnership do for you?

In today’s uncertain times, strong leadership is more critical than ever. Dealing with factors like a changing workplace, fears and doubts of team members, unpredictable customer behavior, and financial concerns can impact teams negatively. But the strong leader was made for times like this.

Using the acronym S-T-R-O-N-G, let’s look at the four core needs of followers and the three things strong leaders do. If you’re a leader, consider how you will meet your follower’s...

As the head of Human Resources for our company, I have a vision for our employees. It comes down to five words. We want to be:

• Person-centric
• Performance-minded
• Strengths-based
• Engagement-focused
• Self-aware

Here’s what I mean.

In Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Truth About Employee Engagement, he writes about the three causes of job misery.

Job Misery

One of them is anonymity—the sense that at work, you are unknown as a person. What a sad thing! Being unknown at work makes...

Most of us don’t enjoy giving feedback to people. That’s because there are three challenges to overcome. First, you may not have developed basic feedback skills. Second, you see the world a certain way. Third, the other person sees the world their way. That’s three big challenges that can create a mess. But you can overcome these challenges through a simple and clean feedback formula that makes use of your strengths.

All you must remember is S.O.A.P. (I told you it was...

Gallup published a book this past May that discusses the most significant factor in an organization’s long-term success. What is it? It’s the manager, and the “research is based on the largest global study of the future of work.”

I’m making this point not to put undue pressure on managers—“If I mess this up, the company’s going to crumble!”—but rather to put realistic pressure on them. The manager is vital to the health of the...