Getting New Team Members Off to Strong Starts: Strengths On-Boarding with a Talent and Development Consultant-Coach

Though most of my days are spent in my personal bliss of one-on-one sessions with high-performing executives and managers, I love supporting the work of their teams, including helping their new team members get off to strong starts.  

Working with my organizational clients, we're helping individual new team members get off to strong starts through what we refer to in shorthand as 'strengths on-boarding': through this process, new team members get the clarity they need in order to engage, feel equipped and empowered to leverage their respective experience, skills and strengths*, and are set on a course to contribute quickly and to collaborate effectively in their new context with colleagues new to them. The idea for this work came from my Human Resources partner who works internally within the organization in which this approach was piloted. 

What new team members gain through the process

• Access to a talent and development expert with whom they can talk through their role and set a course to bring the best of themselves to their role
• Clarity about their unique strengths and how they can use them to bring excellence in their role
• Insight into the strengths and proclivities of their new teammates
• Clarity about their own blind spots and weaknesses, with strategies for mitigating them
• Clarity about expectations of their roles that were previously unclear
• Empowerment to pull needed clarity from their managers 
• Insight into how to apply their strengths to real-time challenges or goals to get off to a strong start
• Re-framing of the behaviors of their colleagues with positive inference, focusing on what is right about them
• Actionable insight to help them collaborate with their colleagues, using their strengths to complement their colleagues' strengths

The organizations and the teams 

The contexts of my organizational clients are familiar to many: the pace is fast, the demands inevitably continue to rise, and stress on people is rampant as the organizations' leaders must continue to align mission, strategy, priorities and objectives, while  flexing and pivoting to changing circumstances and challenges wrought by disruption. New team members often describe their on-boarding within these organizations by saying that they feel like they're drinking from a fire hose. 

The new team members with whom I work are joining teams that have focused on individual and team development using what is referred to as a strengths-based approach. Existing team members already have taken an assessment from the Gallup Organization called the CliftonStrengths™ assessment. They've been equipped to contribute their unique patterns of strengths toward the team's priorities and their unique roles. The teams previously have seen a map of their individual and team strengths and have discussed the talents in the team and individual team members' potential greatest contributions, quirks, pet peeves and needs. The new team members joining these teams usually have no previous experience with the CliftonStrengths™ assessment. Yet, through a structured process involving two consultation-coaching sessions, we have seen the new team members emerge with clarity and insights about themselves and their teams that equip them to lean in and engage quickly and effectively, individually and in collaboration.

What The Process Looks Like:  Two Steps

Step 1: Partner Up to Start the Process
The process is kicked off through a partnership that includes an individual within the organization, who serves as the in-house CliftonStrengths™ liaison, and me in my role as an external consultant to the organization. The liaison introduces the new team member to the  assessment, sets the team member up to take the assessment, and provides basic information on the assessment and the team's history with it.  The liaison then sends an e-introduction to me and the new team member and attaches the new team member's position description, resume and CliftonStrengths™ results.  The new team member and I schedule the first of two one-hour phone or videoconference calls, and I assign homework to be done before the first session so that we can make the most of our use of time. 

Step 2: Strengths Development Consulting-Coaching Sessions
In two separate consulting-coaching sessions, I work with the new team member, wearing the hat of consultant and of a coach. As a consultant I provide expertise about the assessment and insights specific to the new team member and her teammates that are drawn from the richness of Gallup's resources. As a coach, I use a coaching process and questions to help the team member reflect, engage, formulate, and act on plans.

The new team member leaves the first session with additional insight about what is unique and right about her and with thoughts of how she can use what is right to contribute in her role.  Sometimes, the team member emerges with clarity about what is unclear about his role or the expectations of him. That team member also emerges with a sense of empowerment and a call to action to ask for the clarity he needs. Typically, the new team members are highly energized by the first session, feel empowered to pull the clarity they need, and have a plan for how they'll approach a challenge they're encountering or a goal they have. Often, they remark spontaneously at the end of the session on their gratitude that their new employer has provided them access to this opportunity. If there was something that was unclear about the role or expectations that we uncovered in the first session, in the second session the new team member brings that increased clarity to our conversation (gained from direct conversation with his manager) as he maps his route forward. The new team member leaves the session with greater insight into his teammates' ways of being and unique strengths. He makes plans for such areas as execution of responsibilities, building relationships, communicating with others, and delivering excellence using the best of himself. 

Why I love this strengths on-boarding work

In my long-term work with organizational clients, I have the opportunity to observe the trajectories of new team members with whom I worked in their initial months in the organization. Together with their leaders, I am thrilled to see how they've quickly assimilated into the team, found best approaches for collaborating with their teammates, found ways to bring what they do best to their teams and their work, identified areas where clarity was missing, served as agents for clarity in their teams, and brought new and valuable contributions to already high-performing teams using the best of what they have to give.

Here's to my internal partner in the first organization in which this work was piloted. Her own experience and training in Gallup's work with strengths led her to realize the value of introducing new team members to strengths. This was her vision, and she continues to support the work by serving in the internal liaison role. 

Here's to all those whom I've had the privilege of helping get off to strong starts. You inspire me with your talent, heart, passion, potential and impact. And here's to the team leaders who embrace making these opportunities possible. By investing in this process, you are driving engagement, inspiring excellence, increasing retention of employees, bolstering your organization's employer brand and having a lifetime influence on your new team members.

When we focus on what is right with people and equip them with the information and resources they need, great things happen. Our most unlimited resource is our human potential.

* Use of the term 'strengths': While we know that the CliftonStrengths™ assessment uncovers talents that can become strengths when they are intentionally developed and leveraged along with skills, for the sake of this discussion I'm using the term 'strengths' to apply to the talents uncovered by the assessment.

For more information on Gallup's approach to strengths, or to take the CliftonStrengths assessment online, go to https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/

 https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/

Thoughts on the Night before September 11

Seventeen years ago, on the night before September 11, 2001, I was prepping for a workshop for a group of leaders from across Arizona, Nevada and California. The leaders, all clergy, were gathering for a leadership development workshop focused on their work with the people of their respective churches.

Early the next morning of that world-changing day, I was awakened by a phone call from my sister, who firmly said into the phone, Turn on the TV.  By the time I had the TV on, flames were pouring from the first tower and the second tower had just been hit. The horror escalated as people were trapped, the buildings pancaked and another plane hit the Pentagon.

In an effort to have our elementary school-aged sons experience normalcy, and in deference to our own obligations, I took the kids to school and headed to the venue for the workshop I was to lead, while my husband drove to the clinic where he takes care of his many patients. Listening to the news in my car en route to the workshop venue, I thought:

These leaders are all convening in one location on this day, and all must return to his or her context where their followers will be looking to them for leadership. We must use today to help them prepare. 

Some would have church members who had family in New York City, some would have church members with a family member in a flight crew, some would have church members with family in the military or who were first responders, all would have pews packed on the following Sunday as people sought comfort, hope and, frankly, the embrace of community.  As the leaders of thousands upon thousands of people across our region, these leaders needed to gather themselves, process their own emotions, and plan for how they would meet the needs of their communities, their followers and their churches' visitors, the fundamental needs for stability, trust, compassion and hope.

Tonight, on September 10, I'm once again preparing to lead a workshop tomorrow for a group of leaders, this time for leaders who work to create educational opportunities for young people and conditions that will give rise to those opportunities. Their work is difficult, as they, like all leaders in this time, are operating in a context of unprecedented divisiveness and rancor in our institutions, politics and communities. 

In these intervening seventeen years from that awful day in 2001, the events of the world, the pace of disruption, the pace of acceleration and the miles on my own personal odometer have caused me to collect and try to act on some basic principles for living and serving. 

1. Focus on what you can control.

2. Use what you have.

3. Let go of your sense of inadequacy.

4. Bring people together.

5. Be generous.

6. Communicate well.

7. Pick the right time.

8. Take care of your own well being.

9. Do the right thing.

We are all called to be bridge-builders in this time, and each of us must develop the resilience necessary for that work. Each of us leads in some way, whether in our families, neighborhoods, work places or volunteer roles. Most strategically of all, we must lead ourselves so that we can show up as our best version of ourselves and contribute to the greater good.

On the eve before September 11, 2018, I leave you with the words of my mentor, the one and only Curt Liesveld: Be well and do good.

Hurricane Irma, Cajun Navy, Acceleration and Leaders

As I write today, Hurricane Irma is barreling down on Florida, while Texas is mucking out from Hurricane Harvey, fires are raging in the American West and tensions with North Korea are escalating to a disturbing and alarming state of affairs. 

You know it and you feel it: All of these challenges are playing out against a backdrop of disruption. We are in what Thomas Friedman has called an Age of Acceleration, when humanity's capacity to adapt is outpaced by accelerations wrought by technology, globalization and climate change. Entire industry sectors are trying to adapt or face potential obsolescence. Same with educational institutions. Same with mainline religious organizations. To some extent, our hyper-connectedness has led to patterns of increased polarization and the rise of fundamentalism. And, as our planet warms further, storms are increasing in ferocity. The misery and financial impacts leave us reeling with angst and fear.

I believe this Age of Acceleration calls for us to tap into our one unlimited resource: the creativity and ingenuity of humanity. With deference to my favorite Martian colonist, we're gonna have to science the s@#* out of this. This is a time for strategic and critical thinking, a time for catalyzing creativity and collaboration. A time for focusing on shared challenges and shared solutions. A time to harness the power of our connectedness to build bridges for problem-solving. A time for each of us to lead with the best of ourselves.

I have a special place in my heart for leaders of people, who, at every level and throughout history, have faced challenges that require them to bring the best of themselves to inspire the best in others. I would argue, though, that the pace of change that marks this season in our human history is unprecedented. And our leaders feel the toll.

Here are some of the challenges leaders across different types of organizations have shared with me:

We are crazy busy and I don't know how to change that.

My people are on the verge of burnout.

I have to make difficult decisions and am uncertain how to communicate them.

I don't have enough time to think.

I need to think more strategically.

I am new to leading this organization and have inherited disengaged managers and employees.

My leadership team doesn't trust each other and are constantly in conflict.

I'm not having time for balance in my life.

We're struggling with diminishing resources.

We're struggling with engaging millennials.

I don't feel I'm getting the best from my people.

I'm struggling to help my organization adapt.

I struggle with having difficult conversations.

I've been told I need to act more like another specific leader, but that's not who I am.

I've received negative feedback-- apparently I have some blind spots, but I don't know what to do about them.

I need help with getting the best from my internal and external constituents.

I have extremely talented individuals on board but I can't get them all pulling together.

In this Age of Acceleration, I've cast my lot with the work I believe is mine to do: helping leaders lead with purpose to inspire the best in their people so that through the many, we can navigate these challenging times and thrive. 

Yes, in this Age of Acceleration, we all can feel swamped by the tide and pace of change. As a former Houstonian, I grieved as I saw the misery of rising waters, the displaced people, and Harvey's devastation to homes, hospitals, and cultural gems. As a former Louisianan, I ached from the memories of Gustav and Katrina and, more recently, the 2016 epic rain event in my home town of Baton Rogue. 

But in the wake of Harvey my heart has swelled with pride and inspiration as I saw the Cajun Navy and the Cajun Army and the Cajun Gravy and so many other groups and individuals rapidly finding ways to help their neighbors, exhibiting the resilience and courage and creativity and generosity of the human spirit. 

I believe in the power of human potential. Our capacity to innovate. Our capacity to solve problems, Our capacity to focus not on what divides us but what unites us. Our capacity to collaborate. Our capacity to lead.

We need leadership from everyone.

Let's say you're not a leader of an organization. You are still a leader. You lead yourself, and your interactions with others always leave an impact. Be the leader that this time asks of you. What is yours to do? What is within your control to impact? How might you solve problems, either individually or by bringing people together, using what you have, letting go of your own sense of inadequacy? These questions are not age-dependent.

If you're a parent, you're a leader in your family. How are you leading now? How are you meeting your kids' needs for hope, stability, trust and compassion? How are you modeling problem-solving and creativity? Are you modeling polarization? Or are you modeling bridge building? 

And finally, to those of you who serve as a leader of or within an organization, if you see yourself in any of the challenges I've described, my heart is with you. I invite you to drop me a note. Let's chat. 

'I Can Work for a Month off of One Good Compliment'

A while back, I met with a senior executive, a man at the pinnacle of his career, to talk about his role. In the course of our conversation, I gave him positive feedback about his leadership, reflecting quite specifically on how his expertise and efforts had particular impacts for his organization, its constituents and the larger community it serves. He sat quietly and looked at me. Then, he shared something that was rather unbelievable to me: He had never received any specific, positive feedback of this sort from the individual to whom he ultimately reports. Not in any context in which he has worked. Not once in his career. Thankfully, however, he has received positive feedback from his constituents and colleagues. So meaningful to him have these words of affirmation been that he has saved every single written compliment he's ever received, keeping them where he can pull them out and re-read them. I'll never forget his words to me that day: I can work for a month off of one good compliment. 

In the last several weeks, I met with an individual who is new to her organization and team. Our conversation gave us the chance to explore her unique talents and skills and how she might use them in her role and in collaborations within and beyond her new team. An extremely intelligent, hard-working, and people-smart individual, this young woman shared with me one of the things she would most want her team members to know about working with her. I'm a loop closer, she said. When I've worked on something, I want to know that it contributed to what we're trying to do. I don't want to feel like it went into a black hole. I don't need effusive praise, but I do want to know that my work has contributed to something. That's a positive motivator to me, to know that it contributed and that it was appreciated. 

From seasoned leaders to budding stars, every one of us has a need to feel valued. A need to know that our hard, excellent work has been noticed and appreciated. That what we're doing matters. Gallup's research reveals the importance of regular recognition and praise in the workplace, finding that regular praise and recognition leads to lower employee turnover, increased employee engagement, fewer accidents at work, and higher customer loyalty and satisfaction.*

Recognition matters. Not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it drives the emotions that drive motion. How we feel affects what we do and how much we want to keep doing it. And keep doing it well.

What makes for the kind of praise and recognition that is meaningful? I'm grateful to Gallup for their research, which sheds light on the three qualities that meaningful recognition has: meaningful praise and recognition is individualized, deserved, and specific.*

1. Praise and recognition should be individualized.

Let's go back to the story of the young woman who wants to know her work isn't going into a black hole. She and I had a conversation about how she likes to be recognized, and she'll have the opportunity to share this information with her manager as part of our ongoing Strengths-focused initiative in her workplace. Her manager will know that, among other things, she needs to close the loop for this new employee, making sure the new employee gets feedback on where and how her work was utilized to contribute to the overall endeavors of the team and organization. 

Tip: Ask a person how he or she likes their excellent work to be recognized.  Keep a note about what his or her answer was, and use that as your guide in the future.

2. Praise and recognition should be deserved.

With the best of intentions, leaders or managers may find themselves rotating recognition rather generally, in something like a 'staff member of the month' program. While the intentions are in the right place, let's look at how that can miss the mark. The staff member of the month may find himself in the spotlight, being acknowledged basically for just being there. He may not have any idea of what, exactly, he is being recognized for, other than for just showing up. If he's the last on the team to be named 'staff member of the month,' can you imagine how he feels? 

Instead, astute leaders and managers constantly have their eyes out for excellence and effort to be celebrated. They build a culture of recognition that is generous with praise that is deserved. Do you fear that if you do this, you will end up being too generous with praise? If so, find comfort in knowing that no one Gallup has researched has ever quit a job for receiving too much praise!

Tip: Be on the lookout for excellence and outstanding effort. Recognize the excellence and effort with praise.  

3. Praise and recognition should be specific.

Now, back to the story of the leader who can work for a month off of one good compliment. I got lucky when I spoke with this individual, as the specificity of my feedback to him was meaningful to him. It felt good to him to know how and why the work he did was perceived as valuable. 

Tip: Be specific with your praise. Discipline yourself to go beyond 'Great job!' and to call out specific things that were excellent or valuable. 

If you work in a place that doesn't have a culture of praise and recognition, I encourage you to live into Ghandi's wisdom:  Be the change that you wish to see in the world. If you were not raised with praise and recognition in your family, again, be the change that you wish to see in the world. 

Change can start with you. I challenge you, today, to give someone deserving some meaningful praise and recognition. You won't have to look far to find someone who deserves and needs affirmation.

*  Research of The Gallup Organization and accompanying insights were shared in The Best Ways to Recognize Employees, by Tom Rath, December 2004

About the photograph:  How much more powerful is it to be told by your child, Mom, thanks for teaching me how to learn and showing me how to love learning, than it is to be told, You're a great mom! The specificity feels fantastic.

For more information on Gallup's approach to Strengths, or to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ online, go to https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/

 

Snorkeling, Roy Spence, and Having Eyes to See

Early in our marriage while we were living and working in Houston, my husband and I took a trip to Cozumel, Mexico. Accustomed to the murky, muddy waters of Louisiana, I was excited to have the chance to swim in clear water. After snorkeling at Chankanaab National Park, I emerged from the water disappointed: What's the big deal? I didn't see that much exciting stuff. Years later, when my near-sighted self and I finally got prescription lenses for my dive mask, I made a discovery: I needed to have different lenses.

We need lenses that can help us see purpose.

As a coach working with a leader whose organization was brimming with activity and vitality, my challenge was to help her and her team clarify, in words, what purpose that social sector organization served in the world. The organization needed clarity of purpose not only for internal management and decision-making, but also to interpret the value of their impact to potential donors whom they enlist to join their efforts. 

Together with the leader and her leadership team, we leaned into the inspiration and experience of Roy Spence, who with Haley Rushing wrote It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For.* Working a process, we used lenses focused on the genesis of the organization and its history. We used lenses focused on the organization's major initiatives and the who's and what's of the impacts they were generating. Using an aerial lens, we synthesized our findings and clarified that organization's purpose. Now? That organization's purpose statement has created a rising tide. Their purpose ignites passion. Their purpose provides clarity that drives decision-making and priorities. Their purpose has equipped them to attract more resources. Their purpose explains the unexplainable so they can amplify their impact. Muddy waters? Pull out an assortment of lenses and look carefully.

We need lenses that can help us see opportunity.

Sometimes, we need lenses that can help us see the opportunities in the midst of a challenge. One client, a star performer, felt discontent in her role. Her frustrations with aspects of her organization were draining her. Intentionally taking on the lens of opportunity, she looked for what she could control in the situation and focused her efforts there. Doing so, she doubled down on those areas where she could have impact, as a manager and as a person who led from her position to help her organization execute on its mission. Using the lens of talent, she focused on what she uniquely could contribute in her existing role, and she focused on the talent of the staff who report to her. Giving her talents what they needed to be energized, firing up the talents of her team, she has brought influence to the organization and expanded her impact. In the process, she found her groove. Difficulty to opportunity? We must have eyes to see.

We need lenses that help us see what is right about people.

Too loud. Not talkative enough. Always negative. A taskmaster. Overly emotional. Shy. Superficial. A loner. A packrat. Stuck in the past. A dreamer.

We hear these kinds of things said about our colleagues. And our family members. Maybe we even say them. How powerful it is to take on lenses to see the talent that is beneath the behavior, because in seeing the person through a lens of talent, we see the person's power and potential. Two colleagues who had worked with each other for over ten years each had great respect for the other, but also frustrations. Always negative, said the first about the second. Overly positive, said the second about the first. Learning about their own talents and the talents of their team, they realized they were looking at each other through the biases of their own lenses. The one who loved encouragement and positive reinforcement found the other one negative. The negative one, who was naturally cautious and prone to identify problems, saw the other person as overly optimistic. Each came to an appreciation of the other: the positive nature of one individual created energy and enthusiasm that influenced the team's collaboration and performance, while the cautious nature of the other individual helped the team identify problems and potential obstacles, a vitally necessary function for optimal team performance. Looking at each other through the lens of talents, they saw each other differently. They learned that their differences are a source of strength for their collaboration, and they intentionally leverage those differences as they collaborate. Annoying person? Look to see him or her differently.

As a coach, I help people gain clarity so they can be their best and give their best. If your view feels unclear, if the water seems murky, or if you haven't found a way to change the lenses, give me a holler. I will be happy to either help you find those new lenses or to connect you with someone who can. 

*I am eager to hear Roy Spence in Omaha, Nebraska, later this month, as I gather with colleagues from around the world at the inaugural CliftonStrengths Summit.

In Tahiti for our anniversary earlier this summer.

When we snorkled, I could see clearly.

Do you have unused or outdated eyeglasses lying around the house? Please consider donating them to the Lions Club so you can give the gift of clearer vision to someone in need. In the United States, collection boxes are located in many Walmart stores.

For more information on Gallup's approach to Strengths, or to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ online, go to https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/

A Tribute to My Strengths Hero and Mentor, Curt Liesveld

I received the news last Saturday night, as messages had rippled their way from Nebraska to Louisiana, where I was attending a family wedding. The news had exploded to Pretoria, South Africa, to Singapore, to points around the globe and to members of a growing tribe. Our tribal elder, Curt Liesveld, had died while gardening at his home on Liesveld Pond. Leaning into the legacy of Curt, that night after receiving the news I continued with the family celebration, treasuring priceless moments with people about whom I care deeply.

In the days since, voices from around the planet have mulled the impact of this man, whom I, like so many others, was privileged to experience as my teacher. Our thoughts and sympathies turn to his family, whom he loved so dearly, and to his colleagues, who were blessed with his collaboration. 

In August of 2013, I spent a week in Washington, DC with the people in the picture above. Front and center in the dark jacket is Curt, whose warmth and humility and generosity and wisdom brought a group of strangers from around the world together that week and helped us become a community united by a common purpose: helping people grow. It was clear that Curt was a person who loved life and loved people and loved helping people fully develop their potential so they could live lives of well-being and well-doing. Curt cared. Deeply. He paid close attention to people. He studied human nature and relished moments when new insights occurred and light bulbs were lit in the consciousness of others. He encouraged. And he shared from the deepest well of insight, bringing the heart and compassion of a pastor, the intellect and analytical rigor of a scientist, the enthusiasm of a true Huskers fan, and the joy of a man deeply rooted in the love of his own family.

I've come to appreciate that Curt put flesh and bones on Donald Clifton's StrengthsFinder™ work, bringing it into living color by working deeply, person by person, to help people grow. One of Curt's refrains was that the world needs the strengths that each of us uniquely has to share and that by developing self-awareness we can become masters of our Strengths. In Curt, I saw a master of Strengths who was also a servant with Strengths. 

From Curt, I will take forward some important lessons that he taught not only with words but also with actions.

Become the best you that you can be, and share yourself with the world so that others, too, have the freedom to be who they are and give what they have to give.

Each of us has the capacity to bring light into darkness, to see what is right in people and to work with others to help bring wholeness and hopefulness to this world.

Love your family. The investments of time you make with them are of immeasurable worth.

Hold onto the goal of a life of rich relationships and a balance between work and life outside of work. 

Celebrate life and occasions with small gestures and grand gestures, because life is precious and is to be savored.

For those of us who work with Strengths, our greatest tribute to Curt will come from what we do because of who he was and what he equipped us to do. His wisdom will live on and will be magnified by our actions in this world, as we, like Curt, focus on what's right with people and on helping people grow.

Curt always closed his messages with these words: Be well and do good.

Curt, we will.