Strengths Based Leadership: Leveraging Talent for Organizational OutcomesLaurie K. Baedke, FACHE, CMPEPresidentLIFEworks Healthcare Group, Inc.

Nebraska Optometric Association Fall Convention 2011

September 23, 2011

Good drivers

Good drivers

Traditional Business Methods• We can only cut so much• We can only restructure so often• Our competitive advantage will only take

us so far

The main goal of building a strengths-based organization is to drive higher financial and operational metrics, higher employee engagement, and higher patient loyalty.

Leveraging Outcomes from a strengths based model

How can knowing your own strengths improve overall performance?1. Contributes to your individual engagement

2. Positively influences your relationships with your

peers, direct reports, patients

3. Creates a common language around people’s

strengths

4. Supports great people staying with the organization

For all of these reasons, building on the strengths of those around you creates success for the individual

as well as the organization

Why Focus on Strengths?

The best-led organizations know that the direct path to individual, team, and organizational strengths begins with a primary investment in their employees’ greatest talents.

Find what’s naturally right with your people, and build on it.

Why Focus on Strengths?

Why Focus on Strengths?

All organizations seek to perform with strength. To get there, many follow conventional wisdom:

Focus on fixing weaknesses. Find what’s wrong

with your people, and try to correct it.

Unfortunately, that “wisdom” leaves the organization struggling on the path to mediocrity.

Why Focus on Strengths?

Speed– People operating from strength learn the role

faster and adapt to more variance in the role quicker.

Productivity and Precision– People operating from strength produce

significantly more at higher quality.

Sustainability– People operating from strength stay longer,

miss less work, and build stronger customer relationships.

Matching Strengths to Engagement

“At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday”

…of the 1.7 million workers Gallup asked in 63 countries, what % strongly agree with this statement?

Matching Strengths to Engagement

“At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday”

…of the 1.7 million workers Gallup asked in 63 countries, what % strongly agree with this statement?

Matching Strengths to Engagement

What happens when a person is not operating from strength?

He or she is quite simply less fulfilled and less effective.

In the workplace, an employee is SIX times less likely to be

engaged in the role.

Engagement Effect – Focus on Strengths

Engagement Effect – Focus on StrengthsMy Supervisor Focuses on My Strengths and Positive Characteristics

59%

39%

38%

1%

61%

2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Disagree (1 & 2) Strongly Agree (5)

Engaged

Not Engaged

Actively Disengaged

Matching Strengths to Engagement

A person not able to use his or her strengths at work probably:

dreads going to work

has more negative than positive interactions with coworkers

treats customers poorly

tells friends he or she works for a miserable organization

achieves less on a daily basis

has fewer positive and creative moments

Expectations of Strengths Based Leaders

Effective development strategies begin with each individual’s mastery of self and then moves through to

others.Drive Business Results

By Being A Strengths Based

Leader

Five Clues to TalentYearning

To what kinds of activities are you naturally drawn?

Rapid LearningWhat kinds of activities do you seem to pick up quickly?

FlowIn what activities do the “steps” just come naturally to you? When

have you gotten so absorbed in a process or activity that you completely lost track of time and surroundings?

Glimpses of ExcellenceDuring what activities have you had moments of subconscious

excellence, when you thought, “How did I do that?”

SatisfactionWhat activities give you a kick, either while doing them of

immediately after finishing them, and you think, “When can I do that again?”

Think About It…. Recall a time when someone highlighted your weaknesses. How did you feel?

In that moment, what was your capacity to encourage or increase the engagement of another person?

Recall a time when someone highlighted one of your strengths. How did you feel?

In that moment, what was your capacity to encourage or increase the engagement of another person?

Based on your own experiences, what conclusions do you draw about a focus on weaknesses as opposed to a focus on strengths?

A new definition of a weakness…

A weakness is a lack of knowledge, skill or talent that negatively affects your performance or that of others. Because a weakness will prevent you or others from performing with strength, it must be managed or mitigated.

Based on this new definition, by stating “my weakness is golf”, “my weakness is singing”, “my weakness is public speaking”, or “my weakness is delegating”, these only constitute a weakness if your performance | success is dependent on your ability to golf, sing, speak to large groups, or delegate every day. If you must do these things to be successful, they must be managed. This is where one or more of the Seven Strategies may be useful.

Seven Ways to Manage Weaknesses and Sharpen Strengths….

1. Open communication and transparency

2. Leverage other talents

3. Use support systems

4. Set reasonable expectations and then just do it

5. Get the right training

6. Form complementary partnerships

7. Adjust or change roles | employers | careers

Signature Strengths

Strengths Based Leadership Research

The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team.

While the best leaders are not necessarily well-rounded, the

best teams are.

Potential Return on InvestmentRetention

Employees leave managers, not organizations

Strengths-based environments are a catalyst to focus on right vs. wrong

Potential Return on InvestmentLeaders manage to talent

Research shows higher performance through focusing on strengths

Potential Return on InvestmentIncreased productivity

Engagement produces a desire to do more of what I like and with higher degrees of quality

Potential Return on InvestmentIncreased awareness of talent

in action

Recognition on maximizing what is right vs. focus on fixing what is wrong

Potential Return on InvestmentHigher engagement over

time

Growth from individualized foundation means greater improvement

Potential Return on InvestmentExceed overall performance

expectations and achieve powerful organizational outcomes:

higher productivity and retention

increased patient loyalty

greater physician engagement

positive organizational culture

Laurie K. Baedke, FACHE, CMPEPresidentLIFEworks Healthcare Group, Inc.1150 Westridge DriveBlair, NE 68008402.680.3311baedke@elifeworks.com www.lauriebaedke.com/blog