There are also a variety of tools available that can help you understand and articulate your strong points, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the DiSC assessment (which stands for dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness), the MindTime framework, and the Clifton StrengthsFinder. And you don’t have to limit yourself to just one; using multiple tools will generally start to reveal common themes.
—Find your employees’ strengths: Once you’ve gained a deeper understanding about where you personally excel, it will be very natural to start looking for and spotting strengths in those around you, including your team members and your family. You might even find that a perceptual switch has been thrown: Suddenly that shy person looks like a great listener, and that pushy vendor looks like a model of perseverance.
If you notice this happening, congratulations. You’ve successfully shifted to a strengths mindset. And adopting a strengths mindset is a critical step in learning how to get the most out of people.
—Putting strengths to work: Now it’s time to put your new perspective into action, starting once again with yourself. As an entrepreneur, business owner or manager, how can you engineer your company, your team and your time to do more work that utilizes your strengths?
