Manage-Wise

Play to your signature strengths

Each of us has a unique, highly personalized set of core strengths. These are based on our strongest natural talents that have been refined over the years with additional knowledge and skills. They are our flagship abilities—our prime resources for achieving peak performance—so they are spoken of as “signature strengths.”

When you fire up these big engines, you have got your mojo working. Things really start to click. You are tapping into your deep potential, doing things you crave to do and that light you up inside.

Playing to signature strengths gives us the greatest room for growth … our best chance for high performance ... the most promising odds for personal gratification. When our mojo’s working, we are energized and our attitude needle swings over into the positive zone. Pessimism doesn’t have a crying chance.

Any time your attitude goes flat or dips into the pessimistic zone, there’s a good chance you have strayed away from your signature strengths. And it’s a common problem. A study done by the Gallup organization found that, worldwide, only 20 percent of the employees working in large organizations feel like their strengths are in play every day. This means that eight out of ten people aren’t spending enough time in their sweet spot.

Identifying signature strengths

How can you know when you’re engaging a signature strength?

Well, to begin with, you will note that it comes easy for you. You will sense that silky, fluid feel of natural ability—innate talent—which is basically a gift of the gods. In fact, it probably comes so easy that you may take it for granted, perhaps even assuming that everybody else is made the same as you. We often overlook just how precious and unique our signature strengths are because we live with them every day.

Another defining feature is the ability to learn fast. If you try an activity and pick it up rapidly, you could be onto a signature strength. Play with it. See if you get hooked.

That brings us to a couple of other clues. Do you have a yearning or desire to perform an activity? Does it consistently bring deep satisfaction? If it’s a signature strength, you have a persistent appetite for it. You can picture yourself doing it repeatedly and successfully. Finally, you find it absorbing, enjoyable, and uplifting.

Build your life around it

We flourish most when we apply our signature strengths in all areas of life. So try to shape your work such that every day it draws on your best potential. Also tap into this rich pocket of talent during your personal time.

Even your personal development efforts should be concentrated here in order to muscle up these dominant talents. Instead of drifting outside of this strike zone in an effort to shore up shortcomings, keep polishing your strengths that already shine the very most. The idea is to develop them into mega strengths.

You will get a lot more mileage out of identifying and exploiting strengths than you can from trying to over-come weaknesses. In ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths,’ authors Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton explain:

We must remember that casting a critical eye on our weaknesses and working hard to manage them, while sometimes necessary, will only help us prevent failure. It will not help us reach excellence ... you will reach excellence only by understanding and cultivating your strengths.

Struggling to improve ourselves in low-talent areas resembles damage control more than development. It’s a draining, deadening exercise. It burns up a lot of energy. So unless you are dealing with a weakness that directly interferes with your signature strengths, you probably should just manage around it. In fact, most of your soft spots basically ought to be ignored. Focus your improvement efforts where you are already most proficient. That gives you the best chance to become an ace and also cranks up your level of optimism.

Where potential and passion intersect

Exercising signature strengths is like watering the roots of optimism. You start feeling better about yourself. You find fulfillment in what you are doing. You develop a more positive outlook toward life.

These beneficial side effects are a powerful antidote to adversity. They also help you exploit opportunity and navigate through uncertainty. Playing to your signature strengths can even turn a run-of-the-mill day into an energizing, soul-satisfying experience.

Want to live the good life? Engage your signature strengths as often as possible.

Go for flow

How does optimism affect problem-solving and decision-making abilities?

Some people are cynical about optimism. They say it’s shallow… a lack of critical thinking … maybe even reckless. Let’s stack that up against what disciplined research has to say.

• Study 1: A research project tracking the performance of physicians found that doctors who were experiencing positive emotions more accurately diagnosed patient ailments.
• Study 2: Students in a MBA program were evaluated on their performance in managerial simulations. Those who reported more positive emotions were more accurate and careful in a decision-making task.

Compared to people with a neutral or negative outlook, optimists actually do a better job of:

• Processing negative information
• Assessing and managing risks
• Perceiving key aspects of tasks and circumstances
• Digesting information thoroughly and flexibly
• Knowing when to persevere versus when to be an “enlightened quitter”

Research also shows that optimism fosters creativity and opens us up to new ideas.

Ever notice what happens when you lose yourself in what you are doing?

Negative thinking disappears. Pessimism gets crowded out because you are mentally consumed with the task at hand.

Just concentrate totally on the work in front of you. Go at it with your best stuff. Hit the mental state called “flow”, and you will come out the other end on a natural high.

Excerpt from ‘Hard Optimism’ by Price Pritchett. Reproduced with permission © 2007, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. Price: Rs 199. Email:Vishwanath_Ghanekar@mcgraw-hill.com