The Best Teachers Have Something in Common: What I learned About Strengths From Being Myself - [Guest Article]

by Rosanne Liesveld

It’s easy to think that the best in any given role all get there the same way. A strengths-based approach is different. While a strengths-based approach rings true regardless of job or industry, my experience as a teacher taught me what it truly means to soar with your strengths. 

It feels like I always had visions of being a teacher and what that “looked like.” Of course, my mental image of what I was hoping to become as a teacher came from many different places. As a student, my best teachers were always models I wanted to imitate. My mother was a teacher, so in some ways, my life was spent emulating her example. And, of course, there were the teachers from movies or books who enticed me to envision myself as one of them.

The truth is, when I finally did become a teacher, I realized that as hard as I tried, I could not really be completely like those models I admired, great as they were. Looking back on my time as a teacher, I now realize I taught a lot based on what came most naturally to me, rather than basing my teaching style on what I imagined “great teachers” would do. I naturally knew the adjustments needed for the uniqueness of each student. After some trial and error, I became more comfortable in my own skin, but I always felt like I had never quite reached the apex of success, simply because I didn’t “look” like other teachers I had known.

It wasn’t until I learned about the rather revolutionary concept of strengths that I could finally understand what great teaching looked like, for both me and all the other teachers that had such a big impact on students.   

When teachers learn to teach based on their innate strengths, it is like Independence Day for them, complete with fireworks and celebration. They finally feel what it’s like to be in their “zone,” so that the teaching they deem so sacred is done authentically, powerfully and with the kind of joy that keeps one focused and engaged. Rather than spending time trying to continually become good at every technique and approach, a strengths-based teacher can hone in on the talents that can take them to greatness.

The conventional approach to development is different than developing from strengths. Keep these three hallmarks of strengths-based development in mind to understand the difference this can make: 

1. Only some behaviors can be learned. The conventional approach seems to think greatness can be taught. We know to be truly world-class at something, it takes an element of innate talent. Skills and knowledge can be learned, but is no substitute for the potential at hand when we embrace natural patterns of behavior. Which behavior should you stop trying to learn or perform? Or which behavior should you perhaps find a complementary partner to help offer support?
2. The best in any given role deliver the same outcomes using different behaviors. If all it took to be world-class in a role was to follow the same steps as a previous champion, wouldn’t we all be winning gold medals and starting successful business ventures? Instead of assuming the best performers all get there by following the same steps, start by identifying the expected outcomes. I bet you’ll find that the individuals who meet and exceed those outcomes get there in very different ways, based on their own unique blend of talents. Allow yourself some autonomy in finding your best path forward. Can you write down your unique strengths-based approach to a given task or challenge that is successful and empowering?
3. Fixing weaknesses prevents failure, but building on strengths leads to success. Investing in your weaknesses will likely help you improve. But if all your energy is dedicated to fixing what is wrong, you should expect that improvement to peak at or around a mediocre level. Embracing what you do well and challenging yourself to do it even better leads to the kind of success legends are made of. You’ll get more out of what’s right than you ever will from what’s wrong. What percentage of your time do you spend working on your weaknesses vs. your strengths?

So, let’s be even clearer here about natural strengths and talents. Let’s say you have the strength referred to as Futuristic. You may not see how that affects your day-to-day work. You are always asking yourself, “Wouldn’t it be great if…?” You are the kind of person who loves to peer over the horizon. The future fascinates you. As if it were projected on the wall, you see in detail what the future might hold, and this detailed picture keeps pulling you forward, into tomorrow. While the exact content of the picture will depend on your other strengths and interests -- you are certain to energize others by helping them see your visions of the future. Often our colleagues, students or employees need pictures to raise their sights and, thereby, their spirits. You can paint a picture for others -- one that they would not always see on their own. The inspiration of describing a better tomorrow can catapult someone into a whole new path filled with motivation. 

As a teacher with Futuristic, I recently asked a student to find a box -- any ordinary box -- and put her best work in it from school, work or just notes about things she has accomplished or is proud to have done. I told her that someday in the future -- maybe five years from now -- she can open that box and look at all those “tokens” that paved the way for her future. She loved the idea, and now tucks away all the best of herself into that ordinary shoebox. All those tokens of hard work and success are building blocks for one day in her future when she will be a successful and happy adult. 

It will not be easy, as our complex world in education asks more and more of teachers. Every day more and more is being written about teachers who are not engaged. Gallup’s research shows that when people use their strengths at work, their likelihood to be engaged is significantly impacted. That is why it’s important for teachers to be aware of their strengths and draw from the reserve of motivation such awareness can net. But awareness is just one small step. Take the time to create a deeper awareness of one’s strengths and then apply those strengths, so that your brand of teaching becomes one that not only sustains you, but also has tremendous impact on your students.

We all know the teachers who made the most difference for us as individuals were the ones who really allowed us to run with our uniqueness. Those teachers celebrated our strengths and knew we were different from the rest of our classmates. They gave us opportunities to learn and grown and recognized us based on what we did best.

So, if we know that teachers made the most difference on us when they allowed us to soar with our strengths, it makes sense that they first started their roles not with their ideal perception of what a great teacher looks like, but with the authentic greatness they uniquely bring to the job. When you know your own strengths and allow them to soar, you encourage others to do the same. Imagine the difference we make in the world, from the classroom to the boardroom, when we ensure that every person, every day, learns and grows and understands the powerful potential that lies within. 

Rosanne Liesveld is a Managing Consultant at Gallup. She consults with K-12 school districts to develop comprehensive recruiting, assessment, hiring, and development strategies for teachers and principals. Rosanne’s primar

Exponential Breakthrough Leadership - {Guest Article}

By Bjorn Martinoff

What is Exponential Breakthrough Leadership (EBL)?

Exponential Breakthrough Leaders inspire greater results and performance in their teams. And it is not because they have to but because they choose to, want to, and are inspired to. They empower followers to become leaders in their own right. In effect they are leaders leading leaders.

Imagine a team consistent of leaders. This is a team where everyone is engaged, empowered and driven to achieve their targets and beyond. It is an environment where people are having fun while consistently challenging each other to accomplish more and are getting more done then on 99.9% of all leadership teams. It takes more from the leader to lead leaders versus leading followers.

It is easy to spot and recognize an Exponential Breakthrough Leader. This leader is not merely transformational or transactional; he is a leader leading leaders, even strong leaders. A mechanistic culture where everyone feels like they are just a part of a big machine is highly discouraged or not even being tolerated. Everyone in their team is empowered to co-lead the team in the areas of their own responsibility, as well as co-create the team’s vision, purpose and core values, or even the entire leadership team in certain activities. These are basic marks of an EBL, which is a type of leadership style that does not just inspire positive changes in those who follow, but empowers to entirely new levels of performance while challenging and inspiring team members to continually grow and evolve.

As a baseline, EBL tends to be energetic, enthusiastic, focused, and passionate. Not only is this leader concerned and involved in the process; he leads by example, aligns the team and empowers each member-leader to succeed.

The History of Exponential Breakthrough Leadership

EBL begun with the concept of transformational leadership initially introduced by leadership expert and presidential biographer James MacGregor Burns. It has taken the game of leadership to new heights as shown by the results produced.

Historically speaking as well as in current corporate reality, so-called ‘leaders’ were in reality operating more like managers. But we are discussing leaders now. There are several levels of leaders – those who do not lead; those who lead followers; those who can lead peers, and those who lead leaders.

Having learned from my rich experiences with some of the world’s largest, most sophisticated and successful organizations in many countries and on several continents, Exponential Breakthrough Leadership can be seen when “leaders leading leaders assist each other to advance to an exponentially higher level of performance and top line results.”

While EBLs harness the strength of both their vision and personality, they do not stop there. They are able to inspire followers to align on mutually chosen goals and directions as well as align on ways of working. Together with their teams, EBLs align on a purpose that has them inspired to the point where team members are fired up and cannot wait to get out of bed in the morning. They truly enjoy each other’s company and experience having more fun at work than at play. They also increase each other’s expectations; change paradigms and perceptions; and super-charge motivations to work towards shared goals.

Exponential Breakthrough Leadership can be defined based on the impact that it has on the team. We do not call them followers. Exponential Breakthrough Leaders garner trust, respect and admiration from their teams.

The Components of Exponential Breakthrough Leadership

There are different components to Exponential Breakthrough Leadership:

1. Continuous Personal Transformation – Transformational leaders not only challenge themselves but their entire team to continuously grow, shift their paradigms and expand. They know this cannot be done in a DOING-HAVING world alone; and they are keenly aware of the multiplying effect of their state of BEING on their and their team’s accomplishments and results. They also encourage creativity among teams as being ‘outside of the box’ is their everyday way of life.

2. Authentic Communication – The myth about communication is the illusion that it takes place. EBL leaders create a platform and basis for authentic communication where all feedback, information and even emotions are welcomed and can be shared without judgment; introspection and observation yes, but not judgment.

It also involves offering support, development and encouragement to individuals. In contrast to regular teams much focus is being placed on BEING in addition to DOING. In order to foster mutually supportive relationships, EBL leaders keep lines of communication open through authentic communication so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct feedback and recognition of the unique contributions of each leader. Without authenticity lips might be moving, sounds might be observed, words might be spoken but nothing is being said much less being heard.

3. Inspiration and Motivation – Transformational leaders have a clear shared vision that they develop with their teams. Vision, Purpose and Values are developed together. A Mission is often avoided due to its likelihood of being kept in the box. A powerful Purpose replaces any need for a mission. EBL leaders are keen in driving their teams to experience an extraordinary level of passion and inspiration. Motivation therefor is internal and intrinsic rather than external or forced upon.

4. Intrinsic Influence – The EBL leader serves as a role model for their teams and organizations. Because EBL leaders build alignment, trust and respect through common, Vision, Purpose and Values. They don’t need to work hard on driving people as their people are ignited and driven from within.

5. Integrity – Integrity is no small matter on such a team and instead it is treated as a matter of great importance where no one will take it lightly. Integrity goes beyond the common understanding and is defined as ‘Doing what I said I would do’. The most powerful definition of Integrity evolved from the founder of EST Werner Erhard. Doing it as well as anyone could expect it to be done. Doing it on time and communicating breakdowns as soon as they are apparent including committing to a new delivery time when things are off-track. Surely this is not an easy undertaking and instead is a constant striving for improvements.

6. Future-based Language – While EBL stands with both feet in reality, a main component of EBL is what we call Future-based Language. It focuses on the future and on what we want to accomplish. It directs its energy and feedback away from complaining and blaming but towards the type of leadership behaviour that empowers and produces results.

While EBL Team members may hold different titles and positions, each can take the lead at any moment. It could be viewed as a model of shared leadership where any one member of the team can lead a discussion, an activity, a project, or the entire team. Leaders who lead leaders need to be mature enough to permit this to happen. In a way they need to have so much power that they can give it away and share that power with their team without being lessened, threatened, lowered or diminished by that sharing of power.

7. Alignment – Alignment issues can produce a flurry of activities and energies that can pull a leadership team apart or in different directions exhausting energy and inspiration with rapidly diminishing results.

True alignment to the goal and vision can double and often triple the energy and momentum of a leadership team, their results as well as the speed with which those results are accomplished. Aligning a leadership team is a science and an art, which only few experts and consultants have mastered. The benefits are tremendous and it is an exercise no EBL leader would ever miss out on. At F1C International we are regularly called upon to perform this exact task.

Success Stories

• Transformation of Samsung from a producer of everyday household appliances to a cutting edge producer of stylish high-end electronics;

• Exponential Growth of a Country Team of one of the world’s largest food companies from consistent decline to rapid breakthrough growth in nine months. The team won the Global CEO award for their performance;

• Exponential Growth in Sales and Customer service in business processing company serving a top three US Telecom by exponentially growing leaders and their results from 6th place in network to 2nd place in their network in just seven weeks; and

• Many more!

Bjorn Martinoff is a Global CEO Coach and Executive Coach focusing on the world’s largest and most sophisticated organizations. He is the author of the book “Develop Exponential Power”; and focuses his time developing Exponential Breakthrough Leadership with his clients in Asia, North America and other parts of the world. He is currently writing his second book titled on the subject bringing Exponential Breakthrough Leadership and its application to leaders around the world. Bjorn serves clients in over 40 countries and lives in Manila, Philippines with his wife Victoria Penaflor Martinoff and their four children.

Compat-ability - [Guest Article]

By Curt Liesveld

Strengths coaching is an approach to coaching that intentionally focuses on a person's naturalability. My first goal as a strengths coach is to help an individual capitalize on their natural ability,that is, those ways of thinking, feeling and behaving that they can productively apply with the most ease and enjoyment. In addition, I work with individuals to help them understand and manage their vulnerability, that is, the situations and places where this natural ability can be easily misunderstood or unproductively applied. The people we coach will also need some help in understanding and owning their liabilities or disabilities, that is, those required ways of thinking, feeling or behaving that don't come with either ease or enjoyment. Finally, I find that strengths coaching must eventually focus on compatibility, that is, how a person's abilities coexist and cooperate with the abilities of others. Compatibility is crucial in both personal and professional success. It is at the core of great partnerships, great teams, great marriages and great families. As a result, the people we coach are often very interested in finding a magic formula for compatibility. 

Most of us think we will experience compatibility when we can find and choose the perfect partner or teammate. I am wondering if this is why people who use the Clifton StrengthsFinder are often tempted to use the CSF as a selection instrument. I can almost hear them thinking, "If I can just avoid the person that has incompatible themes and find the person who has compatible themes, everything will be perfect. If I can just find the magic CSF formula, we will all live happily ever after." 

Embedded in this thinking are a couple of mistaken assumptions. The first assumption is that compatibility is something this is primarily discovered, rather than created. The second assumption is that since compatibility by definition is about "congenial, agreeable and harmonious existence and performance," it is most likely to occur when differences are limited and tension is eliminated. 

My theory is that we gravitate to the assumption of compatibility via discovery because it is much easier than believing in compatibility via development. If compatibility is a magic formula, I simply need to have people take an assessment and then apply the formula. Developing compatibility is much more difficult than discovering compatibility. Finding the perfect partner or mate seems an easier option than figuring out how to be the perfect partner or mate. 

I am not suggesting that making wise selection decisions is unimportant. While there are those rare times in life when we do get to choose a spouse, a friend, a roommate or an employee, much of our life is spent living and working with people we didn't choose. For example, we don't get to choose our parents and in most cases, parents don't get to choose their kids. Many times students don't get to choose their teachers, and teachers don't get to choose their students. Most of us don't have the option of saying, "I don't think I can live/work with you because we are incompatible.” We don't have the luxury of delaying collaboration until we find the perfect coworker. Instead most of us need to quickly figure out "How can I best work with this person or these people?"

Many people we coach will ask the question, “Are we compatible?” There will be times where that question is relevant, but in most cases a better and more productive question is, "How could we be compatible?” and "How could we work or live together in a more harmonious, agreeable and congenial manner?

The other flawed assumption related to compatibility is that there are some CSF themes that are mutually exclusive. That is, they just don't mix. Something akin to how water and fire don't mix. When you add water to fire the fire is extinguished and when you add fire to water the water is evaporated. Granted, there are certainly some themes that are more unlikely to occur together as dominant themes within a person. For example, Command and Harmony are not likely to occur together as dominant themes, neither are Maximizer or Restorative. However, just because two themes are unlikely to occur together within a person, it is wrong and unproductive to assume that these same two themes are incompatible and antagonistic when they occur in two different people. 

Instead of assuming that Command and Harmony are incompatible themes, it would be much more beneficial for a coach to help people with these themes to think about how they could work together in a more harmonious, agreeable or congenial way. How can the theme of one person positively enhance the theme of another person in a way that both themes can be authentically utilized at the same time?  

Let's go back to the example of fire and water. While water can extinguish fire and fire can burn up (evaporate) water, are there situations where they can co-exist simultaneously and productively? The answer is yes. Water could actually help to manage or control a fire and keep it from becoming a wildfire. Water, when applied to things that you don't want to burn, will control the fire. In the same way, water might be more valuable when it is warmer or boiling. When a regulated amount of fire is applied to water, the temperature of the water will increase and as a result the value of the water might be improved. 

Sometimes we are lucky and stumble across the perfectly compatible partner. But it’s more likely that compatibility is a long journey, developed through work and awareness. So this is the first step, change the conversation. How can you be a great partner to others? What do you bring that the other may need? What can you give to a compatible partnership, and what can you achieve that’s greater together?

Curt Liesveld passed away on May 16, 2015. This piece was one of the final writing projects he completed, a topic he had spoken about for several months. Prior to his passing, he approved all final edits and was excited about communicating the message he believed in completely. Curt inspired a loving family and a legacy of strengths-based development, which lives on in the positive work done by coaches and individuals all over the world. Consider what you might do today to feature your own talent and gifts as an act of humility and strength in your community.