The advantages of identifying and understanding your...IgnitionTheme

Your ignition theme helps you to “get going”. It tends to stimulate your thinking, feeling or behavior. This “ignition” or “spark” could be linked to ideas, actions or feelings. This specific theme acts like a starter that energizes you, and gets you going. It might be intentional or unintentional. The more you understand the dynamic of this Ignition Theme, you understand how to leverage it best for your own performance and energy.

To help you identify your Ignition Theme, ask questions like:

• Is there a specific theme that tends to “kick in” and help my thought, feelings or behavior get into action?
• Is there a specific one of my Top 5 themes that I know I need in order to get started?
• Which one of my Top 5 themes seems to energize me?


Why it helps to understand my Ignition Theme

Should you identify and understand how your Ignition Theme functions, you will be able to leverage it at the right moments and at the right time. This is not only beneficial in order to use it when you need to start and ignite, but also when to avoid using your ignition theme because you need to relax. Stimulating your Ignition Theme at night, for instance, could lead to not being able to sleep.


FAQ’s on Ignition Themes

• Can your Ignition Theme change over time? - Yes, just like with your Core Theme, this theme is dynamic and not static.

• Can my Ignition Theme be lower than my Top 5? - Yes, and it often is. It is then advisable to explore other themes with your Talent Guide in order to discover a possible theme.

• Could I have more than one Ignition Theme? - Although you might think it is possible, usually what happens is that another theme reacts to the Ignition Theme immediately. This is theme dynamics in action.

• Does everyone have a specific Ignition Theme they could identify? - No. Not all people can identify with an Ignition Theme concept, and therefore it must never be forced.

• Can my Ignition Theme be the same as my Core Theme? - Absolutely. This actually often happens.

• Are certain Talent themes more prone to be Ignition themes than others? - Yes. The most common Ignition Themes out there are themes like Activator, Achiever, Competition, Focus, Discipline, Maximizer, Command, Strategic, Learner and Positivity - although any theme could be one. Can you think why these are common Ignition Themes?




- By Dries Lombaard, C.E.O. Africanmosaic

Next time: More about your Relaxing Theme

Want to know more? visit our website at www.africanmosaic.com

The advantages of identifying and understanding your... Core Theme

We are starting a new series this week, all about the advantages of identifying and understanding certain Theme traits within your Top 5 Talents. Africanmosaic Talent Guides have been trained to assist people with the process of this identification and understanding. We strongly advise that you contact an accredited Talent Guide to assist you with this, rather than just trying to make sense of it on your own. The true power of this comes through a journey with a Guide.

Our first focus will be on your "Core Theme". You can also think of this as your "main Talent", your "strongest Theme" or as we sometimes refer to it, your "Funnel Theme".

Identifying your Core Theme:

An important thing to realize about your Core Theme, is that it does not necessarily follow the order of the StrengthsFinder Report. That means that your Core Theme is NOT per definition your Nr 1 Theme on your Top 5 Report. It could be any one of the Top 5 Talents. Identifying it is therefor a very practical exercise of self awareness and experience. The best way to do this is to ask the following questions:

• Which one of my Top 5 Talents are most visible in everyday life, both to myself and others?


• Which Talent will I never trade for any other one, because I will feel helpless without it?


• Which Talent gives me the most energy when I use it?


• Which Talent Theme out of my Top 5 will others use most to describe me?


• Through which one of the 5 Talents do the other four talents "flow"and become active?


• If I could describe myself by choosing one of my Top 5 Talents, which one will I choose?


• If you think of a "funnel", which one of the 5 will be at the spout (bottom) of the funnel, so that the other talents works "through" this theme in order to be active?

Although the identification of your Core Theme is a very personal exercise based on self awareness, it is very important that you will be able to describe and support your choice to a talent Guide. Sometimes we could be projecting and mislead ourselves within this process. It is also a good idea to get some confirmation by explaining and discussing this with people you know well, especially colleagues and people who see you "in action"often.

Understanding your Core Theme:

Your Core Theme has a tremendous influence on your Talent mix and dynamics. (To understand your personal talent dynamics, talk to your Talent Guide). Of the 5 "spices"that your Top 5 Talents adds to your mix, your Core Theme will mostly be the strongest and add the most spice and taste to your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. When under pressure, your Core theme will kick in strongest and drive your performance. Understanding this allows you to play to your strengths much more effectively and with more intention.

Your Core Theme also gives you a specific identity, in that it becomes your springboard for the way you approach problems and challenges. Knowing this gives you an edge.

Understanding how your Core Theme shapes your other 4 Talents (and, in the case of you knowing your Full 34, it shapes all the rest) to the extent that it becomes an important part of your decision making and interaction with others. The Level 2 Talent Guides (trained to facilitate teams), will tell you how important Core Themes become in Team dynamics and performance. Knowing your Core Theme, and embracing and celebrating it, therefor gives you and those around you and advantage for interaction and strengths based performance.

The other advantage of understanding your Core Theme and identifying it, is that it helps you with clear identity. Someone who embraces and celebrates their Core Theme will be outspoken with certainty, and therefor confirm it by saying "I am a Maximizer", or "I am an Activator", or "I am a Woo".

FAQ's on Core Themes:

• Can your Core Theme Change over time? - Yes, it can. This does not mean that it changes in every situation you find yourself in. But, the influence of different environments and seasons of your life could definitely have an impact on where your Core Theme will position itself in terms of your Top 5 Talents.


• Could your Core Theme be lower than the Top 5...like at nr 6 or 7? - Yes, but very, very seldom. The whole definition of a Core Theme causes it to be strong, which will place it within a Top 5 in nearly every case.


• Could I have more than one Core Theme in my Top 5? - Yes. It is rare, but your Talent Guide is also trained to help you confirm if this is the case. Then you should embrace that fact. It has an interesting dynamic if that is the case. You will then define it by saying "I am a Strategic Achiever", or "I am a Harmonious Relator". Your Guide will help you to confirm the order of these two talents in the definition.


• Does everyone always have a Core Theme? - Yes, although you might be in a space where you are unsure of what it is. Never force the identification. Give it a lot of thought and time if you are uncertain. This often happens when you are in a space where your environment are changing, like in a new job or when you have relocated. Never force the identification of a Core Theme. It will not help anything if you do not affirm and embrace it.


• Can I intentionally decide to change my Core Theme? - Not really. When you do that, it is more the skill of leveraging your strengths and playing to it in a specific situation. But you could give more attention to focusing on a specific Talent at any given time. This is actually more the art of talent Dynamics than it is changing your Core theme.

[Next time: The advantages of identifying and understanding your...Ignition Theme.]

- by Dries Lombaard, C.E.O. Africanmosaic.

Want to know more, or become a Talent Guide yourself?

Visit our website at www.africanmosaic.com

7 Deadly Sins of Leadership Communication

by Linda Hurley, as published on www.mbanetwork.co.za

Organizational communication can involve convoluted and elaborate protocols. It is always a challenge for leaders to find the best ways to get their message to employees and to access employees' ideas and feedback.

Making mistakes in individual communications or the channels that are used can create fear and disillusionment and ultimately negatively impact productivity. This happens and can be managed but there are seven deadly sins of organizational leadership communication that should be avoided.

1. Invisibility

Organizational leaders need to be visible. A figurehead is just that, an inanimate object that cannot engender loyalty or inspire motivation. If all you are is the name at the top of an organizational chart no one will care what you say or what you think.

If you want people to follow you, you have to let them see the person behind the position. This means getting out from behind the desk in the large corner office and interacting with staff at all levels including those located remotely.

2. Need to know

Sometimes information is commercially sensitive and needs to be protected however often the “need to know” principle is used as a default. Restricting the dissemination of information limits the ability of staff to progress objectives and solve problems.

Targeting communication to the audience is important, but targeting is not equivalent to restricting. If staff believe they are being excluded from information channels without good reason they will cease to care and you will lose the benefit of their intellectual capacity being applied to further business growth and performance.

3. Cascading important messages

Key messages need to be direct. Cascading important messages through the organizational hierarchy dilutes the message. Each person who receives the message will apply their personal frame of reference to the communication and decide what the message means to them.

Their interpretation will be passed on to the next level of organization who will then apply their own frame of reference until the final recipient receives a communication that may have little or no similarity to the original message.

Using intermediaries to pass on communications also runs the risk of any of those intermediaries deciding the message does not need to be cascaded any further and as a result the communication fails to reach its final destination.

4. One way communication

Leadership communication is not only about passing on information or directives. Understanding what is happening within the organization is essential to business success. A sole owner of a small business may be able to keep in touch with everything happening day to day but larger businesses require communication channels to feed information from the front line back to the leadership.

5. Selling the message

The amount of information that people need to deal with daily can become overwhelming. Being part of the organization's leadership will usually mean that your communications are given at least cursory attention but it will not ensure the entire message is received.

People are motivated by self-interest. If you do not include “what’s in it for me” in your communications they will soon be consigned to the recycle bin as generally irrelevant. Identifying the impact on individuals also minimizes the risk of misunderstanding creating disruption to productivity as individuals try to determine what the message means specifically for them.

6. Using a single channel

There are many ways to communicate and using the one you are most comfortable with all the time will mean some people never get the message. An all staff email will not reach some staff on the front line. Delivery drivers for example may not have access to email.

Using an intranet bulletin board will only reach those who have time to search and read. Even road trips to interact with staff face to face will miss some people who are not on site at the particular time or day.

Staff who have to learn about communication from the leadership of an organization through informal channels assume they are considered unimportant. Many of these staff are the face of the company for customers and can have an impact on the company's reputation.

To ensure you have great ambassadors on the front line you need to think creatively about the best methods to communicate with staff and use multiple communication channels to convey messages and receive feedback.

7. Ignoring informal channels

Information flows most quickly through the informal channels in a business. The water cooler, the tea room and other places staff meet informally are the place to find out what is really happening in the business on a day-to-day basis.

Ignoring these channels of communication because they are impossible to control is risky at best. Organizational leaders need to find ways to tap into the wealth of information and knowledge these informal networks contain and use them to increase the likelihood that leadership communications are heard and understood.

The larger a business becomes the more difficult it is to keep the entire workforce focused on the vision and goals of the organization. It is essential to establish and maintain open communication channels that foster two way interactions between organizational leaders and business staff. Avoiding the seven deadly sins of organizational leadership is a great place to start.

Visit our website at www.africanmosaic.com

Bringing out the best in quiet Employees

By Linda Hurley, as published on www.mbanetwork.co.za

The days are long gone when employees were seen and not heard. Workplaces today value participation and recognize the power that many minds can bring to different situations.

For quiet employees the methods used to encourage participation can be quite daunting. Brainstorming sessions suit people who like to think out loud and bounce ideas around. Some people have a more introspective style of operating and the loud, participatory workplace can make them shrink into the furthest corner of the room.

Having an introspective style creates unique difficulties. It is hard to think clearly amid the noise of a group. Often when they do wish to contribute quiet employees are overpowered by the more extroverted participants and their contribution will be missed entirely.

Because they are deferential, others often interpret their style as an unwillingness to participate. Eventually they begin to be excluded as they cannot conform to the group's style.

The first thing you can do to bring out the best in these employees is to educate all your employees about the different styles and preferences for operating that occur naturally. There are some fairly sophisticated profiling tools which can be used as part of a workshop designed to get the team to better understand each other. Myers Briggs and DISC are two common tools used widely across the globe.

Once the team understands that contributions can come in all shapes and sizes, you can create opportunities in the design of team gatherings to let everyone contribute regardless of their style.

In addition to group interaction, build in opportunities for individual thought. A variation on brainstorming is to have each individual write their ideas on sticky notes. They do this in isolation. All the sticky notes are then posted on the wall and discussion and debate begins.

Use role plays, or smaller groups in session work and provide each person with a specific role to undertake. This will overcome the problem of quiet people being overpowered in a free for all.

Think about rotating the chair in your team meetings. This helps develop all team members but quiet members in particular will learn from the experience of taking control and leading the group.

Bringing out the best in a quiet employee is not about changing their behavior. To bring out their best you need to create an environment that supports their participation and encourages their development in a way that suits their style.

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

How to encourage Self-Initiative in Staff

Written by Linda Hurley - as published on www.mbanetwork.co.za



Successful companies and managers recognize that using the intellect of all their employees is the key to their success. To encourage employees to use self-initiative it is necessary to develop and support an environment that fosters this behavior.

Telling an employee that we expect they will use their initiative to solve problems and confirming that we believe they have the skills and abilities to do so successfully will give them the confidence they need to begin but we can do more.

Empowerment

Where employees have to seek permission for every action they take they will cease to think for themselves. Managers who check every piece of work undertaken by their staff inhibit the employees' ability to solve problems for themselves or initiate actions that improve service to customers. When we delegate the authority to allow employees to make decisions, within their span of control, they are encouraged to solve problems and find and put in place improvements to the way their work is done.

Learning

When people are empowered they make mistakes. Rather than punishing mistakes ask what could have been done differently. Take some time to determine how the experience can be shared not as a failure but as a learning experience for everyone. Treating mistakes as learning opportunities rather than failures reinforces the message that the use of self-initiative is valued within the company.

Coaching

There are many solutions to each individual problem. If the answer is provided every time a question is asked the employee will not have the incentive to use their own initiative to resolve situations. Rather than telling employees how to do a task or deal with a dissatisfied customer encourage them through open questions to come up with a solution themselves.

Reward and recognition

Asking employees to use their initiative to provide a better, more customer responsive organization is asking for more than someone to simply answer the telephone according to a script or process a certain number of invoices in a specified time frame. The use of self-initiative requires additional effort and commitment to the organization and should be rewarded appropriately.


Rewards can be linked to annual assessments or be specific to certain tasks or achievements. Rewarding initiative will give the employee a tangible reason to continue to make the effort required to use their initiative. Publicly recognizing the use of self-initiative through a team celebration, certificate presentation or other appropriate means can help to spread the message to the whole organization that self-initiative is a valued trait.

Fostering self-initiative requires a workplace culture that supports staff to take control over their own work. Coaching and developing staff in problem solving techniques, protecting them from the ramifications of making honest mistakes and specifically rewarding the successful use of self-initiative will go a long way to laying the foundations for a responsive organization where every employee contributes fully to the success of the company.

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

The Basics & Benefits of Mentoring

Mentoring is a key part of helping others to develop. It is an individual based approach to learning. Successful individuals in all walks of life can usually name more than one mentor who helped them on their way. In business the focus of the mentoring relationship is usually the long term development of an individual's career or small business.

Mentoring relationships work best when both parties are committed to the relationship and are clear on its aims and limitations. When a more experienced person agrees to assist someone with their development there are benefits for both the mentor, mentee and the organisation generally.

Basics of Mentoring
The mentoring relationship is primarily for the benefit of the mentee. Ultimately the success of the relationship will depend on the mentee's willingness to drive the relationship and make use of the knowledge gained.



The mentee should have a clear idea of what they wish to gain from the relationship. It may be a better understanding of the company, a clear view of the path to a senior position, guidance in making complex decisions or many other individual things. The beauty of mentoring is it is flexible enough to cater to a variety of needs and to change with the needs of the mentee.

A mentor acts as a sounding board, provides information and shares their knowledge and experience. The mentee uses the learning gained from the interaction to further their understanding and career.

When commencing a mentor relationship it is essential to establish rapport and trust. Not every person will be the right person to use as a mentor. Confidentiality and privacy are important and must always be considered. The mentor and mentee should develop a shared understanding of mutual roles and discuss expectations on both sides.

The cornerstone of most mentor relationships is regular discussion. The mentee should take responsibility for setting meetings. The mentor should strive to allow sufficient time and ensure there are no distractions when meeting.

In addition to discussions a mentee can learn from a mentor by observing the mentor in action or having the mentor observe them in action and provide feedback. A mentor could also introduce their mentee to their network or invite them to work on a project together.

Benefits for the Mentee
By finding the right mentor a mentee can acquire new skills and knowledge, improve their motivation, and obtain encouragement, guidance and an extended network. They will expand their organisational awareness, obtain accelerated learning and apply direction to their career.

Often having a mentor results in greater job satisfaction and provides a sense of control over the mentee's own development. A mentor provides a trusted confidante to discuss ideas and the mentee can develop new and different perspectives.

Benefits for the Mentor
Although the ultimate beneficiary of the mentor relationship is the mentee a mentor can gain a high level of satisfaction in assisting another person. It also provides an opportunity for them to think through their own goals and achievements, expand their horizons and give them insights from another's perspective.

Often motivating and challenging, mentoring adds another skill to the mentor's own competency base. It can enhance counselling, listening and coaching skills, provide reciprocal learning, add value and revive motivation.

Benefits for the Employer
Mentoring provides a process for the transfer of intellectual capital. It usually enhances the commitment and enthusiasm of employees and increases productivity through fast tracked learning and development.

Mentoring can also strengthen links across the company, increase the versatility of staff and help to develop future leaders. It also complements other training and development activities.

Mentoring has been used for centuries as a means of learning and passing on the wisdom of experience to the next generation. Many organisations today have formal programs however informal mentoring relationships provide just as many benefits to all participants.

This article appeared on www.mbanetwork.co.za

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

Why doing the work about work better, is actually not working at all

Here is the average statistics on our daily productivity.

For 20% of the time, we're doing the work that matters - great work that's original in nature, and might just actually make a difference in the world. For the remaining 80% of the time, we're generating work noise. Work noise is busyness tasks that's related to the creative effort, but that isn't creative in itself.

For most of the time, we're actually doing work about work.

Since we realised this, we've been trying to be more productive by doing the work about work better. We're trying to get the noise out of the way as quickly as possible, so as to get on with the stuff that matters.

The only problem with this is that we're still scared to make the hard choices that will genuinely make us more productive. Working better is not the challenge, because when you're actually working you're doing fine. Its also not working faster, or working more effective.

The answer simply lies in doing less work about work, and more of the actual work that matters.

The idea isn't to have more streamlined meetings, but less meetings. Is not about being more effective at sending email, but about sending less email. Its not about being faster at generating agendas, reports, feedbacks and briefings, is about eliminating them altogether.

The point isn't to talk louder or faster about work, but for once to keep our mouths shut and actually do the work. The problem is not us becoming better at what we do every day, its about us focusing on doing altogether something different.

You only have this time given you to make a dent. Why spend it on better managing the noise?

Rather eliminate the friction, reclaim clarity and focus, and do great work.


By Mynhardt van Pletsen

http://mynhardtvanpletsen.me
Mynhardt van Pletsen is a Creative Artist and Media Specialist from Pretoria, SA

The Six Habits of a Talent Magnet

By Tsun-yan Hsieh with Anthony Tjan (as posted on http://blogs.hbr.org/tjan/2011/01/the-six-habits-of-a-talent-mag.html )

Talent is the make-or-break issue for business success. Few great entrepreneurs and CEOs of our acquaintance would contest that statement. If you are a leader who's serious about improving your capacity to attract the best talent, you need to develop the habits of a true talent magnet. From our research and experience with numerous CEOs and entrepreneurs, we've identified six:

1. Get to know the most talented individuals early on, when you don't need them. Can you name the best one or two people for each of the critical positions in your industry? If you can't, start by attending industry meetings and asking the right questions. If at all possible, begin socializing with the best individuals across particular disciplines. Who are they really as people, versus what they do for a living? What interests them, excites them, drives them? The very best time to get to know people is when you don't need to hire them now. If you don't establish a relationship first, chances are you will end up paying top dollar to get them — and even if they sign up, you may have trouble retaining them.

2. Create and manage the right expectations. Most entrepreneurs and business builders oversell the excitement of their entrepreneurial opportunity and/or the institution, and undersell themselves. The most talented people are attracted to leaders whom they can trust and role models they want to emulate. Thus, ask yourself the question: "Why would any real talent want to work for me?" Paying top dollar is never a good enough reason for the best talent to join and stay with you. Promising room to stretch and rapid advancement have also become par for the course. To break out of the pack, you've got to look within yourself for the real leader whom they want to follow. It could be your courage to stand by your values, your reputation as a gifted teacher, or your soft power to bring opposites together. Then, set clear expectations from Day One of what you are willing to do to help them learn from you that they can't learn from anyone else, and what you expect them to do to succeed in this apprenticeship.

3. Look at their hearts — and not just their smarts. The average resume is long on accomplishments and qualifications, and short on purpose and passion. Which is fine if you're merely in search of technical skills. Yet in situations where you expect people to step up to uncertainty — to do unprecedented things and deliver breakthrough results — you need to focus on candidates' motivation, values and purpose. Leadership defines itself when you are looking for people to change the game — and not just to improve a company's performance (otherwise managers with sound skills would suffice).

4. Cultivate them over time. The best talent is almost always occupied (otherwise they wouldn't be the best). Luck is essential to business-building success, yet leaders cannot expect ideal candidates to be ready, waiting, and available every time they need great talent. Our recommendation: cultivate the best talent you can, and keep these individuals apprised of your work, purpose and ongoing mission. Let them know who you are as a person. Best talents have lots of options. Don't be surprised when they say 'no' to you. Never give up. Keep coming back over a number of years and when these talents are finally ready to move and know how you are different, they will come to you.

5. On-board them thoughtfully. We're frequently amazed by how carelessly and unsuccessfully many leaders transition new talent into a new milieu. In a complex organization, or unfamiliar context, "Sink or swim" is a perilous strategy. New talent wants to succeed. Invest from the start in making sure this happens, and you will soon find yourself surrounded by loyal followers.

6. Mentor them for their success. Being a mentor involves more than giving constructive feedback and avuncular advice. Mentoring is a journey based on mutual commitment to discovery and learning. Your primary reward is another person's success. Real talent can intuit when you're only interested in what they can do for you — and as soon as they find greener pastures, they'll leave.

How well do you stack up against these six dimensions? Again, engaging and retaining real talent is the most critical factor to your success — which is why the real test ultimately lies with your best talent today. Ask them what they think. Our guess is their answers will help you uncover personal and professional truths that will help transform you into an even better leader.

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

Getting clear on Talents and Values

by Dries Lombaard

Values reflect a person’s sense of right and wrong or what “ought” to be. “Equal rights for all” and “People should be treated with respect and dignity” are representative of values. Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior.

For example, if you value equal rights for all and you go to work for an organization that treats its managers much better than it does its workers, you may form the attitude that the company is an unfair place to work; consequently, you may not produce well or may perhaps leave the company. It is likely that if the company had had a more egalitarian policy, your attitude and behaviors would have been more positive. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(personal_and_cultural ).

Every talent indicates a set of underlying values and beliefs. 

For example, someone with the talent theme of Relator assumes loyalty and trust as some of his/her values. The talent theme gives us clues as to what a person could value most. Because values causes behavior, it is very important that we get clear on what we value.

If we say we value respect, it could mean that I respect others and I also expect others to respect me. But what does respect look like? What BEHAVIOR would I expect that shows me that you respect me, or that I respect you? Because respect can have different meanings for different age groups, culture groups, etc.

To get clear in your communication and expectations with others, look at your talents. Which values are important to you, based on your values? Ask yourself: what types of behaviors fit those values? How can you show me that it is a value for you too?

Someone with the talent of Achiever, values hard work. But what does hard work mean and what does it look like? Does it mean you have to work a 18-hour day? Or does it mean that you work smart and get everything done within 8 hours of work?

WHAT BEHAVIOR FITS YOUR VALUES?

Someone with the talent of Belief values unselfishness. Does unselfishness mean taking a lower salary to provide scope for others? Or does unselfishness mean that you give your last clothes away so the mother next to the road can provide warmth for her child? What behavior fits this value, in YOUR opinion?

BOTTOM LINE: Getting clear on your talents, what values it ignites in you and what behaviors fits those values, will make you a better collaborator, colleague or leader!

Dries Lombaard is the co-owner of Strengths Institute South Africa, and has more than 7000 hours of Strengths Coaching experience over the last decade.  He is leading a vibrant and growing network of Strengths Coaches in Southern Africa, and works with corporate and multinational leadership and management teams and C-level leaders as a Strengths Coach and training facilitator. 

Standard Chartered Bank's Business case for focussing on employees strengths

According to Debbie Whitaker, Standard Chartered’s Head of Sustainability, ‘everyone has talents that we wish to leverage’.

This is a bold statement, considering Standard Chartered is a bank with over 60,000 employees in 56 countries. Their reasons for focusing on talent are fourfold:

i) greater growth potential
ii) better people performance
iii) increased employee engagement and
iv) attracting and retaining talent.

Many big organisations are sceptical of applying Strengths at work, yet Standard Chartered’s experience shows that it can make sound business sense.

A strengths-based approach to management has been operating in the organisation for the past 7 years, using Gallup’s StrengthsFinder tool. Whitaker describes a strength as the combination of talent, skill and knowledge, which motivation can transform into world-class performance. In her words, given equal skills and knowledge, talent is what differentiates superior performance from the rest.

So what does Standard Chartered actually do differently to other organisations? Well StrengthsFinder wasn’t designed for recruitment purposes, but it can be used to ensure good role fit and that’s exactly what has contributed to Standard Chartered’s success.The essentials for a salesperson, for example, are good product knowledge and to be able to negotiate and close a deal. But if the salesperson has the additional talents of competitiveness and building rapport with customers, they can become a world-class performer. Not only does Standard Chartered look for specific skills and knowledge, they take innate talents into account too.

It has to be said that there are several definitions of a strength, and the one used here is based on Gallup’s research. The VIA-IS or CAPP definitions are different; as always you need to be clear what you are trying to measure.

Standard Chartered also focuses on building employee engagement, and like Royal & SunAlliance which we featured here, they take volunteering seriously, offering two days paid leave for staff to contribute to voluntary organisations.

What the Standard Chartered story shows is that focusing on strengths can make a big difference to the business and to the people who work there. And applying Positive Psychology at work shouldn’t be something you do in addition to everything else. Look at your existing people-related processes (e.g. recruitment, development, coaching, mentoring and so on) and see how a strengths-approach would make a positive contribution.


As published on http://www.workmad.co.uk/blog/2007/10/standard-chartereds-business-case-for-focusing-on-employee-strengths/

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

The case for why you need to spend your day killing products and creating platforms

Have you recently considered the concept of the platform?

Everywhere we turn, products are on the decline, while platforms are gaining momentum, creating change and making money.

Pushing a product is about a one-directional delivery of what I think you need to improve your life, business or service. Building and maintaining a platform is about everybody contributing to the greater good, all the time acknowledging that not one single opinion, person or product has it all figured out, and that we are at our best when we are together.

The phone with all the applications already installed failed, while the phone that was a platform for third party developers to create their own apps prospered. The website that pushed informational products became boring instantly, while the website that created a platform for user-generated content grew to a billion dollar business overnight. The restaurant that served fixed meals from a traditional menu declined, while the eatery who supplied the ingredients and the opportunity to create your own dishes exploded. The television show that featured established musicians did okay, while the show that featured no-name artists and called on its audience to vote for who gets to be famous created a sensation. The teacher who prepared in isolation and taught without feedback never actually taught, while the facilitator who led with questions and closed with a discussion changed his audience forever.

Are you getting it already?

Are you doing the parallel thinking of how this applies to you, your organisation and what you're doing on a daily basis?

A product has potential, while a platform recognises potential in others. A product is a created something, while a platform creates a space for something to be. A product is fixed, a platform remains flexible.

In short, a product is always about me and my plans for you, while a platform is about you and your contribution to the world.

We need less products, and more platforms.

By Mynhardt van Pletsen
http://mynhardtvanpletsen.me

Mynhardt van Pletsen is a Creative Artist and Media Specialist from Pretoria, SA

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com