Why and How You Need to Listen for Talents, Not Strengths (podcast)
Welcome to the next installment of the Leadership Vision Podcast, where we share our expertise in the discovery, practice, and implementation of StrengthsFinder.
In this episode, we’re talking about the importance of listening for Talents as a way to better understand what is going on with a person’s Strengths profile. Talents, the building blocks of a Strength, are the recognizable patterns of thought, feeling, and emotion that point to an area of a person’s greatest potential.
Brian Schubring, our President, is sharing some simple lessons he learned about Talents years ago, back in the earliest days of the Strength movement from the people who came up with the tool. He learned to:
Pay such close attention to the talents of Strengths. Those behaviors and recognizable traits of every one of the Strengths. It’s those things that we’re seeing. Not the name of the Strengths. Part of what I hear over and over again is, “that’s the Strength of Strategic” or “that’s the Strength of Achiever” but no one ever explains what they’re seeing or what they’re hearing. And my point is you wouldn’t be calling it that if you didn’t see hear or feel something. So let’s show our work.
Today on the show, Brian is going to explain what he means by “showing our work.” He will explain how shifting our thinking in the way we teach the 34 Themes of Strength is better for everyone. It involves allowing the individuals with those Strengths to teach us since they are the ones who know it best.
In this episode, you will learn about how you can make Strengths results more relevant for everyone. There’s something for Strengths practitioners as well as individuals who want to take their Strengths knowledge to the next level.
A Quick Activity
The next time you are talking to someone about their Strengths, try this:
- Ask simple questions
- Wait for their response
The greatest learning does not come from teaching someone the meaning of their Strengths, but rather, by listening to what they are saying about their Strengths and responding accordingly. It’s about seeing and hearing the behaviors of Strengths.
Resources Mentioned
- A Simple Strengths Activity (podcast)
- Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (book)
- Minnesota State Bird (loon)
About The Leadership Vision Podcast
The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in the discovery, practice, and implementation of StrengthsFinder. Leadership Vision uses StrengthsFinder to work with People, Teams, and Culture. We believe that knowing your Top 5 Strengths is only the beginning. In fact, our highest potential exists in the ongoing exploration of our talents. Subscribe to the Leadership Vision Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
Please contact us if you have ANY questions about anything you heard in this episode, or if you’d like to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.
