Leading and Communicating with Strengths Workshop (Powered by SDI)

Improve Individual and Team Performance by Using a Strengths-Based Approach

In today’s marketplace, the only sustainable competitive advantage is your talent, yet many organizations don't do enough to develop their leaders and their teams.

One of the most effective ways to develop leaders and team members is to adopt a strengths-based approach to individual and team development. A strengths approach is grounded in positive psychology and advocates spending the lion’s share of development time on leveraging and amplifying one’s strengths as opposed to focusing on developmental areas.

According to research by Gallup, teams that use a strengths-based approach achieved the following results when compared to a control group.

  • Sales rose 10% to 19%

  • Profits increased 14% to 29%

  • Customer engagement increased 3% to 7%

  • Employee engagement increased by 9% to 15%

  • Employee turnover decreased over 25%

Group Sixty uses a strengths-based approach in all of its leadership development and executive coaching work. In its "Leading and Communicating with Strengths Workshop",  Group Sixty highlights the value of taking a strengths-based approach to developing individuals and teams and leads interactive exercises to help participants better understand their strengths and apply them to accelerate their success and the performance of their teams and organizations.

The "Leading and Communicating with Strengths Workshop" uses Core Strength's SDI assessment and methodology that have been used by millions of people worldwide and at leading organizations including Apple, Twitter, Coca-Cola, Boeing, Adobe, Verizon, IBM, Pfizer, Raytheon, Peet's Coffee & Tea, the US Army, and many more. 

Leading AND COMMUNICATING with strengths program content

Leading and Communicating with Strengths is a full-day course designed for leadership teams as well as well as groups of employees across an organization. By participating in the course, attendees will gain a better understanding of their individual motives and strengths as well as those of other members on their team and within their organization. As a result, participants will leave the workshop armed with a set of mindsets and tools to improve relationships within and across teams ultimately leading to improved team effectiveness and performance. The course can also be delivered in a half-day format and is a great fit as part of strategy and planning meetings, sales meetings, and leadership offsites. Below is a high-level overview of the content and exercises that make up the Leading and Communicating with Strengths Workshop. 

1: The case for using a strengths-based approach to develop leaders and teams

The "Leading and Communicating with Strengths" program starts by making an ROI-grounded case for using strengths in developing individual leaders as well in fostering stronger relationships within teams. Doing so will ensure that all participants buy-in to the approach resulting in better long-term engagement with the tools and methodology. All of which will maximize the ROI of the program.

2:Understanding your motives And Strengths (An anchor & a buoy)

After making the case for using strengths, Group Sixty will then introduce the concept of motives, which are the reasons "why" we do what we do. Each of us is driven by one of seven motives (e.g. People, Process, Performance) that act as a lens for how we see the world. The SDI methodology uses the metaphor of an anchor to highlight the fact that motives don't change over time as they are core to who we are as leaders and people.

Strengths on the other hand, are "how" we get work done and achieve our goals and objectives and form the "buoy" part of the metaphor. Strengths, according to the SDI methodology,  change in different situations or contexts . As such, certain people,  projects, or situations might require you to apply your "Competitive" and "Quick to Act" strengths whereas others might warrant greater reliance on your "Methodical" and "Reserved" strengths. The point is that different situations require you as a leader to use different strengths to achieve the desired outcomes.

3:avoiding your overdone strengths (also know as weaknesses)

Leading and Communicating with Strengths also introduces the concept of Overdone Strengths, sometimes considered weaknesses. Strengths become overdone when they are used with too much intensity, for too long of a duration, too frequently, or in the wrong context. Gaining greater awareness of your Overdone Strengths is like using the mirrors and safety features on your car to view your blind spots. Greater awareness will allow you to avoid overdoing strengths that negatively impact others and reduce your ability to perform up to your maximum capabilities.

4:DEALING WITH CONFLICT

The next part of the Leading and Communicating with Strengths program is an interactive session using the Conflict Sequence part of the SDI Assessment. The assessment measures motives under two conditions; when things are going well and in times of conflict. The first discussion on motives focuses on when things are going well. In this section, we'll deep dive into how each of us behaves during conflict so that we can better understand ourselves as well as our teammates and create a path out of conflict.  25 to 40% of a manager's time is spent on resolving conflict, so developing more effective pathways to deal with conflict on teams will lead to a huge gain in productivity and performance, not just by leaders and managers but by their direct reports and teams.

5:COMMUNICATING IN THE RIGHT STYLE

The final segment of the Leading and Communicating with Strengths workshop centers on using motives and strengths to tailor your communication via email, phone, or in person based on the person with whom you are interacting. Grounding your communication in motives and strengths will allow you to speak the other person's language and drive a radical improvement in the relationship leading to key business outcomes. Communicating in the right style is effective with internal team members, direct reports and supervisors, as well as with customers and prospects. The workshop will allow you to practice this skill so that you can apply it to a real-world, high-value situation that can drive results for you and your company. You will also walk away with a new language to apply in all interpersonal interactions moving forward.

format

  • We work with clients both in-person and virtually

  • Virtual training is offered by phone or by utilizing Zoom or your preferred videoconferencing tool

outcomes

By participating in Group Sixty's Leading and Communicating with Strengths program, participants will:

  • Learn how using a strengths-based approach can turbo charge their own growth as well as that of their teams and organizations

  • Gain awareness of their unique set of strengths and learn the meaning of each

  • Gain insight into the strengths make-up of their entire team by viewing and discussing the team strengths portrait

  • Learn how to apply their strengths to accelerate their own development as a leader

  • Gain visibility into individual blind spots by understanding their own Overdone Strengths (sometimes called weaknesses) as well as those of their teammates

  • Learn how to harness motives and strengths to effectively and efficiently deal with conflict

  • Improve communication with colleagues and customers through understanding motives and by leveraging different strengths based on the context

WHO Should Participate

 Leading and Communicating with Strengths is a great fit for leadership teams as well as well as groups of employees across an organization. The course can be delivered in a full or half-day format and works extremely well as part of strategy and planning meetings, sales meetings, and leadership offsites.

To learn more about the Leading and Communicating with Strengths Workshop and how it can amplify the performance of your leaders and teams, please send an email to info@groupsixty.com.