Leveraging CliftonStrengths as a Manager
For years, when it came to personality assessments, I had a healthy dose of skepticism, particularly around those that felt overwhelmingly positive. Could something so focused on strengths genuinely transform how we work, especially when the challenges of leadership often feel, well, less than positive? I wasn't so sure. Then came my immersion into CliftonStrengths. As I shared in my blog post "An Introduction to CliftonStrengths", I was a slow adopter, but eventually, I became a true believer. My fascination quickly deepened, shifting from individual insight to a powerful lens through which to understand team dynamics and, crucially, supervisory relationships.
Through the rigorous process of learning about each of the 34 CliftonStrengths themes in depth, something profound happened: I began re-analyzing current and past supervisory relationships, illuminated by this newfound knowledge. It was like suddenly having a decoder ring for human behavior. I started to recognize patterns - specifically why some working relationships had been harder than others - and how my own strengths might have unwittingly contributed to those challenges.
Before I completed my CliftonStrengths coaching certification, I had been using the assessment with teams. This meant I had access to strengths profiles of former teammates. Looking back, I could identify clear patterns where my dominant strengths were in conflict with the top strengths of some previous team members. This retrospective analysis was a powerful, albeit humbling, revelation. I realized I had often made mistakes in how I translated tasks or delegated job duties, missing strategic opportunities to align work with innate talent.
One particular working relationship stood out as I reflected on a team member who had genuinely struggled in a leadership role within a fast-paced team I was leading. Our environment was one of constant, often unexpected adjustments. We managed large-scale events, aiming to create inspiring atmospheres amidst a whirlwind of moving parts. While many on our team thrived in this dynamic, high-energy setting, this individual consistently seemed stressed and anxious, even by tasks that appeared relatively minor to others. We addressed his struggles directly, considering various reasons for his difficulties and exploring strategies for success. Nonetheless, the core challenges persisted.
Fast forward to my coaching certification. As I delved into the nuances of each strength, that past working relationship clicked into focus. I revisited his top five strengths. Several were Strategic Thinking themes, but his number one strength immediately jumped out: Deliberative.
Deliberative: Individuals with dominant Deliberative talent are characterized by their seriousness and carefulness. They anticipate obstacles, weigh consequences, and are drawn to analyzing risks. They prefer to think things through thoroughly before acting, and they need time and space to process information and plan meticulously.
Here was the missing piece! This team member thrived when he had a significant amount of time to process information, anticipate potential issues, and plan ahead. By placing him in charge of tasks that were constantly evolving, or that demanded immediate, on-the-fly decisions, I was inadvertently setting him up for failure. He was operating in direct opposition to his natural wiring, leading to stress, anxiety, and a feeling of being constantly overwhelmed.
What's more, this particular mismatch highlighted a blind spot in my own leadership. My top strength is Strategic. While Strategic also falls under the Strategic Thinking domain, it operates very differently from Deliberative. For me, the beauty of Strategic lies in its ability to quickly see patterns, anticipate future challenges, and pivot rapidly based on new information. The very tasks that caused him distress – the need for on-the-fly adjustments in a dynamic event environment – would have been effortless for me, even invigorating. My personal ease with our work setting led to an unconscious assumption that these tasks should be easy for others too, a classic pitfall when managers don't account for differing strengths.
Adapting to Strengths-Inclusive Leadership
Using the lens of strengths, I could clearly see, for the future, the critical importance of delegating these types of quickly changing, adaptive tasks to team members who naturally excel in adjusting to new information quickly, for example, individuals strong in Activator or Adaptability.
To be clear, in subsequent years, I often had team members with Deliberative or similar strengths, and it didn't mean they were inherently unable to be successful in dynamic roles. What it did mean was that as a manager, I needed to:
Do a better job explaining the role's true nature during the application and interview process, being transparent about the need for quick pivots.
Intentionally train team members on the specific demands of the job, focusing on strategies for quickly reacting to changing program needs.
Be strategic about how I delegated responsibilities to the team, considering the unique strengths and natural tendencies of individual members in relation to the specific tasks at hand.
To be honest, prior to truly understanding CliftonStrengths in depth, I often viewed colleagues through a deficit or weakness lens. When people struggled to complete a job task with ease I'd often perceive this as a weakness or a shortcoming. What I learned with the profound knowledge of Strengths is that very often, those behaviors I was perceiving as a "weakness" were, in fact, rooted in a strength.
Like the Deliberative example I shared: a person's preference for going slow, taking time to consider, and needing to process information methodically are all behaviors that are incredibly beneficial to a team, given the right setting. This ability to reframe allowed me, in subsequent years, to see team members more fully and with significantly more empathy. I started taking my own abilities with a larger grain of salt, acknowledging that while I excelled in some areas, there were countless ways I did not exhibit natural strength. This shift in perspective made me more strategic about recruiting, hiring, training, and delegating based on the actual makeup of my teams.
As managers, we can use these same insights from CliftonStrengths to leverage the innate abilities of individual members of our team, and our team as a whole. As we discussed in our recent blog post "Rethinking Team Dynamics with Personality Insights", using assessments thoughtfully helps us avoid the fundamental attribution error and move from judgment to curiosity. When we are truly aware of our employees' greatest strengths, we can deploy them thoughtfully and strategically, not just task by task, but role by role, and ultimately, build a more effective and engaged team.
Actionable Takeaways for Managers:
Be Intentional About Role Design: Before you even interview, clarify the core needs of the position. Does it require rapid decision-making, meticulous planning, constant relationship-building, or deep analytical thought? Understanding these intrinsic demands helps you identify candidates who will naturally thrive.
Communicate Role Needs Clearly: Don't assume. During interviews and onboarding, explicitly communicate the daily realities and key behaviors needed for success in the role, especially those that might challenge certain strength profiles. This allows prospective team members to assess their own fit and prepares new hires to navigate potential friction points.
Delegate Strategically, Not Just Equally: Moving beyond simple task distribution, learn to delegate responsibilities based on the unique strengths of each team member and the specific needs of the task at hand. This isn't about creating "easy" jobs; it's about optimizing for engagement, quality, and individual growth. Consider how a task's demands align with a team member's natural way of thinking, influencing, relating, or executing.
Coach for "Flexing" Strengths: While we want people to lead with their strengths, every role requires some flexing. Use your knowledge of strengths to coach team members on how to leverage their dominant themes to address areas that don't come as naturally. For a Deliberative person, it might be coaching them on how to quickly identify critical information for a rapid decision, rather than trying to analyze every single detail.
Embrace the Fullness of Your Team: Recognize that a team rich in diverse strengths will always outperform a team composed of similar "types." Your job as a manager is to understand these differences as assets, not deficits, and to create an environment where all strengths are valued and utilized.
By truly understanding and leveraging CliftonStrengths, managers can build teams that are not only more productive but also more empathetic, resilient, and deeply engaged. It’s about leading with what’s strong, for everyone.
