How I Apply My Strengths to My Priority Projects
Using this four-step process, I apply my strengths to my priority projects. That way my top CliftonStrengths work for me.
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I was speaking for a leadership group and asked, “How many of you know what you’re good at?” All of them raised their hands.
Then I followed, “How many of you think about using what you’re good at to do your work?” None of them raised their hands.
By not connecting their strengths with their work, they’re leaving so much value, efficiency, and power on the table.
I think this happens a lot in the workplace. We move to the next task on the list, attend to what’s most urgent, and go about our work without thinking much about how we’re working.
But your strengths are your best resources for great performance! This connection between work and strengths doesn’t happen automatically. It takes thought and effort to aim your strengths in the right direction. One of the things I teach is how to thoughtfully apply your strengths to the work that matters.
Let’s look at three of my priority projects and how I use my strengths to be successful.
Projects
First, here's a rundown of the three projects:
Split out the work of Chris Heinz Co. and Christian Life Calling Institute
Publish a book on life calling
Start life calling classes in September 2022
Next, here’s more detail so you know what each project entails:
Split out the work
We’re going to split out the work between Chris Heinz Co. (CHCo) and Christian Life Calling Institute (CLCI). CHCo will remain as my business for speaking, consulting, coaching, and providing resources primarily around CliftonStrengths® and employee engagement. I’ll serve mostly academic and corporate clients from here. We’ll update the website with these changes. CHCo will be the umbrella organization that powers CLCI.
Publish a book on life calling
Earlier this week, I sent a book proposal to a publisher who’s interested in me writing a book on life calling. Although it only took a week to put the proposal together, in a way it has taken 20 months to put together.
Start life calling classes
Once ChristianLifeCalling.com is up and running, we’ll take signups for our live, online classes. Starting in September, these classes will run weekly for 12 weeks, focused on “Finding Your Life Calling.”
Applying My Strengths
Now that I’ve laid out the projects, we can talk about aiming strengths in the right direction.
Focus on the outcome
Choose type of work
Select specific strengths
Use strengths on purpose
This may sound mechanical at first, but the more you do it, the more automatic it becomes. You’ll start doing this in your head.
Step 1: Focus on the outcome
Get clear on what you must produce. Is it a meeting to plan, a high stakes email to send, a job interview to lead? Is it a building blueprint to draw, an angry parent to calm down, a budget to create? The first step is starting with the end in mind; without it, you don’t know where to aim.
Step 2: Choose the type of work
Decide which type of work will be most useful in producing the outcome. It’s here that I think about the four categories of strengths, called
Step 3: Select specific strengths
Identify specific strengths from the strengths domain/s you just chose. If you think an
Step 4: Use strengths on purpose
Think about how you will use the specific strengths. It’s not enough to pick out a strength or two; you need to decide how you will use them in service of your outcome. The more direct you get about how you will use your strengths, the more likely you are to actually use them.
Splitting out the work
Belief – deciding to take on a Christian worldview for the life calling work
Maximizer – making sure the new website is excellent in look and content
Responsibility – delegating tasks appropriately between specialists and myself
Publishing a book on life calling
Empathy – understanding the needs of readers
Belief – writing content that I believe in
Maximizer – crafting words and stories in the right way
Starting life calling classes
Developer – creating classes that help students grow
Responsibility – offering benefits that deliver on our promises
Empathy – appreciating the perspectives and views of our students
Conclusion
At first, these projects seemed too big to tackle, but when I thought about aiming my strengths at them, they didn’t seem too big anymore. Do your projects feel impossible? Try aiming your strengths in the right direction. That’s an advantage you’ll have over many in the workplace, and a way to truly treat your projects as priorities.