Strength-Based Coaching: Leadership Starts with the Self
As an executive coach I have long been interested in positive psychology, the scientific study of how humans can optimize their potential.
I had studied evidence-based coaching at Fielding Graduate University, where their program was informed by the works of such positive-psychology scholars as Martin Seligman, Mihaly Czikszentmhalyi, Ed Diener, Tal Ben-Sahar, Brenda Frederickson, and others.
By now a practicing coach, a few years ago I explored more deeply the strengths-based movement (also influenced by positive psychology) by training with The Marcus Buckingham Company (an ADP company). Now my coaching practice is firmly rooted in the strengths-based approach, a movement based on the latest research. I am proud to have been invited to become a member of the faculty of The Marcus Buckingham Company.
Here in brief are the principles of the strengths-based movement:
We help people recognize the abilities they already have and help them build on their uniqueness. Leadership starts with understanding oneself. Research tells us that those who engage with their strengths every day for a portion of the day will thrive. Not only individual but team engagement will increase.
All of us have aspects of our performance that may require attention so that our leadership potential can be fulfilled. An effective method is to tap into and leverage strengths we already possess. In other words, we need to draw upon our latent resources to establish our agency. Knowing the kind of work that energizes you can be a source of resilience, an important asset in the VUCA world we live in.
Employees – those that companies wish to retain and promote – are interested in learning how to grow their careers. I believe that this worthy aspiration calls for a partnership approach between organizations, their leaders and individuals striving to get ahead. An effective way to initiate such partnerships: initiate conversations so that individuals can uncover and focus on their career aspirations. Facilitate these conversations so that they become more aware of their strengths and how these strengths can be actualized.
During this trying COVID epidemic Marcus Buckingham is offering the StandOut® Strengths Assessment free of charge. The Assessment can be obtained through www.marcusbuckingham.com
You can contact me for additional information on strengths-based coaching.