Strength-based leadership
Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author, workplace wellbeing teacher and playful change activator, she helps organisations using positive psychology and neuroscience to help understand what is happening to people’s brains in complexity and uncertainty. She then provides very small practical ways to start applying these ideas and bring out the best in themselves. In the interview above she talks to Eszter Molnar Mills about strength focused leadership, resilience and the Strength Challenge.
McQuaid, during her work with different organisations, realised not many workplaces are well designed to bring out the best in people. Many of them generate anxiety which makes it harder to put our strengths to work and be more productive and happy in our jobs.
Professor David Cooperrider’s research estimates that most workplaces currently spend about 80% of their time focused on fixing weaknesses and only 20% focused on fixing strengths. His suggestion is that we want to flip this equation.
McQuaid says the trick with these weaknesses is being realistic about the amount of time and energy it really takes to change these behaviours.
A weakness is a weakness because someone’s brain isn’t currently wired to do that behaviour well. ‘Rewiring’ our brains takes time, a lot of effort and practice, and so we should be realistic about the outcome we are likely to achieve. When a leader has a performance conversation with an employee and they focus more the things that employee needs ton o fix about themselves, on average they see performance decline for a period of time afterwards by 27%. When that leader focuses on the employee’s strengths, what’s working for them, that they can do more of, then for the same period of time, on average, we see performance improve by up to 36%. That is a massive difference.
Michelle and her team started a program, called the Strengths Challenge, to improve performance and well-being of employees worldwide. We took part last year and encourage you to join the next challenge 8-12 February 2016.
To find out more about strength focused leadership, Michelle’s immediately actionable suggestions for leaders, the Strengths Challenge, and much more watch the interview above.
Michelle McQuaid is a best-selling author, workplace wellbeing teacher and playful change activator. She fuses the latest science from positive psychology and neurobiology with over a decade of business leadership experience to bring you simple, tested actions to reduce stress and anxiety, cultivate a lasting sense of wellbeing and happiness, and become an exceptional leader. She is the developer of the Strengths Challenge and the co-developer of PERMAH Workplace.
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