In this article the author identifies that often really talented people struggle in their jobs because they are not in the roles that best suited their individual strengths. People talk about playing to your strengths but often that is easier said than done and the premise is that is because people often undervalue what they inherently do best.
“As a leader, the challenge is not only to spot talent but also to convince your people that you value their talents and that they should, too. This is how you start to build a team of employees who bring their superpowers to work.”
Whitney Johnson, HBR, 2018
The author goes on to suggest a series of questions to help you identify the real strengths of members of your team.
- What exasperates you?
- What compliments do you dismiss?
- What do you think about when you have nothing to think about?
Each of these help you better understand what individuals in your team can do really well that perhaps they had not even considered as their super power. Once you and they are really clear on those strengths you need to make sure that everyone on the team knows and remembers them. The recommendation is to observe people especially when they are at their best because there is a good chance that person might not recognise that they have those skills, so it becomes up to you to place a value on what they do best.
Synopsis of an article from Harvard Business Review Why Talented People Don’t Use Their Strengths by Whitney Johnson Published 8th May 2018 https://hbr.org/2018/05/why-talented-people-dont-use-their-strengths