Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of “Imposter Syndrome” – the propensity to feel like you’re going to be ‘found out’ by everybody due to this or that weakness you have, despite your many accomplishments?

In the face of this defeating self-talk, a greater focus on strengths can provide a validation of your skill set. It feels better because you’re using the natural talents you already have inside you and bringing them out, front and center. The same is true for the teams that you lead.

A Focus On Weaknesses Doesn’t Pay

Leaders who solely focus on weaknesses face these common challenges:

· Missed revenue & profitably goals

· Poor client service delivery

· Team conflict & turf wars

· Absenteeism & high turnover

Many leaders expend an enormous amount of energy obsessing about weaknesses and effort trying to develop their personal and team’s weaknesses. In the long run, it’s a BIG waste of time and ROI. All that energy and effort is more productively spent on areas of talent, where growth is exponential.You can expend an enormous amount of energy in obsessing about weaknesses and a great amount of effort trying to develop weaknesses. That is a bad investment and the ROI simply isn’t there. Focusing on fixing weaknesses produces incremental results, at best. In the long run, all that energy and effort is more productively spent on the things you already have talent in where the results are exponential.

So let’s come at this problem with a simple approach of naming, claiming, and aiming your talents and turning them into strengths.

In our work at Aspiration Catalyst, we’re frequently helping our clients identify their top talents and classify their value. This is called naming your talents.

Once you have a better sense of your strengths you’re still wondering, “How do I utilize them today? How do they help me achieve success? “ Fortunately, being a natural part of who you are, with a little guidance it doesn’t take long for you to see how your strengths fit into the big picture of your daily life. In that moment, you get it. You own it. This is called claiming your talents.

Now you are ready to aim your talents. How could you invest in elevating each of these top talents into strengths? How will you leverage them to achieve your priorities and goals?

The best way forward is always in the direction of strength

Some of our clients have experienced the “tear down” process as part of development programs. In strengths work, you don’t have to be completely torn down via thorough, unforgiving assessments before the real work can begin.

In light of what we’ve been talking about as far as naming, claiming, and aiming your talents, we begin from a more positive mindset vs. dwelling on the negative. This holds true in how we approach individual strength building as well as how organizations can work to elevate their strengths. What does your team do well? What are the talents that are uniquely yours that contribute to a successful culture? How can you organize work so that each team member gets to do what they do best?

In the case of one leader I remember very distinctly, there was trepidation that I could feel as soon as I entered the room. The senior leaders of the sales organization were seated around the table and staring at me intently. Within the first 10 minutes of our meeting, one person raised his hand and asked, “OK, so when does the ‘tear down’ part start?"

I asked him to explain what he meant by the ‘tear-down part.’

He said, “I know how this works. You coaches tear us down first and later you build us back up again. I just wondered when the tear-down part was going to begin so I can be ready for it.”

I reassured him that there was no ‘tear-down’ part of our meeting. Instead, we started from a foundation of talent where people could feel strong and build from there.

At that moment, the mood completely changed in the room. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and the atmosphere felt lighter. The leadership team was grateful that our time together was going to be a positive experience, one in which they would feel empowered. They were ready to engage and turn insights and plans into actions.

Moving From Plans To Action

There’s nothing like understanding what your unique talents are, where your contribution can be, and how to bring those talents into the world so others can fully appreciate them. But make no mistake – there’s one more key step, which is moving your talents off the paper or whiteboard and fully executing action items that can impact your business in a positive way, over and over again. Don’t just talk about your talents and make plans. Learn how to live those talents every day so you can turn them into strengths and propel your performance and business forward. When you unleash this power in your team the results are off the charts.

It’s in these moments that a different perspective can be just what you need to create momentum and get great results in building a high-performance team with consistent results.