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You're listening to the Enneagram at Work Podcast, a show about understanding people at work, including yourself. I'm your host, Sarah Wallace, and I'm looking forward to diving into this week's episode with you. Last month, Fast Company shared an article called Transforming Business Culture with Strengths Based Strategies. And I'll include the link to that article here on the show notes. But CEO of Sway Company, which is a marketing agency, Danielle Wiley is the CEO of this organization. She shared three strategies for leading with this strengths-based approach in your organization. She said, quote, uh, that slotting people into stiff one size fits all roles without considering what they're really good at or what fires them up and is starting to look pretty old school. Today's forward-thinking brands are tapping into a powerful strategy, building their organizations around the unique strengths of their employees. Now, um, a lot of my clients, I would say all of my clients who are bringing in and investing time, money, resources into some sort of Enneagram workshop. Um, somebody who is probably listening to a podcast like this is very much probably one of those forward-thinking brands that are already looking for ways to do this. So as I go through these three strategies, I'm guessing that you're probably, you or your organization is probably already doing some of these. So maybe this just kind of validates like keep keep doing this, keep doing what you're doing. Um, maybe there is a new idea that she shares that you hadn't haven't done yet. Um, or maybe there's something that's said in here that sparks your own new idea of how to continue to incorporate this strength-based approach. Uh, because ultimately, and and Danielle also says this that when people do what they're naturally good at, they're going to be happier, they're going to be more engaged, and ultimately more successful. So uh as I was reading this and I ended up sharing this article and these three strategies in a recent Understanding People newsletter, which goes out as something we send out each Saturday morning typically. Um, and I thought, oh, you know, there were some there were some really practical things in here, practical ideas. And this is always a question, you know, how do we take what we're learning beyond just the day? Um, there are a few other episodes that we've done in the past, ones around discussion questions to incorporate into your team meetings um and other future kind of retreat type discussions. Um, there's one around um onboarding, using it um as a new manager. So we'll I'll include the links to those in the show notes here as well. If you haven't caught those already, those might also inspire some ideas. Um, but this one from Danielle, she shares three strategies. And the first one, and she says it's the heart of the whole strength vibe, is figuring out what everyone's good at. So strategy one, uncover strengths. And she says, uncover strengths with a little help. So this could be Clifton Strength Finder, could be some help here. Uh Myers Briggs is one, disc assessment, Colby, Enneagram, shameless plug here. Um, uh, but she's saying, you know, you need some sort of tool, some sort of uh help so that you can identify uh what those unique capabilities of each of the team members are, what sets them apart, why are they a standout contributor? Um and she said they these type of assessments can also shift the emphasis from focusing on correcting weaknesses to boosting strengths. And that's what we talk a lot about too in our in the Enneagram workshops is yeah, you know, let's be aware of these quote unquote weaknesses, which I think just end up being strengths that are overused, uh, that just get dialed up to, you know, a level 10 and the situation is in a level 10, it's maybe a level two. Um, so we want to be careful about, you know, how we deal with those quote unquote weaknesses, because we might also put out the what lights the strengths. Um, so just kind of dialing in those strengths, understand how to dial those up. And then also something that she didn't mention, but I hear time and time again, um, and obviously I I believe it as somebody who teaches and loves the Enneagram, that the Enneagram can provide some tendencies that we each do and highlight those unique strengths and different personalities. Um, it also highlights our different views or the lens that we're potentially seeing a situation from, which can also be um, I guess, kind of an indirect strength. And then also understanding what is motivating that particular behavior or why is somebody maybe looking at the situation like this or or thinking this way. And with the Enneagram, it it kind of takes us back a few steps so that we understand what is that feeling need that then is influencing the thinking, that then is influencing the behavior. And when we understand, okay, what is that person? Probably unconsciously, what what feeling need are they trying to get met? Is it safety and security? Is it excitement? Is it perfection? Is it connection? Is it, you know, power? Is it to feel at peace, avoid conflict, feel unique? Um, whatever that might be, understanding that can also give the team some interesting and important insight that ties into strengths, but also is is a little bit different piece of information, but can also be really valuable. So, first though, before we can even start utilizing people's strengths and understanding their viewpoints, um, we need we need something to help us do that, kind of put language to that. So if you're listening to this, I'm assuming the Enneagram has been on your list or is is something you're interested in. Um but as I mentioned, there's lots of other tools that are great complements to the Enneagram or just in in general can help support this. So the next strategy she said, and this is the kind of the big question that people are always asking or people are thinking about after a workshop, is weaving those strengths into your company's DNA. So, how can you how can you take what you're learning and start to use it on a more regular basis? She said one of those ideas is to kick things off by having every new hire undergo some sort of personalized strength discovery session um shortly after journal joining. Um, I actually got to do uh an assessment um results review, something similar to this with somebody and it was their very first day. And so I love that this organization is uh so and this it would be a great example of somebody in real life actually doing this. So almost exactly a year ago, um, I took this company, a specific uh department, uh maybe a couple different departments, um, through a half-day Enneagram workshop. And then since then, we've done some additional training with their leadership team. We've dug deeper how to use it in a leadership role, what to know about your leadership style, how to use it with your team. And then also as they bring on new leaders, new team members, um, they'll go through an initial Enneagram assessment, sit down with myself or another one of our Enneagram coaches, review the results, review the team map. So they have an idea of, you know, okay, here's here's what uh, you know, your strengths are, lean into this. And some of these people, especially in these leadership roles, have done, you know, have done it all. They may have already gone through an Enneagram assessment 10 years ago. They may have Clifton strengths, they may have their disc results. So they're bringing all that. Um, and so we'll review the results. And sometimes it's like, oh yeah, like you are incredibly um, like you've done this several times, very self-aware. Yes, here's this type. Or it might be, hey, you know, um, these are the top two or three types. Continue to to dive into those more, learn about those, you know, uh talk with your teammates who identify with each of those to help you narrow down your own as you go. So we may leave the session with some clear, like, this is my type. I'm gonna order the t-shirt. And then other times, gosh, I'm still, you know, I still got to do that. It's just an hour. Um, and a lot of these, so we we we sometimes don't get there, but we get some additional clarity, some diff, some additional things to reflect on. And we also have an opportunity to look at the leadership team map. This is where you fit in. Oh, this makes so much sense why you're really gonna thrive here, or maybe they're really different. And it's like, oh, this makes sense. This is why this team needs you. So, you know, make, you know, have some sort of discussion about that new leader or that new teammates uh strengths and how it fits in and complements, maybe fills in the gaps with the current team. And then we'll also, if it's available, look at their team, who they will be leading, departments they'll be working closely with, look at that team map and have some conversations about some standout themes based on their type and and the rest of their group. And that can really be helpful for the new hire. Uh, there was uh a group I did a couple months ago, and somebody had just joined, I think it was like the last the three or first three or four weeks of this person's career at the or this person's job uh with this company. And um they had said at the end of the workshop, they said, Oh my gosh, I'm so glad I did this. They were a remote team, they had all come together uh for this all company, all team meeting. And I said, I'm so glad we did this because this probably saved me like six to nine months, maybe even a year of trying to get to know my teammates. And I feel like there's some things that they've learned about me that maybe I wouldn't have shared until later on. Um, and so it just kind of helps speed up the process in some of these situations for the new hire and then also for the team to understand this new hire and both ways. So I love that uh using it in the new hire process, the onboarding process. And then she also said that weaving strengths into your company's DNA, another uh tip for the strategy was at your whether it's monthly meetings, quarterly meetings, annual, you know, all team meetings, um incorporating some activities, maybe some additional training centered around leveraging everybody's individual strengths and making sure that those strengths and those principles that you're learning about aren't just understood, but they are actively practiced. And so I thought, okay, I'll I'll share some things that we do in a workshop, but I also uh went over here to Chat GPT and I said, uh, give us some some different strengths activities that we can use in some team building meetings. And it said, let's see, it gave me seven here. I don't know that I'm gonna share all seven. I don't know if they're all all seven of them are are are bangers or worthy of sharing. But um one of them was around role playing. And I love this. We do it typically, I would say eight out of ten times we do it in a different way where we kind of swap types to practice putting ourselves in a different lens. But I like the idea of role playing where you create different scenarios or simulations where team members have to use their strengths to overcome a challenge or to achieve a goal. Um, and so ChatGPT said, for example, you could simulate a difficult client meeting where different team members must use their strengths in communication, problem solving, and persuasion to reach a successful outcome. And so one of the things that we've also started doing in our Enneagram workshops based on attendee feedback is doing the role play and then having the rest of the group um comment. We'll always have the participants who are part of that role play like comment how did things go? What would you do differently and kind of comment on each other that participated? And then we also have the audience share some things that they saw for additional insight. And so I could see this one being really interesting because there's going to be some people who um, you know, tend to speak, you know, our eights tend to speak more directly, tend to kind of, you know, uh short and sweet, speak concisely with confidence, and they they may need to deliver some bad news. And that strength to just tell it, you know, get it out, um, and then start the problem solving could be a great strength that you bring in there. Um another strength that you might want to maybe go into this as a peer or depending on the client is, you know, really being empathetic. And, you know, this is really hard, or you know, I'm uh, you know, the, you know, maybe it's not even your fault, but having a difficult conversation with a client that maybe doesn't involve as much problem solving, but just involves more kind of relationship, uh, empathy, understanding, kind of just sitting, being able to listen and take their complaints, and they might be upset, but just sitting with them and understanding where they're coming from might be a strength that somebody else has. And so those are those are some examples, but you know, within your own team, you'll be able to come up with with more specific real life scenarios. But I like that because you practice. Um we used to do this in in my old sales role. Um, every day we would role play. And, you know, of course it's not, you know, 100% accurate. You don't, you know, sometimes the clients easier, sometimes they're way harder than they would be in real life. But the intention of it is just to practice, just practice like kind of being put on the spot, practice maybe fumbling through some words, practice tapping into your strength. Like, hey, wait a minute, I'm really good at this. Let me use this. Or, you know, as a participant or as a manager, watching your uh team member go through this, say, hey, you know what? You're you're really good at this. Make sure that you're tapping into that in these sort of situations. So I love the idea of these role-playing scenarios or doing a simulation. Um, let's see, another one that they talked about was this strength-based peer mentoring. And I haven't done this one. Um, so I can't speak to it from real life experience, but I do love the idea. So if you are already doing this or um think it's a great idea and end up trying it out, I would love to hear how it goes. Um, I think there's different programs, like especially some of these larger organizations who do strength-based peer mentoring or some sort of like peer partnership. Um, but I like the idea of this where you pair team members with complementary strengths and encourage them to kind of share how they navigate different certain situations, how they think about certain situations, and, you know, mentor or share whatever of the term you want to use. Um, and the chat GBDs said, you know, for example, a team member with strong analytical thinking can mentor another team member who wants to improve maybe their data analysis skills while the other person can mentor the former in a different area where they excel. Maybe that is networking, relationship building. And so you have like such a great kind of pairing. Um, and they could be somebody that you ask questions for too when you have, you know, a specific challenge that maybe isn't your strength. So I really liked, um, I really liked that idea as well. Um, and then they mentioned one that I think we're gonna talk about here in just a second, but they, Chat GPT, um, said the last one I'll share with you is strength-based feedback sessions, where you hold regular feedback sessions with team members and they provide constructive feedback on each other's strengths. This encourages a positive and supportive environment where team members can appreciate each other's contributions and learn from each other. Okay, so this one I brought up because I have done inside workshops. And um, it depends on the workshop and it depends on the timing, but typically how I'll use this is we'll do um kind of a mixed type session. So sometimes we break out by type, um, other times we break out by specific teams or clusters that will come together um just with with different types come together. And one of the questions um is what's a strength that you see in your teammate? And every person will kind of be in that hot seat. And for some of us, that is really uncomfortable for people to tell us like what we're good at. It can feel really weird, but it can feel so good at the same time. And it's really interesting, I've heard from people, to hear what people notice about them. And it's a lot of times it's it's things like they don't even think about that is so meaningful and people see as a huge strength. And I've shared this example before, but it's one of my favorites. Um, where um it could be any, any person could be this way, but just uh to be specific, um, there was a type eight who was in this, you know, the the strengths hot seat with their group, and multiple people around the table had said, you know, yes, like we've talked about some of these like overuse strengths where maybe you can be domineering, you know, maybe we're it might feel scary to bring you bad news because we're not gonna know your reaction. However, I know that when I have a problem and I come into your office, like I know that you're gonna help me figure it out. Like I feel confident, like you instill confidence in me. I am confident in you that it will be addressed. Um, I feel confident that you'll be able to help me address it. And that feels so good. And at the end of the day, this person, this type A had stood up and shared. We kind of shared some key takeaways from those discussions. And he said, man, that means the world to me. I'd never thought about this really being a strength. Um, I didn't think about it being something that people even notice. But, you know, hearing it a couple times makes me really think, wow, you know, it validates what I'm doing, you know, keep doing that. Um, makes me feel good that people notice that. And uh, you know, I'm gonna make sure that I do more of it. And so that could be something where, you know, we spend so much time talking about, oh, you can improve this or get better at this, or you drop the ball over here. What are you gonna do differently next time? I don't know that we do as much around highlighting our strengths. And so, you know, maybe it's a quarterly meeting, maybe it's a fun retreat, or maybe it's just like incorporated into a weekly meeting. And that gets kind of into the next section here. Uh, the last strategy is uh she said, getting started strengths-based company actions. And so in this article, uh, Danielle shares some other specific activities to get started with incorporating these principles and starting to practice them. So she said, one, invest in some sort of strength assessment, whatever it is, um, you need some sort of tool. And what we'll talk about in our workshops is these tools are kind of like the mirror. So you can, you know, if you're if you have a beard, you can you can shave your beard, sure, without a mirror. Um, if you wear makeup, you can sure. You can put makeup on without a mirror. But you know, how did you do? You don't know what what'd you do great? What where did you maybe miss a spot? Where did you do too much? Um, it's hard to tell without a mirror. And so these tools, assessments, um provide that mirror, give us a give us a clear picture of of where we're at. Doesn't mean we have to be there forever, we're always gonna be like this. Um, but just hey, here's a here's where you're at right now. Here's a clear picture. Um, she said the second strategy was having personalized strength discussions. So if you're a manager scheduling these one-on-one meetings um to help each of your team members understand, understand their strengths and how they can be applied in their roles. And so during our Enneagram workshops, each person will get field guidebooks. And so, you know, maybe it's in this situation, uh, you know, the manager is pulling up that field guidebook. Okay, here's all the the uh strengths, uh, strengths and tendencies and kind of ways of looking at the world for a type five. Um now let's look at you know this person's job duties, their roles, their team dynamics, client dynamics, um, and company initiatives, company goals, whatever it is. And like let's overlay these and make sure that we're really highlighting. And that's the thing too. I say this all the time. I just love the Enneagram because it gives us some language. Um, and all of these, all of these tools just kind of broaden our language beyond great job on completing that project on time. It's like, well, what about that was such a great job? Or why were they able to complete it on time, or why were what was, yeah, what was so great about it? Um, giving more specific feedback, even when it's good feedback, making sure, especially when it's good feedback, that you're being very specific about it. Um, she said these in-depth conversations not only clarify the individual's contributions, but also foster a sense of value and belonging for that person receiving that feedback. So they're gonna be, you know, that much more motivated, they're gonna feel that much more value, they're probably gonna be more satisfied in that job role if they're hearing these kind of things from from you as the manager or from their manager. Uh the third strategy or additional strategy she listed here is incorporate strengths into team meetings. So this is this is what we just uh Chat GPT just shared with us. Regularly include these strength-based activities and trainings into team meetings to keep the concepts fresh and applicable. For example, starting a meeting with a strength spotlight where team members share recent success stories tied to their strength, or um maybe they spotlight other people that they've worked with. They've noticed, hey, you know, I know that Tim has really great um, you know, people skills, networking skills. And we were at uh an industry event and I just saw him, I was blown away at how he was able to work the room and speak to people and maybe land at a sale at that meeting or whatever that is. So um I think sometimes it's harder for people to kind of toot their own horn. So maybe start out with the tooting each other's horn, but I do love the idea of people starting to look for and recognize and pay attention to their own strengths and then start to kind of claim those. Like, hey, I'm really good at this. And I I was able to uh I was able to use that this week with a client or on a project. So I I love that too. Um, and then the other one I also love, and we have talked about this one before, is uh to use this strength-based approach and fostering more efficient, productive, happier, maybe less stress, interdepartment collaboration. So set up cross-departmental meetings with a twist where the focus is on meshing together the diverse strengths of different teams. So maybe you're bringing the legal team together with the marketing and branding team. Maybe you're bringing the editorial team together with the sales team. Maybe you're bringing the finance team with the business development team. And uh you can start to say, hey, your group as a whole is great at this, and our group as a whole is great at this. And this is the goal of the company, and this is how we can kind of collaborate and tap into each other's strengths. Maybe even talk about, hey, this is where we might uh, you know, struggle a bit. We might have an obstacle and go ahead and plan for that, talk it out. But this is how our we can overcome that with our different strengths. Um, and I liked what she said here. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say exactly how she said this because I love this term. She said it's about turning potential conflict zones into creative hotspots. I love that creative or let's see, potential conflict zones into creative hotspots by recognizing and valuing the unique contributions of each department. So that could be a great way. Um, and then the last one she had on here was around celebrating strengths regularly. So, you know, when in an individual or a team successfully uses their strength to achieve a goal, um, do some sort of, you know, is it a is it just a small appreciation, uh, a word of encouragement? Is it a, you know, a Slack message? Is it a newsletter shout out? Um, is there, you know, a quarterly team event where you're gonna celebrate and talk about the milestones, or maybe in real time, don't wait for the meeting. In real time, can you shout them out? Um now, I will say, um sounds like a great idea, but I have learned thanks to the Enneagram, there are some types that don't necessarily love this public shout out and not even types. Um, and and the type I'm thinking about is type nine. Now, not all type nines are gonna be this way, but just that awareness, um, maybe a conversation. Like, how do you prefer to be appreciated and recognized for your strengths, for your efforts? Um, and some people might say, Yeah, whatever you want to do, or sure, yeah, call me on stage, give me a trophy, take my picture, put it in the newsletter. Yes. And others might say, Oh my gosh, I would die. That would actually, you know, that would actually be uh counterproductive. Uh I would just love maybe, you know, send me a note, send me a Slack, you know, drop a Starbucks gift card off of my desk, and and I'll know you you appreciate me. Um, so those kind of conversations too also can be started with with trainings and discussions around the Enneagram. But I like that idea of regularly celebrating those strengths. So those are some specific strategies uh to take whether, you know, whatever assessment you've done in the past, if you're planning an Enneagram assessment, um, one thing that we've started incorporating in our uh pre-workshop meetings is to going into the day of the training to start planning ahead and you know, identifying one or two people that can come together after the workshop with you as the manager, the leader. So that way you're going into the day with just knowing, like, okay, how are we going to use this beyond the day? And here's some key people that we identify that are going to help us do that. And so um, yes, let's go through the experience, let's be engaged, let's pay attention, let's be present. But also as we're going through this, those individuals that have been identified, let's also kind of keep the, you know, our minds open, on the lookout for ways to use this beyond the day. So I love having that conversation um beforehand because I think then you go into the experience uh with just you know that awareness and you're looking for specific things rather than after the experience, you're like, gosh, I wish I would have been thinking about this sooner. So I like having that conversation beforehand and just kind of identifying people to help you out to keep that alive beyond the day. So we have talked about three strategies from this fast company article that Danielle, the CEO at Sway Group, has shared with us, talking about you gotta find out people's strengths, understand their viewpoints, an assessment can really help with that. Um, two, you gotta weave it into your company's DNA. It's gotta be kind of a way of operation, whether that's the way that you hire, use it in the onboarding process, use it in quarterly meetings, regular meetings, whatever those are. And then she shared um additional ideas where, you know, it's you're incorporating it into your one-on-one conversations, you're incorporating it into your team conversations, you're incorporating it into your cross-departmental uh collaboration conversations and you know, project uh managements, starting a new project. So I love all of these ideas uh for doing that. And I just love the thought to kind of keep that eye, you know, keep your eye open, keep your keep your mind uh open, like how can we use this? So you have, you know, the day of the workshop, whether it's an Enneagram workshop, whatever it might be, you have these ideas from today. And then you're gonna have your own, you know, specific scenarios, situations, challenges, company goals. And so bringing all that together and coming up with your own kind of implementation and practice plan. Um, we always we will talk about, you know, turning information into implementation. And that's what that's what we're doing here. Um, and it doesn't have to be all of them all in one day, right? You just start somewhere, you just pick the place. You know, maybe you're bringing on a lot of new people, you're in a hiring season. It makes sense to start there. Uh, maybe you're not really doing a lot of hiring. So it makes sense to start with, you know, incorporating this into your one-on-one manager meetings, or um you you work with a lot of uh different groups within your organization, maybe having some sort of cross-departmental conversation and initiative uh could be great fit, could be a great fit. So with that, um, if you happen to be already doing some of these things or you hear something today and you try it, I would love to hear about it. We have the new Enneagram hotline. You can leave a voice memo and let us know. You can leave a text message, you can type it. You don't even have to talk. Um, I know some people don't love their voice. So you could just type what you're doing, what's worked, what hasn't. Um, if you want to share more on a future podcast episode, that would be great too, because this is one of those topics that is really important. I think it's really fun to learn about the Enneagram and you know, all the details and ins and outs of all the different types and subtypes and wings and uh all of that. However, um at the end of the day, really, it's like, well, we need that and we just can't stop there. We need to practice it, we need to weave it into um our own professional development, our our company in general, our team in general. So um these kind of conversations and ideas and real life experiences with with implementing them are so valuable. Um, obviously, I like to hear about it, um, but it's really valuable to other people too to get their own ideas for how to how to weave that in. So um let me know if you have ideas. And then as always, if you're listening to this and are thinking, oh my gosh, yes, we are ready to do something as a team. We want to use the Enneagram as our kind of go-to assessment. I'm gonna invite you to check out our Enneagram MBA workshop options. We have everything from you know, 90 minutes to a full day to multiple days, um, incorporating programming in there. So all of that uh you can start over at Enneagram MBA.com. With that, as always, thank you for being here, and I look forward to seeing you in the next one.