Beyond 2021, leaders are going to face unprecedented challenges and opportunities due to the pandemic and the new shifts it has brought. Adapting is important as you lead your engineering team through the new normal, or more accurately, the next normal. In order to address this convoluted and constantly changing business landscape, leaders are turning to strengths-based leadership. As engineering leaders, you should too.
What is strengths-based leadership?
The phrase “strengths-based” is a giveaway. Strengths-based leadership is a theory where, as a leader, you focus on the strengths of your organizational systems, resources, and people. You do not only focus on those strengths that are capitalized on, leveraged, and expedited, but also include those that are continuously being developed. Strengths-based leaders strategize to achieve efficiency, productivity, and success.
Strengths-based leaders operate on the premise that growing the strengths in people is more potent than fixing their weaknesses. This, though, does not mean that weaknesses are condoned. A strengths-based approach is applied – whereby the focus is minimizing the unfavorable effects of weaknesses while building talent.
According to an article published by Positive Psychology, 20 years ago, a team of experts at Gallup conducted an extensive study and came up with 3 key strategies of successful leaders:
- Investing in the strengths of the workforce
- Pooling the right and talent-relevant people to create the best teams
- Understanding and fulfilling the needs of followers
The Gallup research also revealed the following:
- No two leaders are the same.
- Imitating the skills of others will not bring the greatest benefits.
- Leaders should capitalize on their strengths, instead of trying to be good at everything.
When you highlight your followers’ strengths and agility, you become more approachable. This is because leaders who do not harp on weakness are friendly leaders who provide a safe workspace.
Strengths-based leaders say, “Let’s go,” and not, “You can go.” Strengths-based leaders look for naturally present talent and acquired skills. These talents and skills are then harnessed to benefit your team and meet organizational goals.
Develop strengths-based leadership skills by enrolling in the Engineering Leadership certificate program offered by Genashtim in collaboration with eCornell.
eCornell courses are approved by SkillsFuture Singapore for SkillsFuture Credit as well as by HRD Corp Malaysia under its SBL-Khas Scheme.