[Applause]
it seems it’s probably the most commonly
asked question in any job interview for
any position in any company in any
industry you know what it is what are
your strengths and weaknesses right it’s
so common in fact that for the
interviewer it feels like a softball
question and for the interviewee it
should feel like you’ve got a copy of
the test ahead of time right that said
you would be surprised how many people
flub that question how does that happen
well we get answers like oh I’m a
perfectionist or I’m a workaholic
and honestly I can’t tell if they’re
bragging about it as a strength or
apologizing for it as a weakness the
other thing that happens is I’ll have a
candidate that gives me back some form
of the job description so I’ve had
accountants tell me that they’re really
good with numbers
I’ve had teachers tell me I’m really
good at explaining complicated ideas to
other people
good let me explain something that’s why
you got the interview okay
because I already know that about you
I’ve got a resume or an application so
I’ve got the flat two dimensions of you
the work preparation whether through
degrees or apprenticeships or
internships and I’ve got the work
experience job titles positions work
projects completed what I don’t have is
that third dimension I don’t know what
makes you you and wide rather have you
on my team than somebody else who can
present those same two dimensions to me
I’m eager to know what makes you you
whether you’re going to fit into my
organization whether you can work well
the team that I’ve already put together
in that I’m pretty pleased with right so
what’s happening here why are we hiding
that third dimension I’ll tell you a
quick story about a young woman
incredibly bright she’s put herself
through three degrees working two and
three part-time jobs at a time she
called me up and said Joe I’ve been
offered a position and want to talk to
you about negotiating for does it okay
tell me about the position and she did
it sounded pretty flat so I said well
tell me something are you excited about
this position and she said well not
really I said okay well is it in an
industry you’re trying to get your foot
in the door hmm no not really I said are
they at least paying you a
knock-your-socks-off salary right and
she told me the salary and it did indeed
knock my socks off
not in a good way okay so here she was
having worked so hard I mean put herself
through three degrees and getting ready
to take that first professional position
in a position she wasn’t crazy about in
an industry she wasn’t wild about and
didn’t see much of a future in and for a
salary that she really couldn’t even
afford to live on so I said let’s back
up a minute
what’s got you talking to these people
about this job and she says well Joe
it’s a job okay what more
well they approached me I said you’re
gonna have a lot of vultures out there
approaching you like this let me tell
you they’ll take advantage of you every
time I said so let’s take another pulse
why don’t you tell me what your
strengths are and let’s see how we can
put those into this equation she got
quiet she says well I’m a good
researcher I said of course you are
you’re getting a doctorate in research
methodology what are your real strengths
what makes you you what do you bring to
the table and she said Joe I don’t think
I know and I said well what does that
tell you she says I guess I don’t really
know my value Wow right is that okay
let’s back up let’s talk about learning
more about your strengths getting to
know yourself a little better okay
fortunately there’s some great
instruments out there to help do that
because what a lot of us do is we ask
our spouse or our parents what are my
strengths how honest do you think that
is come right
what we really need is an independent
measure and that’s what we have access
to these days instruments like strengths
finder through the Gallup corporation 50
years of research on strengths finder
and the strengths movement
asking the key question what are your
strengths and what makes you you
right there are other instruments out
there the values in action is one
assessment tool to suffer through the
University of Pennsylvania and the work
of dr. Marty Seligman there is also some
other interesting areas of research that
are kind of coming together in some
really powerful rates right now about
strengths one is strengths finder one is
the work on appreciative inquiry which
is asking the question what’s right
about me and we can extend that say
what’s right about my company what’s
right about my community and we get some
powerful answers to give us real
insights about what is it that we’re
doing right and another area of
inquiries positive psychology dr.
Barbara Fredrickson over at do it’s
doing incredible work that teaches us
what is the power of optimism and
believe it or not it can be learned and
it can be harnessed and it can help us
improve our lives for Shelby this young
woman that I was working with I wanted
her to see what her strengths were in a
way that could help her flesh out what
it was about a position she’d really
want that she could really get excited
about
she took strengths finder she called me
up later and she says I’ve got my top
five strengths I said okay let’s start
do they make sense to you she says but
they’re kind of interesting I said do
tell right what’s your top strengths
interestingly enough for a research her
top strength was individualization so
why is that some interesting well let’s
think about what researchers do they ask
questions they seek solutions and they
try to push them all together right so
that we can understand trends we can
understand what most people think is the
right answer or solution to any given
question her top strength is
individualization that tells me she’s
not so interested in this as she isn’t
that what are the outliers right why
weren’t these people responding
the same as the rest of the group what
is their experience what is their point
of view what’s their perspective that’s
making them respond differently that’s a
very different kind of researcher ednan
for second strength this activator and
what that tells us is that this is
somebody who doesn’t want to do research
put data together with an analysis and
hand it off to somebody and let it sit
on their desk all right she wants people
to know that they are going to do
something with that research
she’s an activator her third strength is
strategic so it’s not just activation
it’s meaningful activation how are we
going to look at this problem bring
together all the voices create a plan of
action that is going to take us from
where we are to where we want to go
that’s going to help us actually solve
the problem now she had something to
work with
right now she knows the kind of
questions that she asks matter to her
personally that what people do with her
research matters to her personally and
that there is truly accomplishment at
the end of the day matters to her
personally so this was a great exercise
for a young woman starting out in a
professional position well it streets
finder or learning your strengths
through one of these other seismic tools
is that really just for for starters
fortunately no it’s equally valuable for
people who feel like they’re stuck right
I worked with the client who was a
Community Relations Specialist for a
corporation that had moved into a pretty
difficult area of the country there was
a lot of poverty illiteracy violent
crime teenage pregnancy
just the kinds of things you would want
to move somewhere for right so the
company invested in a community
relations specialist I met with her she
came into an executive leadership
interview panel said
and if you remember Pigpen from the
Charlie Brown cartoons for all the dust
is flying she was like that with papers
and schedules she was late she was
acting all of that and she had to tell
us how many meetings she had already
been in that day and how many meetings
she had still to go in after our session
her biggest message her whole time was
that she was busy okay and the
implication was that she worked harder
than anybody else in the room well you
can imagine how that goes over right
okay so we talked about it later I said
let’s talk about your strengths and she
says my strength is solving problems
like poverty and teenage pregnancy in
the literacy and I said how you doing
with that and it comes back that she’s
very frustrated you can imagine why
right these are tough problems and she
feels like her boss doesn’t understand
what she does and she feels that she’s
not making the contribution she wants to
make interesting enough when she did
strengths finder guess what her top
strength was it wasn’t community
activism and it wasn’t problem solving
it was being a connector right and in
that conversation in that reimagining
what her job and what her role was she
could create a whole new set of goals to
understand that it wasn’t her job to
solve poverty or illiteracy or teenage
pregnancy her job was to bring together
the people who could all right it’s a
very different kind of goal-setting with
a very different kind of evaluation and
a very different reward at the end of
the day so when we know our strengths
and when we can use the language of
strengths we stop all the churning and
we put ourselves in a position to talk
with our bosses they talk with our
colleagues to talk with others about
what we do particularly well and how we
make a difference the great thing is
beyond entry-level positions
being stuck in the middle there are ways
that we can refine and reset our
workplace persona every single day by
using our strengths to illuminate that
third dimension of who we are and what
we bring to the table while sitting in
an airport a couple of weeks ago it’s a
young couple sitting behind me and she’s
talking to her boyfriend about clearly
her assessment of her first week on her
new job okay and you could hear
frustration in her voice I’m listening
she says well I had this great
assignment and I had plenty of time to
do it and I finished it and he said so
what’s the problem she said well I had
too much time to do it and I couldn’t
decide whether I should turn it in early
or wait until the deadline to give it to
my boss what okay it turns out that
being a buttinsky is not a strength so I
kept it to myself but I am thinking
point if I could give this woman some
advice you know what I tell her turn it
in turn it in now turn it in early point
out the accuracy of the work right
because my bed is her strengths or that
she’s an achiever
she likes to check things off her to-do
list right that she’s responsible she
sees how things come together and what
she owns as part of her job and then
that she’s valuing significance I want
to do more things that are meaningful
and important ultimately what she could
have done is told herself at least the
hopefully even her boss you don’t know
me very well yet but this is what I do
this is what I bring to the table you’re
gonna be pleased with me you’re gonna
want to keep me around you’re gonna want
to invest in me you’re gonna want to pay
me well you’re gonna want to give me top
assignments because I’m gonna make us
both look good and I’m gonna make our
company
look good and do better how exciting is
that
when you think about getting up every
day to go to a job and asking yourself
the fundamental question am i inspired
today am i doing something that matters
and we all deserve to do things that
matter the important thing for her and
for all the people in these stories is
that by understanding their strengths
they now understood their value and that
is a job well done thank you
[Applause]
it seems it’s probably the most commonly
asked question in any job interview for
any position in any company in any
industry you know what it is what are
your strengths and weaknesses right it’s
so common in fact that for the
interviewer it feels like a softball
question and for the interviewee it
should feel like you’ve got a copy of
the test ahead of time right that said
you would be surprised how many people
flub that question how does that happen
well we get answers like oh I’m a
perfectionist or I’m a workaholic
and honestly I can’t tell if they’re
bragging about it as a strength or
apologizing for it as a weakness the
other thing that happens is I’ll have a
candidate that gives me back some form
of the job description so I’ve had
accountants tell me that they’re really
good with numbers
I’ve had teachers tell me I’m really
good at explaining complicated ideas to
other people
good let me explain something that’s why
you got the interview okay
because I already know that about you
I’ve got a resume or an application so
I’ve got the flat two dimensions of you
the work preparation whether through
degrees or apprenticeships or
internships and I’ve got the work
experience job titles positions work
projects completed what I don’t have is
that third dimension I don’t know what
makes you you and wide rather have you
on my team than somebody else who can
present those same two dimensions to me
I’m eager to know what makes you you
whether you’re going to fit into my
organization whether you can work well
the team that I’ve already put together
in that I’m pretty pleased with right so
what’s happening here why are we hiding
that third dimension I’ll tell you a
quick story about a young woman
incredibly bright she’s put herself
through three degrees working two and
three part-time jobs at a time she
called me up and said Joe I’ve been
offered a position and want to talk to
you about negotiating for does it okay
tell me about the position and she did
it sounded pretty flat so I said well
tell me something are you excited about
this position and she said well not
really I said okay well is it in an
industry you’re trying to get your foot
in the door hmm no not really I said are
they at least paying you a
knock-your-socks-off salary right and
she told me the salary and it did indeed
knock my socks off
not in a good way okay so here she was
having worked so hard I mean put herself
through three degrees and getting ready
to take that first professional position
in a position she wasn’t crazy about in
an industry she wasn’t wild about and
didn’t see much of a future in and for a
salary that she really couldn’t even
afford to live on so I said let’s back
up a minute
what’s got you talking to these people
about this job and she says well Joe
it’s a job okay what more
well they approached me I said you’re
gonna have a lot of vultures out there
approaching you like this let me tell
you they’ll take advantage of you every
time I said so let’s take another pulse
why don’t you tell me what your
strengths are and let’s see how we can
put those into this equation she got
quiet she says well I’m a good
researcher I said of course you are
you’re getting a doctorate in research
methodology what are your real strengths
what makes you you what do you bring to
the table and she said Joe I don’t think
I know and I said well what does that
tell you she says I guess I don’t really
know my value Wow right is that okay
let’s back up let’s talk about learning
more about your strengths getting to
know yourself a little better okay
fortunately there’s some great
instruments out there to help do that
because what a lot of us do is we ask
our spouse or our parents what are my
strengths how honest do you think that
is come right
what we really need is an independent
measure and that’s what we have access
to these days instruments like strengths
finder through the Gallup corporation 50
years of research on strengths finder
and the strengths movement
asking the key question what are your
strengths and what makes you you
right there are other instruments out
there the values in action is one
assessment tool to suffer through the
University of Pennsylvania and the work
of dr. Marty Seligman there is also some
other interesting areas of research that
are kind of coming together in some
really powerful rates right now about
strengths one is strengths finder one is
the work on appreciative inquiry which
is asking the question what’s right
about me and we can extend that say
what’s right about my company what’s
right about my community and we get some
powerful answers to give us real
insights about what is it that we’re
doing right and another area of
inquiries positive psychology dr.
Barbara Fredrickson over at do it’s
doing incredible work that teaches us
what is the power of optimism and
believe it or not it can be learned and
it can be harnessed and it can help us
improve our lives for Shelby this young
woman that I was working with I wanted
her to see what her strengths were in a
way that could help her flesh out what
it was about a position she’d really
want that she could really get excited
about
she took strengths finder she called me
up later and she says I’ve got my top
five strengths I said okay let’s start
do they make sense to you she says but
they’re kind of interesting I said do
tell right what’s your top strengths
interestingly enough for a research her
top strength was individualization so
why is that some interesting well let’s
think about what researchers do they ask
questions they seek solutions and they
try to push them all together right so
that we can understand trends we can
understand what most people think is the
right answer or solution to any given
question her top strength is
individualization that tells me she’s
not so interested in this as she isn’t
that what are the outliers right why
weren’t these people responding
the same as the rest of the group what
is their experience what is their point
of view what’s their perspective that’s
making them respond differently that’s a
very different kind of researcher ednan
for second strength this activator and
what that tells us is that this is
somebody who doesn’t want to do research
put data together with an analysis and
hand it off to somebody and let it sit
on their desk all right she wants people
to know that they are going to do
something with that research
she’s an activator her third strength is
strategic so it’s not just activation
it’s meaningful activation how are we
going to look at this problem bring
together all the voices create a plan of
action that is going to take us from
where we are to where we want to go
that’s going to help us actually solve
the problem now she had something to
work with
right now she knows the kind of
questions that she asks matter to her
personally that what people do with her
research matters to her personally and
that there is truly accomplishment at
the end of the day matters to her
personally so this was a great exercise
for a young woman starting out in a
professional position well it streets
finder or learning your strengths
through one of these other seismic tools
is that really just for for starters
fortunately no it’s equally valuable for
people who feel like they’re stuck right
I worked with the client who was a
Community Relations Specialist for a
corporation that had moved into a pretty
difficult area of the country there was
a lot of poverty illiteracy violent
crime teenage pregnancy
just the kinds of things you would want
to move somewhere for right so the
company invested in a community
relations specialist I met with her she
came into an executive leadership
interview panel said
and if you remember Pigpen from the
Charlie Brown cartoons for all the dust
is flying she was like that with papers
and schedules she was late she was
acting all of that and she had to tell
us how many meetings she had already
been in that day and how many meetings
she had still to go in after our session
her biggest message her whole time was
that she was busy okay and the
implication was that she worked harder
than anybody else in the room well you
can imagine how that goes over right
okay so we talked about it later I said
let’s talk about your strengths and she
says my strength is solving problems
like poverty and teenage pregnancy in
the literacy and I said how you doing
with that and it comes back that she’s
very frustrated you can imagine why
right these are tough problems and she
feels like her boss doesn’t understand
what she does and she feels that she’s
not making the contribution she wants to
make interesting enough when she did
strengths finder guess what her top
strength was it wasn’t community
activism and it wasn’t problem solving
it was being a connector right and in
that conversation in that reimagining
what her job and what her role was she
could create a whole new set of goals to
understand that it wasn’t her job to
solve poverty or illiteracy or teenage
pregnancy her job was to bring together
the people who could all right it’s a
very different kind of goal-setting with
a very different kind of evaluation and
a very different reward at the end of
the day so when we know our strengths
and when we can use the language of
strengths we stop all the churning and
we put ourselves in a position to talk
with our bosses they talk with our
colleagues to talk with others about
what we do particularly well and how we
make a difference the great thing is
beyond entry-level positions
being stuck in the middle there are ways
that we can refine and reset our
workplace persona every single day by
using our strengths to illuminate that
third dimension of who we are and what
we bring to the table while sitting in
an airport a couple of weeks ago it’s a
young couple sitting behind me and she’s
talking to her boyfriend about clearly
her assessment of her first week on her
new job okay and you could hear
frustration in her voice I’m listening
she says well I had this great
assignment and I had plenty of time to
do it and I finished it and he said so
what’s the problem she said well I had
too much time to do it and I couldn’t
decide whether I should turn it in early
or wait until the deadline to give it to
my boss what okay it turns out that
being a buttinsky is not a strength so I
kept it to myself but I am thinking
point if I could give this woman some
advice you know what I tell her turn it
in turn it in now turn it in early point
out the accuracy of the work right
because my bed is her strengths or that
she’s an achiever
she likes to check things off her to-do
list right that she’s responsible she
sees how things come together and what
she owns as part of her job and then
that she’s valuing significance I want
to do more things that are meaningful
and important ultimately what she could
have done is told herself at least the
hopefully even her boss you don’t know
me very well yet but this is what I do
this is what I bring to the table you’re
gonna be pleased with me you’re gonna
want to keep me around you’re gonna want
to invest in me you’re gonna want to pay
me well you’re gonna want to give me top
assignments because I’m gonna make us
both look good and I’m gonna make our
company
look good and do better how exciting is
that
when you think about getting up every
day to go to a job and asking yourself
the fundamental question am i inspired
today am i doing something that matters
and we all deserve to do things that
matter the important thing for her and
for all the people in these stories is
that by understanding their strengths
they now understood their value and that
is a job well done thank you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: