Here is an overview of the concepts behind "Go Put Your Strengths to Work."

1. “Go Put Your Strengths
To Work”
6 Powerful Steps to Achieve
Outstanding Performance
By Marcus Buckingham
LYS – Supporting Your Strengths
January 25, 2010

2. Introductions
• Name
• Top 5 Strengths

3. Living Your Strengths
• Now you know your strengths, so what??
• “As each one has a gift, use it to serve
one another as good stewards of God’s
varied grace.”
– 1 Peter 4:10
– Ephesians 2:9-11

4. Does This Sound Like You?
• You take great satisfaction from being busy and
productive.
• You anticipate obstacles and take deep care in making
decisions or choices.
• You have a great desire to learn and want to
continuously improve.
• You feel self-confident in managing your own life and
confidence that your decisions are right.
• You create alternative ways to proceed and quickly spot
the relevant patterns and issues.
• You are independent and want to be recognized.
• You seek to transform something good into something
superb.

5. Go Put Your Strengths To Work
• How engaged are your strengths?
• Get your SET score to see how engaged
your strengths are compared to the rest of
the working world
– SET = Strengths Engagement Track
• Track activities and engagement levels

6. What’s Stopping You?
• Think back when you were a child
– Can you see any positive patterns that have
stayed with you since as far back as you can
remember?
– How have they developed over the years?
– How do you channel and focus these
strengths today?

7. What’s Stopping You?
• Do you find yourself dwelling on your
weaknesses a lot?
– How does it make you feel?
– Why do you do it?
– Who asks you to?
– Do you think you should?

8. What’s Stopping You?
• Do you know anyone who is passionate
about what they do and seem to spend a
lot of time doing activities they love?
– How often do they get to play to their
strengths?
– How do they make this happen?
– Do they ever find it difficult to stay on their
strengths path?
– Do they ever find themselves straying from
this path, and how do they get back on track?

9. What Strengthens You?
• Which specific activities do you find
yourself looking forward to this week?
– Do you always seem to look forward to these
activities? Why?
• Was there any time this past week when
you were “in your zone?”
– And you found it very easy to concentrate?
– And time just flew by?
– What were you doing?

10. What Strengthens You?
• Look back for all these telltale signs of a
strength
– Can you see anything?
– Which specific activities made you strong?
– Are your strengths central to your week at
work?

11. Four SIGNs of Strengths
• S – Success; something you are good at
• I – Instinct; instinctual and can’t help but
be drawn to certain activities repeatedly
• G – Growth; it feels easy, like you are not
trying very hard as you grow and improve
• N – Needs; activities that leave you
fulfilled, satisfied, restored, the opposite of
drained; you want this feeling again!

12. Your SIGNs of a Strength
• Individual reflection
• Group discussion

13. Strengths Development

14. How Engaged Are Your Strengths –
Survey Question Comparisons

15. I am the best judge of my
strengths.
0%0%0%0%0%
Strongly Disagree... Disagree (D) Neutral (N)
Agree (A) Strongly Agree (SA)
Best
Practice
National
1. SD 2.9% .5%
2. D 18.4% 12.5%
3. N 25.7% 36.2%
4. A 32.7% 36.2%
5. SA 20.3% 14.6%
1. Strongly Disagree (SD)
2. Disagree (D)
3. Neutral (N)
4. Agree (A)
5. Strongly Agree (SA)

16. I have the freedom to modify my work
to fit my strengths better.
0%0%0%0%0%
Strongly Disagree... Disagree (D) Neutral (N)
Agree (A) Strongly Agree (SA)
Best
Practice
National
1. SD 1.3% 3.3%
2. D 9.2% 19.5%
3. N 19.9% 27.2%
4. A 43.6% 39.0%
5. SA 26.0% 11.0%
1. Strongly Disagree (SD)
2. Disagree (D)
3. Neutral (N)
4. Agree (A)
5. Strongly Agree (SA)

17. How frequently do you feel an emotional
high from your work?
0%0%0%0%
Every day (ED) Weekly (W) Monthly (M) Rarely (R)
Best
Practice
National
1. ED 31.1% 15.7%
2. W 54.9% 35.1%
3. M 6.7% 15.7%
4. R 7.3% 33.5%
1. Every day (ED)
2. Weekly (W)
3. Monthly (M)
4. Rarely (R)

18. How often do you get so involved in what you
are doing at work that you lose track of time?
0%0%0%0%
Every day (ED) Weekly (W) Monthly (M) Rarely (R)
Best
Practice
National
1. ED 55.6% 38.8%
2. W 35.4% 34.1%
3. M 3.0% 8.8%
4. R 6.0% 18.3%
1. Every day (ED)
2. Weekly (W)
3. Monthly (M)
4. Rarely (R)

19. What percentage of a typical work day do you
spend doing things that you really like to do?
0%0%0%0%
Less than 25% 25-49% 50-74% 75-100%
1. Less than 25%
2. 25-49%
3. 50-74%
4. 75-100%
Best
Practice
National
1. 6.5% 28.3%
2. 21.3% 29.3%
3. 39.4% 28.3%
4. 32.8% 14.1%

20. When discussing your work, how often
do you catch yourself whining?
0%0%0%0%
Every day (ED) Weekly (W) Monthly (M) Rarely (R)
Best
Practice
National
1. ED 5.3% 13.6%
2. W 20.9% 23.8%
3. M 24.4% 15.8%
4. R 49.4% 46.8%
1. Every day (ED)
2. Weekly (W)
3. Monthly (M)
4. Rarely (R)

21. What most influenced your decision to leave your
previous job and apply for your current position?
0%0%0%0%
Increased account... Better Compensation
Greater opportuni... I didn’t like my ...
1. Increased accountability
2. Better compensation
3. Greater opportunity to do
what I really like to do
4. I didn’t like my previous job
Best
Practice
National
1. 14.5% 5.7%
2. 10.5% 34.8%
3. 64.7% 37.5%
4. 10.3% 22.0%

22. Entire Database Profile (4,004,419)
Top 10 Signature Themes Bottom 5 Signature Themes
Achiever Deliberative
Relator Self-Assurance
Learner Significance
Responsibility Empathy
Strategic Command
Input
Maximizer
Harmony
Adaptability
Arranger

23. Next Steps
• Reflect and apply
• One-on-one coaching if interested
• Spread the word!

24. “Go Put Your Strengths
To Work”
6 Powerful Steps to Achieve
Outstanding Performance
By Marcus Buckingham
LYS – Supporting Your Strengths
January 25, 2010