Strengths Based Leadership (Brand New Copies Include Access Code)

Great book and stratregies.

Tom Rath and Barry Conchie's 'Strengths Based Leadership' is a transformative book that offers profound insights into leadership and team dynamics. This book builds on the strengths-based approach popularized by Gallup, focusing on identifying and leveraging individuals' strengths to drive leadership success. What sets this book apart is its emphasis on the unique qualities that make great leaders, rather than trying to fix weaknesses. Rath and Conchie provide compelling research and real-world examples to illustrate how leaders can maximize their own strengths and those of their team members to achieve exceptional results. I found the concept of 'StrengthsFinder' particularly enlightening; it helps readers discover their top strengths and understand how to apply them effectively in leadership roles. The book is well-organized, with practical advice and actionable strategies that leaders can implement immediately. Whether you're a new leader looking to understand your leadership style or a seasoned executive seeking to enhance team performance, 'Strengths Based Leadership' offers valuable insights and tools to inspire and empower. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in developing a strengths-based approach to leadership." This review highlights the book's strengths-based approach to leadership, practical insights backed by research, clarity in presentation, and its potential to transform leadership styles and team dynamics, making it essential reading for anyone in a leadership position or aspiring to lead effectively.

I'll be honest... I really don't remember much at all about what's in this book. The main takeaway I remember is to try and play to people's strengths, rather than trying to shore up their weaknesses. Generally speaking people prefer to play to their strengths anyway, so this results in better output and happier people. What I do remember thoroughly is the StrengthsFinder assessment, and comparing my results to my co-workers. I found that to be highly interesting, and fairly useful for getting a relatively quick handle on what sort of personality they all had. Of course it's not as good as working closely with them for months/years, but it's a great way to get in the right ballpark relatively quickly. I will say that I'm not convinced the assessment is actually all *that* reliable/repeatable. I took it twice about 3 months apart, and of my top 5 strengths, 2 of the original 5 were gone completely and another was downgraded significantly. The ones I related to most strongly were still present, so I don't think it's total garbage, but it's not perfect. Additionally, the test included with the book does not include any sort of ranking beyond the top 5, and it does not provide any measure of relative "magnitude" of the top 5 strengths against each other. By that I mean, are your top-5 strengths all approximately equally representative of you, or do 1 or 2 of them show through far more strongly than the others? The test does not provide this sort of information. You can have 2 people with the same exact top 5 lists (in the same order), but significantly different personalities. Consequently you kinda have to just start with the #1 strength, and slowly try to build the other 4 into your interactions, until you figure out just how strongly each of them shows through. If you like the idea of measuring people's strengths, and trying to play to people's strengths (instead of trying to shore up their weaknesses), you'll probably get value out of this. If you find "personality assessment tests" to be complete and utter hokum, you're less likely to be a fan.

"While the best leaders are not well-rounded, the best teams are." That's the big idea in the latest book in the "StrengthsFinder" series, Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams and Why People Follow. This is a keeper--and expertly expands the value of focusing on strengths. Gratefully, it's not a rehash--it adds to the knowledge base. And wow! Gallup conducted 20,000 in-depth interviews with senior leaders, then another 10,000 interviews with followers. They have the data! Millions, from more than 50 countries, have taken the online StrengthsFinder assessment. The research-based insights and recommendations plow new ground. For example, "the most effective leaders are always investing in strengths." They write, "The odds of an employee being engaged are a dismal 1 in 11 (9%). But when an organization's leadership focuses on the strengths of its employees, the odds soar to almost 3 in 4 (73%). Leadership is nothing without followers and this new book describes the four basic needs of followers: trust, compassion, stability and hope. "The chances of employees being engaged at work when they do not trust the company's leaders are just 1 in 12." This is not dry, academic stuff. Four leaders--and their extremely diverse strengths--are profiled, using what they call the four domains of leadership strength: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building and Strategic Thinking. Example: Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, leverages her Executing strengths (Achiever and Responsibility). Her budget, after just 20 years, is $120 million. She knows the Top-5 Strengths of her key people--and how to leverage those strengths. Other profiles include the CEO of The Ritz-Carlton (Influencing), the chairman of Standard Chartered Bank (Relationship Building), and the CEO of Best Buy (Strategic Thinking). The core idea for all four very different CEOs: it's all about leveraging the strengths of their team members. "While the best leaders are not well-rounded, the best teams are." The research also delivers five findings on what strong teams have in common, such as "Conflict doesn't destroy strong teams because strong teams focus on results." Like the two predecessor books from Gallup (StrengthsFinder 2.0 and Now, Discover Your Strengths), this one also includes a unique access code so you can take the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment online. However, the new-and-improved upgrade delivers your strengths back to you (via email) with new insights on the four domains of leadership strength (Executing, etc.). The book also includes a three-page commentary on each strength and how to address your followers' four basic needs using your Top-5 strengths. I encourage each CEO I coach to know and leverage the Top-5 strengths of their direct reports and their board chairs. Understanding strengths is not an option, I insist. Instead, it's one of the 20 critical core competencies in the Team Bucket, one of the 20 buckets in my book, Mastering the Management Buckets. Mastering The Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Non-profit

I adjusted my review! The book is amazing, the code is in the back of the book on a tear out page that is easy to miss!

If you want an honest and direct approach to leadership, Rath and Conchie will give it to you, along with solid proof of its effectiveness. Before reading this book, I must admit that I used to envision the typical leader archetype as someone who was skilled at nearly everything, but this book extinguishes that notion right from the very first page by bluntly stating "the greatest misconception of all is that of the well-rounded leader." Instead, their main proposition they present is to exercise an individualized style of leadership, which will yield higher rates of success in all aspects of organizational life. One of the main sources of evidence for their arguments is the StrengthsFinder, a test that evaluates an individual's strengths and compiles these to highlight one of four domains: executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking. I found this to be particularly useful, not only because they give you an access code so you can take the test yourself, but also by the way they proceed to chronicle the unique experiences of four individuals, and how each have been successful using vastly different approaches, coinciding with their domain. Each story is remarkable and inspiring, yet is recounted in such way that makes them relatable, not larger than life. For instance, Wendy Kopp, the "executor," after pacing back and forth about what to do after graduation from Princeton, decides to simply take an issue she saw needed fixed, educational inequity, and run with it. She now is the CEO of Teach for America. What is truly thought-provoking about this book is not the theories and studies about leadership, which can frankly get a bit dry. Not only do Rath and Conchie give useable tools to sculpt your leadership techniques, but they also provide you with personal stories from authentic leaders, which makes it all seem attainable.

Purchased for a class.

I found the on-line test interesting, and at least for me, seemingly accurate. However, the book consists of about 30 pages describing the theory behind the test and a few ideas on considering strengths while leading. The remainder of the book is just descriptions of each of the strengths. The book leaves me wondering how to best use my strengths as well as those of others I'm leading. The on-line portion includes a worthless "Leadership Guide" report which is comprised of all too obvious advice including: "When making decisions, discuss options candidly and thoroughly;" "Be aware of your own biases;" "Take time to study the strategies employed by effective leaders you respect or admire." Not only are the statements obvious, they aren't really related to my particular strengths. The "Leadership Report" is full of vague statements like: "It's very likely that you might have extra energy to work hard when you are acquiring information to broaden your knowledge base;" "Perhaps you want to deepen your understanding of certain topics;" "It's very likely that you now and then have moments when you are keenly aware of things around you." Are these written by the same person that writes horoscopes? The test is worth taking. However, neither the book nor the website provide any really direction on how to best use your skills or lead by them. It is very likely that might enjoy taking the test now and then. But I doubt you'll get much out of the book.