Bonding people together requires a mix of art and science. Especially when they are not related, and in particular when they are on a team, perhaps one that is a new team, or one that is in a constant state of change. I’m referring to both work and sports teams, and I’m sure everyone reading this has been on at least one of these.
When you think of the elements which make up a strong team, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it great chemistry? Is it the leader of the team who helps glue the team together? Or, perhaps it’s a combination of these items and a number of other things. Does this seem like the making of a recipe? Yes, it quite possibly is, but one which has ingredients which will be different for each team.
The best teams I have interacted with, have one thing in common at their core. It’s not something that happens overnight…although it can happen quickly in certain situations. It’s respect. The kind of respect for each other and their individual talents and contributions. When respect for talents is added into the team dynamics, it makes the team stronger than the sum of its parts. I know you have heard this expression before. It’s true, and appropriate in this example.
How do we find out about other people’s talents on our team? There are a number of ways to do so, but as a Gallup StrengthsFinder Coach, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you how I go about doing this. For the sake of not making any assumptions, I’m going to presume not everyone has heard of Gallup StrengthsFinder Survey.
To establish its credibility, this survey has been in existence for over 50 years, and over 22 million people on this planet have taken it to determine what their strengths are. There are also volumes of scientific research behind how the survey was developed. It is also one of the tools StrengthsFinder Coaches utilize to find out what people’s individual strengths are, out of a possible list of 34 of them.
By taking the StrengthsFinder Survey, and which takes about 30 minutes to complete, each person upon completion of taking the survey can determine at a minimum what their Top 5 Strengths are. Most people will use their Top 10 Strengths, and the Strengths listed sub number ten are not a person’s core strengths.
In one hundred percent of the team scenarios I have applied the StrengthsFinder Survey to determine the individual members of the team’s strengths, the results of the team members finding out about their own and their team members strengths are has always been remarkable. I typically tell people a Team Strengths reveal is one of my favorite days, as this is one of the methods utilized to bond a team of any type together, even families.
Prior to knowing what their strengths are, some people might have an idea what some of them are, but more often than you might imagine they are surprised to find out what their top one or two are. Why? Mainly because their top strengths are so strong, they often take them for granted, and presume others must be able to do what they do so easily with that strength too.
Not true, especially since the chance of having the same strength order as another person is 1 in 34 million. That’s right. The odds are very low you will encounter someone in your lifetime with the same strengths order you have. Think of the strengths order as being similar to a thumb print and its uniqueness.
When I’m working with families, I often see patterns of common strengths. Sometimes the strength is in the same order as the parent or a sibling. However, I have also seen families that do not have any of their Top 5 Strengths in common.
Being able to help teams bond together via the application of knowing how to leverage the Gallup StrengthsFinder survey and its results per person has literally been life changing for me. So much so, that I pivoted my career experience to focus it in the direction of exclusively working with teams. Having this focus allows me to help them do achieve remarkable things they are not yet aware of is possible of accomplishing.
I feel very fortunate to have discovered my passion for helping and working with teams to make them more amazing than they can imagine, and the more teams I work with, the more absolute magic and examples I have as proof that a bonded team is the most ideal team anyone could ever be on. Has your team bonded yet?
Kathleen E. R. Murphy is the Founder, Chief Performance Strategist and CEO of Market Me Too. She is a Gallup Certified Strengths Finder Coach, author of Wisdom Whisperer, and is a well-respected motivational and social influencer with a global following from her numerous speaking, print, radio and television media appearances.
Essentially every team is dysfunctional in some way. Our expertise is in uniting, motivating and bridging dysfunctional teams (sports & business), and turning them into epic ones.
Market Me Too also works with individuals from students to C-level executives. The individuals, business and sports teams we work with are coached on how to leverage and apply their peak performance talents on a daily basis. Our coaching produces repeatable, measurable and amazing results personally and professionally. Need proof? Just talk to our clients, or read through our testimonials.
If you want better and different results, let’s talk. We know how to help you get them. Contact Kathleen at kathymurphy@me.com or (339) 987-0195.
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