Starter Idea Category: Leverage

It’s not enough to hire talented people; leaders should have an on-going, regular review of their talent to ensure they are continuously working to upgrade talent and remove C players from the culture. A great way to drive this process is through a simple, four-quadrant matrix where you evaluate each team member based on two … Continued

Modify your annual performance evaluation process to do the following: Focus on strengths instead of weaknesses. Use the process to identify strengths and passions and to determine how to better leverage those areas in the future. Initiate a two-way discussion versus a one-sided evaluation. Make it a forward-looking planning session instead of a backward-look- ing … Continued

Modify hiring practices to ensure a well-rounded team, not well-rounded individuals. Most leaders create a list of skills and experiences they’d like a job candidate to have—things like two years of customer service experience, intermediate Microsoft Word skills, apparel industry experience, etc. Very few leaders have a feeling for what talents are required for the … Continued

Most companies create standard job descriptions and expect all of their employees to fit nicely inside that mold. While there are certainly some benefits to standard job descriptions, you’ll find that some will tie your hands as you attempt to create a strengths-based team. This doesn’t mean creating unique job descriptions for each individual on … Continued

Most managers spend an inordinate amount of time with the poor- est performers on the team. That might seem justified since those are the people who need our help the most. However, as counterintuitive as this seems, spending more time with your strongest performers actually provides the biggest opportunity for team growth.