Strengths - 3 Ways To Elicit

Question 1

Achiever

Answer 1

• Establish a relationship with this person by working alongside him. Working hard together is often a bonding experience for him. He’s annoyed by “slackers.”
• Recognize that this person likes to be busy. Sitting in meetings is likely to be very boring for him. So only invite him to meetings where you really need him and he can be fully engaged. If he doesn’t need to be at the meeting, let him get his work done instead.
• This person may well need less sleep and get up earlier than others. Look to him when these conditions are required on the job. Also, ask him questions such as “How late did you have to work to get this done?” or “when did you come in this morning?” He will appreciate this kind of attention.

Question 2

Analytical

Answer 2

• Whenever this person is involved with an important decision, take time to think through the issues with her. She will want to know all the key factors involved.
• When you are defending a decision or a principle, show this person the supporting numbers. She instinctively gives more credibility to information that displays numbers.
• Because accuracy is so important to this person, getting a task done correctly may be more important to her than meeting a deadline. Therefore, as the deadline draws near, keep checking in with her to make sure that she has the necessary time to do the job right.

Question 3

Communication

Answer 3

• This person finds it easy to carry on a conversation. Ask her to come to social gatherings, dinners, or any events where you want to entertain prospects or customers.
• Take the time to hear about this person’s life and experiences. She will enjoy telling you, and you will enjoy listening. And your relationship will be closer because of it.
• Discuss plans for your organization’s social events with this person. She is likely to have good ideas both for entertainment and for what should be communicated at the event.

Question 4

Competition

Answer 4

• Use competitive language with this person. It is a win-lose world for him, so from his perspective, achieving a goal is winning, and missing a goal is losing.
• Help this person find places where he can win. If he loses repeatedly, he may stop playing. Remember, in the contests that matter to him, he doesn’t competed for the fun of it. He competes to win.
• When this person loses, he may need to mourn for a while. Let him. Then help him quickly move into another opportunity to win.

Question 5

Context

Answer 5

• During meetings, always turn to this person to review what’s been done and what’s been learned. Instinctively, he will want others to be aware of the context of decision making.
• This person thinks in terms of case studies: “When did we face a similar situation? What did we do? What happened? What did we learn?” You can expect him to use this talent to help others learn, especially when the need for anecdotes and illustrations is important.
• When you introduce this person to new colleagues, ask them to talk about their backgrounds before you get down to business.

Question 6

Focus

Answer 6

• When there are projects with critical deadlines, try to involve this person. He instinctively honors timelines and commitments. As soon as he owns a project with a deadline, he’ll concentrate all his energies on it until it’s completed.
• Be aware that unstructured meetings will bother his person. So when he is present at a meeting, try to follow the agenda.
• Don’t expect this person to always be sensitive to the feelings of others because getting his work done often takes a priority over people’s sensitivities.

Question 7

Maximizer

Answer 7

• This person is interested in taking something that works and figuring out ways to make the most of it. She may not be particularly interested in fixing things that are broken. If possible, avoid asking this person to do things that demand continual problem solving. Instead, ask her for help when you need to uncover best practices.
• If you do not have someone around you who regularly focuses on your strengths, spend more time with a maximizer. She is naturally inquisitive about excellence and will help you hone in on what you do best.
• This person will expect you to understand her strengths and to value her for them. She will become frustrated if you spend too much time focusing on her weaknesses.

Question 8

Strategic

Answer 8

• Involve this person in planning sessions. Ask him, “If this happened, what should we expect? If that happened, what should we expect?”
• Always give this person ample time to think through a situation before asking for his input. He isn’t’ likely to voice his opinion until he has played out a couple of scenarios in his mind.
• When you hear or read of strategies that worked in your field, share them with this person. It will stimulate his thinking.