How do I do Meaningful and Purposeful Work?

Gallup reported that many want to have meaningful and purposeful work. Have you been pondering about meaning and purpose at work in this season of your life?

If you are, I will like to invite you to stop, reflect and consider these three key questions:

1. What does meaningful or purposeful work mean to you?

• Is it about finding work activities that motivate you?

• Is it about connecting personal values to the work you are tasked to do?

• Is it about connecting your work to a higher purpose (saving the earth, serving my country, living out my faith etc)?

• Is it about building meaningful relationships at work?

• Is it about doing work that meets the needs of the society and getting paid for it?

There are many variations of doing meaningful work and it is important that we know what meaningful and purposeful work mean to us.

2. How often do you do work on yourself?

Doing and Being are connected as closely as thinking and feeling. We can’t have one without the other. DOING meaningful work doesn’t happen without integrating with our BEING and Identity. Doing meaningful work (externally focused) is strongly tied to doing work on our Being (internally focused - examining our values, beliefs, mindset, attitudes, moods and emotions, strengths and weaknesses, blindspots etc). The two words “meaningful work” involve intentional and thoughtful work.

Behind our Being and Doing are a set of skills and habits that we acquired over the course of our lives. Examining these skills and habits regularly helps us to build stronger foundations and capacity to grow.
I will like to invite you to ponder the below questions.

• Do you think about your thinking and how to improve the quality of your thinking?

• Do you examine your habits and how they have enabled you to grow? Are you in need of building new habits to grow your capacity?

• Do you examine your emotional habits and notice your mood patterns? How do your emotional habits empower or disempower you in doing purposeful, productive work or deeper relationships?

• Do you actively get feedback and be curious about your strengths and areas that you can intentionally develop?

• Do you learn about the way you learn to actively adapt in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world?

• Do you examine and test how your lifestyle and decisions are aligned with your value system?
  

3. How much do you invest in your own growth?

We spent money, time and energy in many areas - our family, physical health, financial health, romance, hobbies, career progression etc. How much do we invest in our own development and growth?

Think about this: Why do some people invest in themselves through

• coaching;

• therapy;

• personal development and training programs;

• spiritual retreats (just to name a few examples)?

Why do some people invest time, energy and money in developing themselves and some do not? Which category do you belong to and why? What do you think is the relationship between your own personal growth and all the other areas that you are investing resources in?

A Coaching Story:

In a particular coaching session which sparked this article, a client (let’s called him M) articulated that whenever he thinks about his career, he will unconsciously switched to a particular thinking pattern - that of considering risks, scenarios of possible failures and his level of competencies and skills.

I asked M: “how does this way of thinking serve or not serve you when you are pondering about your career?”

The response was interesting: “This way of thinking is prudent, down to earth and pragmatic and it helps me to be careful about my future choices. It also does not help me dream big.”

As M verbalized his thoughts, it dawned on him that this thinking pattern might not serve him in the area of dreaming about his future. He desired a new way of thinking to broaden his horizon of possibilities. He acknowledged that he needed to work on his thinking habits and build new ones to increase his capacity to dream.

I asked M: “what kind of thinking pattern or mindset have you used in the past to help you move ahead despite uncertainties?”

M: (Pause)….I can learn as I go along…and I have done this many times in the past. That has helped me overcome my fears in uncertainties. Perhaps I can explore my career by looking back at the different skill sets I have picked up successfully and what new skills I need to pick up. I don’t have to be restricted by the current set of skills I have when I explore a career path.

Ending note: I love how M shifted his perspective and the smile he had on his face as he discovered a new possibility in his thinking. Doing meaningful and purposeful work involves intentional and thoughtful work. Doing self-work is often the starting point in the whole process. When we get do work on our BEING, what we need to DO becomes much clearer.

Written by Victor Seet
Activator • Communication • Strategic • Self-Assurance • Command

As a Gallup and Newfield Certified Leadership Coach in Singapore, Victor is passionate about helping people be better observer of themselves to achieve the results they want, especially in the area of well-being and performance. Victor intentionally integrates the strengths-based and ontological approach into his leadership coaching and workshops.

What's in a Teacher?

I have always admired what teachers do. I married a teacher, and I have so many good friends who chose this vocation.

As a Gallup certified coach in Singapore, I also have the added privilege of working with many school leaders and teachers, conducting Strengths-based Leadership Workshops for teachers and partnering with them in conducting Strengths-based student development programs. 

Being a teacher is a high calling. To many Singaporeans, the profession entails imparting knowledge and developing the students’ potential.

But to me, it’s so much more than that.

The long hours, the intense marking of scripts, the pressure of managing a group of vastly different (and easily distracted) students every day, and the increasing administrative workloads make this vocation an extremely challenging one.

In fact, many teachers suffer burn-out because of the intense day-to-day demands. I’ve often heard first-hand the challenges faced by teachers, and I’ve grown to develop much respect for these teachers.

As we celebrate Teachers’ Day this week, I’m asking myself this question: “What’s in a teacher? What kind of strengths do teachers in Singapore have?”

Driven by that question, I took some time to compile data on different teachers in Singapore. I’ve coached almost all of them or conducted Strengths-based Leadership Workshops for. 

In this analysis, I look into a sample size of 1,200 teachers spanning 30 different Singaporean government schools, including primary, secondary, and junior colleges.

What were my findings? 

Amongst all the teachers I’ve worked with, the Responsibility talent theme is the most common. Out of the sample size of 1,200, 39% of them had the Responsibility theme in their Top 5 profiles.

The second most common strength is the Learner theme, coming in at 33%.

From there, Relator, Connectedness, and Harmony are the next most common themes (in that order). These three StrengthsFinder themes are found amongst 26-27% of the teacher population. (The difference in percentages was so small as to be negligible, although a larger sample size might reveal a greater disparity.)

On the other end of the spectrum, the rarest strength amongst Singaporean teachers is the Competition StrengthsFinder theme. Only 1% of the teachers in the sample had this theme.

The second rarest strength is the Significance StrengthsFinder theme, coming in at 2%.

What does this data tell us about teachers in Singapore?

1. Singaporean teachers are dedicated and committed.

This is evident from the Responsibility theme. This finding comes as no surprise, given what I’ve observed on a regular basis.

The high sense of ownership drives many teachers to have a deep dedication to their work. Pushing hard (often to the point of working on weekends) is incredibly normal to many teachers. The dedication to impact students often means going the extra mile too.

Married to a teacher wife whose number 1 strength is Responsibility, I often observe how this deep sense of dedication plays out. I have seen many times how she went beyond her duty to help her students with other aspects of their lives (beyond the academic portion). I imagined that many teachers are doing the same. There are so many stories I have heard from friends recounting how different teachers have impacted their lives. With my Responsibility strength ranked at number 22, I'm amazed at how powerful the deep sense of psychological ownership can be.

I think we should all celebrate the fact that as a nation, Singapore is full of dedicated teachers! 

READ: USING STRENGTHSFINDER AS A TEACHER

2. Singaporean teachers embody lifelong learning.

When we talk about Singapore’s vision to cultivate a “Learning Nation,” these are people who truly walk the talk. This comes from the strong Learner theme within the demographic.

I am also mindful that the unique wiring of those with the Learner theme gives them the inclination to pursue this calling as a teacher. Many Learners enjoy the process of learning and they desire to impart their knowledge and skills to others as well.

I learnt a lot about Learners by observing my wife in action. Her motivation to make sure our kids pick up knowledge and skill sets from a very young age sets her apart from me (I'm quite low on the Learner theme). She spends quite a bit of time learning about how she can create better activities for the kids to learn more effectively, as well as creating platforms for the kids to pick up new knowledge and skills. This is in stark contrast to me – I do enjoy learning, but am often not very intentional about it. With the combination of Responsibility and Learner as her top 2 strengths, I’m thankful and assured that the teachers in our nation take extremely high ownership of their own learning and those of the kids.

I can safely conclude that the MOE mission of cultivating lifelong learners is a corporate mission that resonates deeply with our teachers. With Learner as one of their top themes, it’s more of an intrinsic desire than a job that needs to be done. Thank God that we have so many educators who have the Learner theme! 

3. Singaporean teachers build deep lasting relationships.

This is a result of having such a large group of teachers possess the Relator theme.

Relators are those who build deep and lasting relationships. In a world where we are experiencing increasing number of broken families, some of the deep friendships that the teachers have forged with their students will make a huge lasting impact. I believe many of the Singapore teachers will look back and realized the trust and belief they give to their students will empower them to choose the right path.

Relators also value authenticity. This finding tells me that in the development of students, teachers will inevitably challenge and teach students to embrace the full measure of their own unique identities rather than trying to make them be like someone else.

With the growing increase of a narrative telling young people to pursue a quick shot at stardom, this trait is especially important, in my opinion. We, as a nation, need teachers who can help young people combat the lure of trying to be like their idols. We need teachers who can model authenticity to young people. Relators have that gift.

4. Singaporean teachers see the bigger picture behind their individual work.

There is a greater purpose and meaning to this vocation. This comes from the Connectedness theme. Teachers are not merely raising the quality of students. They are building a nation. They are equipping the future generations of Singapore.

It’s said that it takes a village to raise a child. The teachers with Connectedness probably understand the depth of such a phrase. There is now more and more emphasis on collaborative work with different stakeholders to help strengthen the development of our youth. There are more parent dialogue sessions. There are more internship arrangements with companies and different industry partners.

I am very encouraged to find so many school leaders and teachers who are willing to partner with us to impact the lives of the students. Rather than simply seeing us as vendors providing a service, many teachers view us as partners who also contribute to the work of building up our future generations.

It is heartening to see so many teachers with this theme. We need teachers who are gifted in connecting the dots. Rather than seeing education as a pursuit of paper qualifications, this finding tells me that our teachers are driven to help young people understand the impact of education on the different areas of their lives! That is worth giving thanks for!

5. Singaporean teachers embrace the collaborative narrative.

This comes from the Harmony theme. People with Harmony enjoy collaborative work. Rather than tearing ideas down, they seek to find alignment and consensus within the different voices.

In a world dominated by "I," "me," and "mine," it is so important that our future generations have teachers who can emphasize the "we" and "us" and what it means to work closely with others.

It is said that the increase of technology usage and social media has a direct impact in lowering the level of social skills of our future generations. I am glad to find that so many of our teachers are hard wired to seek for consensus and collaboration. This tells me that it will be natural for many teachers to teach and model teamwork and community building for the students. That will be such an important aspect moving forward. Our teachers are armed with the strength to counter the individualistic culture through the Harmony theme.

Other than building a collaborative narrative, people with Harmony are also people who desire to bring peace. In a world where racism is still a norm in many nations, we need teachers who can help the young cultivate a sense of respect for people regardless of race, language or religion. The lack of racial harmony has wrecked many nations. I’m thankful that a large group of our Singapore teachers intrinsically value peace and collaboration.

Concluding thoughts: After highlighting the 5 most common strengths found among our teachers, I discovered something interesting about the other spectrum. While there is a sizeable number of Singaporeans with the Competition StrengthsFinder theme, only 1% of our teachers have this theme.

This tells me that the teachers in Singapore are not likely to be obsessed with benchmarking. While the current system puts a certain pressure on students to go all out in pursuing stellar academic results, our Singaporean teachers might not enjoy such a system. There has been a gradual shift in the focus by MOE to move away from giving too much emphasis to the academic successes of our students. I’m guessing many of our teachers are quietly smiling in their hearts.

What are your thoughts?

Do you resonate with the findings? I'd be happy to hear your thoughts!

Regardless, join me in thanking all the teachers in Singapore for their dedication and passion to invest in the young and helping them to be "Future-Ready!" 

 

Using CliftonStrengths (StrengthsFinder) for Work - Interview with a Counsellor

One of my key areas of work as a coach is in helping people discover how to apply their strengths, both in their professional and personal lives. This article is a continuation of the series on "Using StrengthsFinder for Work". It is an interview done with a Professional Counsellor in Singapore, whom I have the privilege to coach in a 1 on 1 setting. We had some very fruitful conversations regarding her CliftonStrengths (formerly known as StrengthsFinder) results and I had the opportunity to hear her different experiences. 

Chrystella Lo is a trained professional in a girl's home in Singapore. She desires to see young people being transformed and believes in giving hope to those who struggles to believe in themselves. In her free time, Chrystella actively mentors a group of young people and serves as a volunteer in a local church. She enjoys traveling to different countries to learn about different cultures. She also leads overseas expedition trips as part of her desire to reach out to the less fortunate. She has travelled to many countries that include China, East Timor, Malaysia and some countries in the Middle East. Chrystella's top 5 CliftonStrengths themes are Harmony, Analytical, Relator, Developer and Connectedness.

Below is an interview with Chrystella Lo:

1) As a counsellor, how do you feel when you first saw your top 5? 

C: Although I didn't fully understand the strengths descriptions initially, intuitively the words made sense and resonated with me. Seeing that I had 4 of my strengths in the relationship building domain affirmed my desire to work with people. 

2) Out of these top 5 talents, which do you love and which do you feel drive people crazy? Why? 

C: I think my Analytical talent theme drives people crazy because I like to ask questions to discover the root causes instead of simply listening and empathizing. Friends have told me that I tend to frown when they share something with me, and that's not because I'm judging them. I realized I have this expression when I'm thinking and analyzing what others are sharing with me. At the same time, I love my Analytical talent theme as well, because it helps me to be objective and to see both sides of the coin. I like it that this Analytical strength is balanced by my four other Relationship Building Strengths. 

3) How do you feel you use your talents as a Counsellor?  Share some examples.

C: My top StrengthsFinder theme is Harmony, and that's important in the area of goal setting in counseling work. Both my client and I need to have a mutual goal and that this strength helps me to find that common ground when we set goals together. Sometimes, I do feel stuck if there are clear differences in goals. I also use my Analytical talent theme to search for root causes and recurring patterns in order to conceptualize cases. This empowers me to choose the best intervention. As a counsellor, my 'analysis' is continuously developing and there is much more to learn. My Relator gives me the fuel to want to know people very deeply. I do feel refreshed after the deep sharing that occurs during counselling sessions. 

4) How do you think Strengthsfinder can help other counsellors or even your clients?

C: I think that the StrengthsFinder tool helps us to know ourselves better in a very functional and practical way. It helps us to realize why we are more naturally talented in certain tasks and why we naturally struggle in others. I do find that this tool is more than just a personality test. It helps us to understand how we can become more effective and successful in what we do. 

As we instinctively use our talents and strengths in any situation, I think it will be helpful for other counsellors to gain understanding on how they can use their talents and strengths more effectively in the counseling process. The StrengthsFinder tool can also help clients to grow in their self-esteem by discovering what they are naturally good at. To bring it further, when used effectively, the StrengthsFinder tool can help clients gain mastery over certain challenging tasks.  

5) How has this unique combination of your top 5 talents help you achieve something you were proud of? Share with us a peak experience.

C: There was a particularly successful case that I was privileged to manage. One key factor of the success is that all the different organizations (Ministry of Social and Family Development Singapore, Institute of Mental Health, the client's school, volunteers, and parents) I worked with were aligned in the goals and outcome and were all on the same page. I believe it was the successful collaboration that contributed to the success of this case. I felt that my Harmony and Connectedness were used and were greatly delighted. I was also able to develop a personal and genuine friendship with some of these work counterparts and that engaged my Relator. My Analytical theme was used throughout the process of working with this client, as we constantly had to conceptualize the case and adjust interventions based on it's development. My Developer theme was naturally peaked in the whole process of seeing my client grow.

6) What did you discover about yourself after taking the StrengthsFinder assessment that you did not previously know?

C: I realized I had a good job-fit and I enjoyed being a counsellor because all my strengths could be regularly engaged. 

7) You went through the StrengthsFinder workshop that I conducted. How has that session helped you?

C: I found that the face-to-face discussions in the StrengthsFinder workshop helped me to understand my talent themes much more than just reading a description of the theme on my StrengthsFinder report. The sharing and the fun learning in the workshop allowed me to pick up the intricate details attached to each talent theme. Both the StrengthsFinder workshop as well as your personal coaching have helped me to understand my top 5 strengths that were unique to me and to my situation. You have helped me gain very valuable insights on how I can better apply my strengths in my specific work situation. 

In addition, I think a big part of the StrengthsFinder workshop, besides the understanding, is helping us to accept and own our strengths. I know of many people who felt dissatisfied with their top 5 strengths upon receiving the results. The workshops were able to change these peoples' perspectives by facilitating them towards owning their top 5. Personally I do covet other strengths, especially the strengths in the Influencing domain. However, through discussing with you, I think I have gained acceptance of my strengths and I am proud of what I have. Thank you Victor!

I would highly recommend those who struggle with understanding or accepting their strengths to attend a personal coaching session with Victor.

READ: THE POWER OF NAMING AN EMOTION

Concluding thoughts from the Interviewer: It is such a joy whenever I hear people share that they are able to use their strengths at work and feel empowered to do what they are naturally good at. I hope as you read this interview with Chrystella, you too can be personally encouraged and challenged to intentionally think about how you can use your strengths at work. 

Written by Victor Seet

Using StrengthsFinder for Work - A Personal Reflection for 2015

As a CliftonStrengths (formerly Strengthsfinder) Coach, I am often asked: "How can I use my strengths to improve my performance?" While applying our strengths to achieve better performance is not rocket science, the ability to do that is not necessary intuitive. This article is about one of the Strengths philosophies and how I applied my strengths towards a greater work performance in 2015. 

As a CliftonStrengths coach, I believe in being intentional, especially with regards to aiming our strengths towards our personal goals. Hence, I set out at the beginning of 2015, aiming each of my strengths towards a personal goal. Each of these goals is also aligned to the business objectives of Strengths School™, the company I co-founded in 2014. I hope that by sharing this progress report, you will get an idea of how I used my strengths in my leadership in the past and be encouraged to use yours! 

Using my Activator:

As an Activator, I'm proud to be the designer of a Strengths-Based Leadership program, the Game of Life™. This interactive and action-packed game was designed to engage students using an experiential and self-directed learning approach. Needless to say, this is also my favourite program because it's so action packed! In the beginning of 2015,  I set a goal to conduct this Game of Life™ program for 4 different schools. I'm not only proud to have reached this goal in December but also extremely pleased that the ratings given for the game has hit the roof - the teachers and students love it!

Whenever I met educators, I intentionally used my Activator strength to highlight the advantages of the experiential learning for students to discover their strengths. I also used my Activator strength to fine-tune and make the game even more applicable by drawing out key learning points for participants.

Using my Communication:

The idea of using my Communication strength to write instead of only using it to speak was dropped into my head by Jason, my Business Partner. With his encouragement, I started a blog with the aim to further people's understanding of each of the 34 CliftonStrengths talent themes. I planned to write an article for each of the 34 Strengthsfinder theme, focusing on growing the talent to a strength. I've surprised myself by completing 24 of them in the midst of a crazy work schedule and juggling a newborn in the family. What kept me going was definitely the encouragement that I received from people from all over the world (If you are one of those who has written an encouragement to me, I am really thankful!) It's indeed a surprise to receive so many encouraging notes about the blog posts. These motivated me to keep doing what I'm doing, and to do it even better each time. 

READ: (Updated) Using CliftonStrengths for Work

Using my Strategic:

The technological landscape has changed the way businesses are run. In Strengths School™, while our key business focus is to continue to deliver quality coaching and workshops for our clients, we also want to be ahead in our branding and marketing. Together with Jason, we set a goal for Strengths School™ to be the top Google search result for "Strengthsfinder Singapore". We want to be an authority in the field of Strengthsfinder in our home country and to be the best we can be in Singapore and Asia. Using my Strategic strength, I came up with different strategies to reach this goal. We are glad that we met our goal in November 2015! 

Using my Self-Assurance:

I believe that to be an authority in Strengthsfinder coaching in Singapore and Asia, I need to be effectively bilingual. Drawing on a confidence from within, I set an audacious goal for myself to facilitate Strengthsfinder workshops and coaching sessions in the Chinese language within a year. I had to intentionally set aside time to learn the different technical terms in the Chinese language, I pushed myself hard to overcome many challenges. I am proud to announce that I completed a full 2-day Strengthsfinder workshop for a Multinational Corporation in Shanghai, China using the Chinese language. I scored an average of 4/5 rating from the 20 participants which added to the personal satisfaction. I also facilitated 3 other Strengthsfinder workshops in Singapore using the Chinese language. My wife thought I was mad when I told her my goal at the beginning of the year. I think my Self-Assurance gave me the confidence to go for it!

Using my Command:

I always believed that a stronger company is the result of a stronger team of high performing individuals. The Command strength gave me the confidence and clarity to direct the path. A goal was set to build a stronger Strengths School™ team by the end of 2015. Having started with a team of just 3, Strengths School™ has flourished to its present team of 5 full-time staff and over 20 associate trainers and facilitators. The Strengths School™ team leverages greatly on each other's strengths as we set out to fulfill our vision - "seeing every generation live out their full potential". Just recently, we celebrated Christmas as a team. It was truly a highlight!

READ: Using StrengthsFinder for Work - Reflections of a Teacher

As we approached the end of 2015 and move into 2016, the question I would like to pose to you is: "How are you intentionally living out your strengths every day?"

Written by Victor Seet
Activator • Communication • Strategic • Self-Assurance • Command

As a Gallup and Newfield Certified Leadership Coach in Singapore, Victor is passionate about helping people be better observer of themselves to achieve the results they want, especially in the area of well-being and performance. Victor intentionally integrates the strengths-based and ontological approach into his leadership coaching and workshops.

Using CliftonStrengths for Work - Reflections of a Teacher

In my work, I have coached many educators and students. One of the most common questions that I have received is "How can I apply my strengths to improve my performance at work?"

This is an interview I've done with one of the teachers in Singapore, whom I have the privilege to coach in a 1 on 1 setting. We had some very fruitful conversations regarding her strengths and I had the opportunity to hear her story. 

Charmain Han is an English teacher in one of the Primary schools in Singapore. She is an outgoing individual, passionate about influencing the lives of the future generation. She desires to see more and more people engage their strengths meaningfully and shares some of her own reflections on applying her strengths as a teacher. As a Head of Department in her school, Charmain also reflects about her style of leadership and how her strengths play a huge part of her leadership growth and journey.  Charmain's top 5 CliftonStrengths (formerly Gallup StrengthsFinder) themes are Harmony, Communication, Restorative, Developer and Responsibility.

An Interview with Charmain Han:

1) How do you feel when you first saw your top 5 CliftonStrengths results? 

To be perfectly honest, I was a little sad because I didn't have any strengths in the Strategic Thinking domain. I tend to always look at things from a 'What's the Areas of Improvement' point of view, so my initial response was to focus on what I didn't have. I went to check out on the Strategic Thinking domain strengths and thought about why I didn't have any in my top 5.

I was also a little doubtful that my Harmony theme could be considered a strength. I remember telling my friend that I felt like a Carebear – “Gee, I’m the Harmony bear…” I think I had a pretty narrow definition of what strengths were and my top 5 results didn't fit in this definition, so there was quite a bit of dissonance at the start. 

2) How do you feel you use your talent theme as a teacher? Share some examples.

Well, now that I have come to embrace it, I see my Harmony theme being activated every single day. In class, I'm always teaching my kids how to deal with differences and how to "live, learn and play with people who are different from you”. Outside of class, in meetings for example, I’m always looking for that win-win solution that will help everyone to be on the same page and move an otherwise hopeless discussion forward.

My Communication theme also enables me to turn dense and boring content into effective and engaging stories. I generally enjoy explaining, talking, telling stories and I'm always trying to think of the best way to teach something. I’m also rather dramatic. I think the kids like that. After a while, they all seem to reflect who I am. They also start being very communicative and the classroom is filled with productive noise. I like that. I thrive on that buzz of energy.

READ: MOST COMMON DOMINANT STRENGTHS OF SINGAPORE TEACHERS

3) How do you think CliftonStrengths can benefit the group of people you work closely with?

I guess knowing how we’re all wired differently will help bring about greater understanding amidst the people in my department. So, instead of always saying that “people are the problem”, we’ll instead see how people are the solution. (This probably is my Restorative theme speaking.) And instead of all of us force-fitting ourselves into these moulds that are created based on narrow perspectives (and feeling really depressed if we cannot assimilate the expected competencies), we’ll be looking at how we are each gifted in different ways.

I think just having a common language to talk about who we are, and how we function is really powerful. I personally found the language of StrengthsFinder (now known as CliftonStrengths) really empowering because it’s not about chasing after what you do not have, but fully utilizing what you do have. I imagine the workplace being organized around employee’s talents and staff development that is targeted at growing our talents to strengths. What a dynamic and positive workplace that will be! (I think my Developer theme will love that!) And people will be able to confidently say how they’re good at this or that and I think that will generate greater ownership and engagement in the staff. Maybe teachers will start volunteering to take on projects instead of feeling like everything is handed to them in a top-down fashion.

4) How will you describe your leadership style and how do you see them related to your talents?

I’ll describe my leadership style as consultative. I like being close to the ground and talking to my team members. I frequently ask them, “What do you think?” As a person with the communication theme, it’s extremely important for me to be able to express my thoughts and feelings and as a leader, it’s important for my members to have views and express them. I don’t really like it if people come to me expecting me to have all the answers. Even if I did have the answer, I would rather guide people to arrive at that conclusion than to just tell them. Sometimes, this slows things down but the process of talking through things is just as important to me as the outcome.

To me, leadership is about growing the people around you. I think that’s due to my Developer theme. I am very happy whenever I am able to help someone improve on something, even if it’s something small like tweaking an activity within a lesson. When I am able to support my teachers to achieve something and to witness that moment, or when they come back and tell me how well a lesson that we co-planned went, I find that very satisfying. 

5) How has this unique combination of your top 5 talents help you achieve something you were proud of? 

Hmm… perhaps, during the Parent-Teacher Conference sessions? I think there had been a few instances where I really had to depend on all 5 talents to work together to steer one of those ‘hard conversations’ into meaningful discussions. It's hard to describe those in details. I think I had fond memories of the times when I used all my 5 talents to overcome some of my challenges at work. It will be great if I have more of those moments.

6) You have invested in your own development and have unlocked your full 34. How has that decision helped you?

It was more for my own learning that I chose to unlock the full 34. I wanted to get acquainted to the Strengthsfinder language first for my own benefit – I wanted to get a fuller picture of my CliftonStrengths results and see how my strengths interact with each other, which domain do my top strengths belong in. Secondly, I also wanted to better appreciate the similarities and differences that exist between my friends and me. It’s quite fun to see how many of our top 10 were similar/different.

7) What did you discover about yourself after taking the CliftonStrengths assessment that you did not previously know?

Mmmm, I think it’s not so much as a fresh new discovery as it is a new perspective that I now have. Intuitively, I know how I’m like but now I have a language to describe these traits, habits and behaviors of mine, and of course thinking about them in a more positive way. So the Strengthsfinder tool has heightened whatever self-awareness I had and really helped me to appreciate how I am different from others and why I should leverage my uniqueness.

8) How do you feel my Coaching session has helped you?

The session helped to clarify some things for me and encouraged me to appreciate myself more. I had the coaching session at the beginning of my leadership journey. I had a bagful of self doubt and cynicism about being able to fill the shoes of my predecessor who was someone whom I greatly admire. Back then, I was operating from the mindset that good leaders all have a certain profile or certain talents.  We always talk about the importance of having strategic, visionary leaders like Mr Lee Kuan Yew. So I went into the session thinking that it would help me shed some light in terms of why I was struggling so much and maybe even give me some concrete reasons to step down! (haha) To cut the long story short, at the end of the session, I really felt a lot more empowered and I had a clearer idea of what I should be working and capitalizing on. Thank you Victor for the session!

READ: Using CliftonStrengths for Work - Interview with a Counsellor

Concluding thoughts: It is always encouraging when I hear about powerful shifts in mindsets and the different stories that come with that. I hope as you read about the reflections by Charmain, you too can be personally encouraged and challenged to intentionally work on your strengths as you develop yourself as a leader. Each one of us can greatly impact our generation and the generations beyond, one life at  a time. 

Written by Victor Seet
Activator • Communication • Strategic • Self-Assurance • Command

As a Gallup and Newfield Certified Leadership Coach in Singapore, Victor is passionate about helping people be better observer of themselves to achieve the results they want, especially in the area of well-being and performance. Victor intentionally integrates the strengths-based and ontological approach into his leadership coaching and workshops.