Each quarter I post a review of a leadership/motivational book I recommend to colleagues and friends. Some may be old favorites, others are hot off the press. I am always open to suggestions for books to review. If you have a favorite you'd like to share with others, please contact me.

Go Put Your Strengths To Work
Author: Marcus Buckingham
Review by Jerilyn Willin

Are you one of the two in ten?

How often do you feel emotionally high at work? Ninety percent of the time? Seventy percent? Fifty? While researching for this solo authoring effort, Marcus Buckingham found only 17% of his sample said they felt emotionally high at work "most the time." Whew! That means only two in ten of us are putting our strengths to work most of the day.

Are you one to the two?

Buckingham's goal for Go Put Your Strengths To Work is to help us develop insights and adopt routines which allow us to engage our strengths at work and keep that engagement going.

Does that mean changing jobs? Not necessarily. What it does mean is that we find within our existing positions the times we play to our strengths and then slowly begin to reshape our responsibilities around those strengths. . . small incremental steps until "the best of our job becomes the most of our job."

As we have all learned when reading books of this ilk, the responsibility for the transformation espoused by Go Put Your Strengths To Work is squarely on our shoulders. Our roadmap: six steps carried out over a period of six weeks. This is not a book to be read in one sitting (though it can easily be started laying on a beach as the first two steps require the introspection that often occurs to the sound of waves)

Buckingham uses a scant 266 pages, guiding the reader through the six steps. He employs the usual technique of anecdotes, thought provoking questions and short exercises that encourage us to put our learning into practice ASAP. A different take is a code on the inside of the book's dustcover also allows the reader access to video clips and an instrument called the Strengths Engagement Track by logging onto www.Simplestrengths.com You want to be one of the two in ten? Doing the exercises is essential if you want to change your situation. Each week builds on the one before.

Here is a quick snapshot of each of the six steps.

Step 1: BUST THE MYTHS

What stops us from becoming one of the two out of ten? Ourselves. What we believe often gets in our way and because we believe we do nothing to ensure our beliefs are the truth. Think about these myths and truths for a moment:

MYTH: As you grow your personality changes.
TRUTH: As you grow you become more of who you are.

MYTH: You will grow most in the area of your greatest weakness.
TRUTH: You will grow the most in the areas of your greatest strengths.

MYTH: A good team member does whatever it takes to help the team.
TRUTH: A good team member deliberately volunteers his/her strengths to the team most of the time.

Ask yourself:
How would it benefit me to believe the truths?
What would it change in my work or life?

Step 2:   GET CLEAR

Do you find it tough to articulate your strengths? Do you think they are best identified by others based on your results?

Buckingham states strengths can be identified by four "SIGNs":

• Success: strengths are activities you are good at AND which fulfill you and sustain you in life.
• Instinct: strengths have an I-can't-help-but- quality. You feel a pull toward these activities and look forward to doing them even when they scare you.
• Growth: These are areas where you learn the most, come up with the most new ideas, and have the best insights. You feel inquisitive about this field of endeavor or activity, you want to learn more, practice, and refine your skill. When you are engaged in this activity you have focus.
• Need: How you feel after you have completed this activity? Chances are you have that all-is-right-with-the-world feeling. Strengths make you feel strong.

It is this feeling that makes strength identification a very personal thing. No one else knows how you feel when doing something. You may do something wonderfully but loathe it. Hint: not a strength.

Here in Step 2 Buckingham introduces a simple yet powerful tool: the Strength Statement. Simple, not easy, it is a precise, specific-to-you statement detailing what makes you feel strong. It is a statement that moves you every time you read it. These Strength Statements are the guideposts for what you need to do more of on the job.

Step 3: FREE YOUR STRENGTHS

Freeing your strengths entails doing more of what comes naturally to you. At work this sounds easier than it is as most of our work addresses the needs of someone or something other than ourselves. Buckingham suggests asking this question: How can I use my strengths to fulfill my customer's needs, meet or renegotiate the expectations of my boss and/or honor my career aspirations.

The Strong Week Plan is the tool for this job. Again simple but powerful in its awareness building and planning aspects, the Strong Week Plan is used for reviewing the past week, predicting the coming week and identifying two specific actions to free your strengths in the coming seven days. Of course the catch is you. Will you do what you promised yourself?

Step 4: STOP YOUR WEAKNESSES

What activities weaken you? Identifying these troublemakers are as important as defining your strengths. Buckingham urges us to "become intimate with them" so you can stop their undercover work and prevent them from corrupting what you do in your job by contaminating your outlook and your workweek.

What activities make you feel weak? What sucks your energy? What responsibilities produce negative emotional reactions, making you want to avoid and procrastinate?

Those are your weaknesses and to keep you alert for their hidden bomb, Buckingham urges "Weakness statements" be written. Just as detailed and individual to you as were your Strength Statements.

Once identified, how can your weaknesses be stopped? Consider these four strategies:

• Stop doing the activity and see if anyone notices or cares.
• Find someone who is strengthened by this activity and team up with them.
• Volunteer to use a strength and slowly steer your responsibilities toward the strength.
• Reframe your thinking and look at the weakness from a different perspective.

Step 5:   SPEAK UP

This is the putting-your-money-where-your-mouth is step. Speak up and get help in using your strengths at work is the name of this tune. This strategy here involves at least four "chats". The first is with someone you are close to and who wants you to succeed. It is called the "strengths chat ."

All you want from this chat is an ear. During this chat you practice the best way to talk about your strengths. You see, strength talk is emotional and corporate speak is NOT the right language. You want to get the words right so when you talk to the boss, you are speaking so she understands but are not scaring her with emotion-laden words or cliches. You also use this practice to find just the right strong examples of using your strengths. The "strengths chat" bears repeating until you feel you really have it right.

The second chat is with your boss. It is called the "how can I help you" chat . Describe one strength and discuss how you want to work with your boss to exploit that strength for the betterment of the department or organization. How can you work together on this? Have some practical ideas in your back pocket. Collaboration is the key.

You're back to the trusted friend and practicing for the "weakness chat." DO NOT give your weaknesses a positive spin (as we've all been trained to do in corporate America). You want to get away from these responsibilities so don't couch them in positive words or phrases. Buckingham provides terrific samples and starter phrases.

Chat four is the "how you can help me" chat with the boss. Ask your manager to help you figure out how to be more productive. Pick the weakness that distracts you the most and develop 3-4 ideas to minimize it. Remember, if you are energized and working from your strengths you will be more of an asset to the organization. Who wouldn't want to help you?

Step 6:   BUILD STRONG HABITS

How do you keep the momentum going? The world has its own agenda. It doesn't particularly care about your strengths. Buckingham offers five strategies for continuing this engagement with your strengths.

What are they? My intention with these book reviews is for you to get a good dose of the book, enough so that you will go to the bookstore, library or get on Amazon.com and get your hands on a copy. So I am leaving the discovery of the five habits up to you. A Coach's (re)View's first cliffhanger.

I had the privilege of hearing Buckingham speak. He is a believer. He has put his strengths to work with amazing success. Now it is your turn.

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