Utilizing Leadership Strengths for More Effective Coaching

Carrie Sand contributed today's post. Read Carrie's previous posts here.

Recently, I took the Gallup StrengthsFinder personality assessment to learn more about my strengths as a leader. The results were not shocking nor did it really tell me something that I didn’t already know. I thrive on competition: well, I was a college athlete. I like discipline and order: yes, my classroom is centered around routines and procedures and my work station looks like the inside of a filing cabinet. I love work that is significant and fulfills my passion: obviously, I am a teacher. 

According to this assessment, each strength falls under one of the four themes: executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking. Here’s what did shock me….I have traits that are strong in each one of these themes except relationship building. My first thought...What?!? How can I be an effective literacy coach without strengths in what seems to be at the core of coaching: building relationships. It took a bit of reflection on these results to determine how I can use this knowledge to better myself as a coach and an educator. After this reflection, I decided that the knowledge is actually quite useful to me as a coach.

First, by knowing more about my own leadership strengths I am better equipped torecognize different leadership styles in others. This is a benefit to me because not only can I use my own talents and skills to better work with individuals and teams, but additionally, I can assess and utilize others’ strengths and skills for the good of the team. Also, I am able to tailor my approach to best meet the needs of the individual or team I am working with when I am able to recognize their strengths. If acted upon correctly, this knowledge can produce better conversations, better bonds, and better results for a coach.

Secondly, and probably more importantly, by knowing what my own leadership strengths are, I am better able to seek out and find the kind of people I need on my team to help “round me out” as a coach. These are people who fill in the holes of my personality. Often people tend to surround themselves, especially professionally, with others who have similar personalities to their own. As a coach, I have to surround myself with all types of personalities. By allowing other people's strengths to fill in and build up my respective strengths, I am a better coach. By surrounding myself with those most unlike me, I can be a more well rounded leader.

After going back and looking at my own results, I realize that my strengths serve me well as a coach: I push people by using positive reinforcement; I set high standards and help others recognize hidden talents to reach those standards; I value honesty, integrity, and emulate those qualities through a commitment and passion for my practice.  How can I become better? By finding those empathizers who help me to hear all voices and viewpoints and includers who find ways to get all on board and share their feelings. I learned more about these ideas from the book Strength Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie. I would encourage all coaches to think about their skills as a leader and how to best utilize those skills to be an effective coach.