Morning 👋,

Me again 😀 talking strengths.

If you'd like to listen to the audio version of this article I've linked to it below in my google drive. I've given it a go with my best podcast voice and 🎙.

Finding Glimpses of Excellence 🎧

Over the last couple of weeks I've spoken with and delighted in strengths focussed coaching conversations with a number of folks (some of you included 🙋‍♂️ and 🙏🏻) who have insight into their top strengths and keep them visible during their day.

In a few of those conversations, we've used variations of the activity below to help identify some of those moments, days or weeks in our life and career in particular where unbeknown to us, our natural talents and strengths have previously been at work for us.

It's an insightful practice to help connect us with our uniqueness and combined with the use of the 34 Report, we can draw clear connections, clear lines between those events and the names of the strengths at play.

Super helpful to then get intentional in how those strengths can be used 💪.

So I can help you navigate through the same exercise looking for some "glimpses of excellence", just pause in your day (or find a pause in your day) and work with me for a minute while you think or feel your way into the exercise.

Finding Glimpses of Excellence

Just for a few seconds now, I'd like you to visualise a day, that day (or week for that matter)...the one at work where everything went to plan, you were firing on all cylinders and the outcomes and impact of your work was amazeballs...beyond what you'd thought at the time was possible for you and might have even wondered, "how'd I do that?"

Are you there?

Can you see it?

At your desk?

In the meeting room?

In the store or in a team huddle?

Making all the pieces come together?

Maybe on that day you needed to step up and take charge?

Maybe you connected a group and dreamed up a different future together?

Maybe you immersed yourself compassionately in difficult conversations?

Maybe it was something I haven't mentioned.

Just take another 10 seconds to remember the details of that day.

What did you do?

Where were you?

What was achieved?

What got done?

This day, this event, holds clues to your natural talents and strengths at work for you.

I've loved doing this exercise and each time, people always know the day, the week or even the period in their career when responding. In fact I've even had this conversation with myself a few times!

What we often don't know and haven't connected is the direct line between those days or events and a clearly defined understanding of our talents and strengths.

What happens when we do make those connections, when we can see which of the strengths or combinations of were at play?

We can begin to become intentional with their use.

We can begin to make the most of them each day. We can bring more of ourselves, our true selves to the day.

It's a beautiful thing.

The Clifton Strengths folks will also talk about those days and weeks as "glimpses of excellence", one of the 5 Clues to Identifying talent.

I talked about "glimpses of excellence" in this video on LinkedIn the other day and there's some great questions you can ask yourself or the people around you to help you find these clues to your talent in the video.

If you want a bit more detail though and a short resource on surfacing more of the clues to your talent, the link below will take you to a PDF I prepped blending my own experience with the wisdom of the strengths folks.

You can grab it here

There's a leap forward in our lives and in our work that we can make when we can name and embrace these glimpses of excellence and invest in their use as a way to build strengths.

There are even more leaps to be had when we get to intentionally deploy those strengths or combinations of them to achieve an impact for ourselves and the ones we love and work with.

And how good could it feel when there's more days than not spent utilizing the beautiful bits that make you unique?

Chat soon.

Nick

0418 870 184