Today we launch Strengths:60. These minute or less videos give you tips, tricks and insights into strengths focused leadership, coaching and development. If it’s a better understanding of strengths language or how to better use strengths, we hope you’ll find these weekly videos helpful and a quick way you can learn and share about strengths!

“Are you aware that rushing toward a goal is a sublimated death wish? It’s no coincidence that we call them ‘deadlines’.” 

We’ve all been programmed to set goals for ourselves. Getting into the best college, getting a law degree, getting the next promotion, running a triathlon, or saving for a car or a house - we all know the value of having our eyes on the prize, of having something we are looking forward to achieving.  The highest achievers in our society – professional athletes, presidents, famous musicians, corporate leaders – have been working toward a singular goal for their entire lives with the expectation that getting to that goal will be the ultimate experience.  Why then are we so often disappointed when  we reach our goal?  Why do so many high achievers reach their goal only to suffer from depression and substance abuse?

As Marilyn Monroe once said, “Dreaming about being an actress is more exciting than being one.” The real benefit of having goals is to help organize and focus our energy.  When there is a goal in sight, it narrows our choices about what to do, who to connect with, what to read, what to look at on the internet. Goals help us decide what we need to give up in order to strive toward our dreams. Without goals, our day-to-day actions have little meaning; with them, we have a purpose for getting up each day.  In short, goals are the means, not the end.  Their purpose is to help us enjoy the journey, to treasure the experience, to live in joy and satisfaction of the moment.

Have you ever been so focused on a goal that you forgot to enjoy the experience of getting there?

How many of us have experienced something similar?  We work long and hard to attain the next promotion at work, to buy the bigger house, to run the marathon, to lose 20 pounds, thinking that this will be the thing that makes us happy.  When we reach that goal, we do feel happy, but it is fleeting.  Before long, there is something new in our sight, something bright and shiny that we believe is the answer to our longing for contentment and satisfaction with our life.

Positive psychologists propose that we have the whole thing reversed.  It’s not success that brings happiness, instead, it is happiness that brings success.  Their research is showing that happier people have greater success at work, better relationships, more energy and creativity, and better health.  And the most exciting part is that their work is demonstrating that there are simple techniques we can adopt, such as journaling, meditation, and rituals for lasting change, that can lead to greater happiness and life satisfaction.

When have you reached a long-desired goal, only to feel that the joy of achieving that goal was short-lived?

The questions we ask shape our perception of the world around us.  If someone asks us to look for geometric shapes, we look for those shapes and perhaps miss the yellow school buses that are in plain view.  Similarly, if we ask the question, “What are we doing wrong?”, or, “Why are those employees failing?”, or “Where does he/she need to improve?” we direct our focus to performance gaps rather than performance success.  If we spend our time putting our shortcomings under the magnifying glass, we may miss the signs of potential excellence that are there in plain sight.

How could you reframe the questions above so that you begin looking for strengths rather than weaknesses?  How have questions shaped your perceptions?

At a recent meeting of the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers, three corporate leaders – from Stryker, Genentech, and Celgene – discussed the nuts and bolts of how they built a strengths-based culture within their companies.  Here are their tips for making strengths stick:

1. Begin with leaders.  Ask for their support, and offer them training and 1-on-1 coaching around strengths.
2. Take your time and roll out the program slowly.
3. Maintain leadership buy-in by measuring results via engagement scores, turnover ratios, productivity measures, or other means.
4. Ask leaders to demonstrate their support by participating in meetings and incorporating strengths into their communications.
5. Pick an assessment that is supported by available training materials and coaching guides.  Select a vendor with the capability of accrediting individuals within your organization and, if needed, supplementing your internal team with facilitators and coaches.
6. Avoid the “one-hit-wonder” syndrome by planning ahead to incorporate strengths-based training and coaching at all levels of your department or organization. Keep it fresh by starting each meeting with a strengths exercise.
7. Identify champions on each team that can help build momentum.
8. Communicate that adopting a strengths based approach is not an excuse for competency lapses.  Develop strategies for addressing limiting weaknesses.
9. Build strengths into the professional development process.  Provide strengths based feedback at performance reviews.
10. Use strengths based team development to improve communication and cooperation between team members.

The audience takeaway was that while it clearly takes time and energy to build a strengths based culture, the payoff of a more engaging workplace is definitely worth the investment.

This morning I woke up early to spend some time in my garden.  We’ve had blisteringly hot weather over the last week, and I find that I have to water twice a day to keep my flowers and vegetables from looking as droopy and wilted as I feel in 100+ degree temperatures.  The garden is the place where I frequently find myself getting lost in the simplicity of watering, pulling weeds, digging or pruning. The harder I work, the more satisfied I become.  Time passes without me being aware of it, and before I know it, hours have gone by.  I find my attention focused in, laser sharp, on the aphids I discovered on the back of a maple leaf or the new fiddlehead that has emerged from the ferns I planted.  In the garden, I reliably feel a deep sense of exhilaration, enjoyment, and connection to nature – in short, I’m happy!

Psychologist Mikhaly Csikszentmihalyi has a name for this state of full engagement – flow.  In his book, Flow, the Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihalyi proposes that happiness is found when we become fully involved in the details of our lives and invest our attention and energy toward accomplishing goals of our own choice.  In flow, even hard work and boring routines can become enjoyable because they help us organize our lives and focus our thoughts.

When have you experienced flow?  Can you recreate that experience?