Strengths-Based Leadership

225 Pages·2009·6.66 MB·English

by  Tom Rath, Barry Conchie

N

early a decade ago, Gallup unveiled the results of a

landmarK 3D-year research project that ignited a global

conversation on the topic of strengths. More than 3

million people have since taken Gallup's StrengthsFinder

assessment, which forms the core of several books on this topic,

including the #1 international bestseller StrengthsFinder 2.0.

In recent years, while continuing to learn more about

strengths, Gallup scientists have also been examining decades

of data on the topic of leadership. They studied more than 1

million work teams, conducted more than 20,000 in-depth

interviews with leaders, and even interviewed more than 10,000

followers around the wor1d to ask exactly why they followed the

most important leader in their life.

In Strengths Based Leadership, #1 New York Times

bestselling author Tom Rath and renowned leadership consultant

Barry Conchie reveal the results of this research. Based on their

discoveries, the book identifies three keys to being a more

effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in others'

strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team,

and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those

who loOk to you for leadership.

As you read Strengths Based Leadership, you'lI hear

firsthand accounts from some of the most successful

organizational leaders in recent history, from the founder of

Teach For America to the president of The Ritz-Cartton, as they

discuss how their unique strengths have driven their success.

Filled with novel research and actionable ideas, Strengths

Based Leadership will give you a new road map for leading

people toward a better future.

A unique access code (enclosed In the back of this book)

allows you to take a new leadership version of Gallup's

StrengthsFlnder program. The new version of this program

provides you wtth speclflc strategies for leading wtth your

top five strengths and enables you to plot the strengths of

your team based on the four domains of leadership strength

revealed In the book.

SIR EN G IN S. GAllU P. CO M

TOM RATH

Gallup Global Practice Leader

Tom Rath has written two # 1

international bestsellers. His

first book, How Full Is Your

Bucket?, was a # 1 New York

Times bestseller, and his most

recent book, StrengthsFinder

2.0, is a
l ong~running #1

Wall Street Journal and #1 BusinessWeek oestseller. In total,

Rath's books have sold more than a million copies and have

made more than 100 appearances on the Wall Street Journal

bestseller list.

Rath has been with Gallup for 14 years and currently

leads Gallup's workplace research and leadership consulting

worldwide. He also serves on the board of VHL.org, an

organization dedicated to cancer research and patient support.

Rath earned degrees from the University of Michigan and

the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Ashley, live in

Washington. D.C.

BARRY CONCHIE

A
renowned
Leadership

Consultant,
Gallup's
Barry

Conchie is sought after by

CEOs around the world to

assist in aligning business

and talent strategies that drive

performance. As an expert in

executive assessment. team

diagnostics. and succession planning. he brings objective

measurement and insight to these important leadership areas.

Conchie was a public sector leader in the UK before joining

Gallup in London. In 2002. he brought his extensive global

experience to Gallup's Washington. D.C. headquarters. where

Conchie now leads Gallup's executive leadership consulting.

He and his wife. Nicola, and children. Amy and Thomas. live

in Maryland.

JAC KE T DESIGN : CHIN · HE LAI

AU THDR PHO TOG RAPHS : RATH BY CHRISTOPHER BANKS
CON CHI[ BY JAMES fERRY

GALLUP PRESS

STRENGTHS

LEADERSHIP

GREAT LEADERS, TEAMS, AND WHY PEOPLE FOLLOW

TOM RATH

BARRY CONCHIE

To the pioneering researcher, Don Clifton

(1924-2003), who spent four decades studying the strengths

of great leaders

GALLUP PRESS
1251 Avenue of the Americas

23'd Floor
New York, NY 10020

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008937114
ISBN: 978-1-59562-025-5

First Printing: 2008
1098765432 1

Copyright © 2008 Gallup, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part
in any form.

Gallup', Clifton StrengthsFindero, The Gallup Poll', Gallup Press·, Q12°,
StrengthsFinder", and the 34 Clifton Strengths Finder theme names are
trademarks of Gallup, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their
respective owners.

The Q12 items are protected by copyright of Gallup, Inc., 1993-1998. All
rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ....
. 1

Part One: Investing in Your Strengths .....
.. .......... 5

Part Two: Maximizing Your Team. . . . . . . . .
. .. 19

Part Three: Understanding Why People Follow. .
. .77

Conclusion: Leadership That Lasts Beyond a Lifetime. . . . .. .93

Additional Resources ..

Taking StrengthsFinder

97

... 99

Leading With Your Strengths: A Guide to the 34 Themes...
101

The Research ......... "'" ..................................... 237

A: Your Strengths: The Research Behind Strengths Finder .
239

B: Your Team: Gallup's Research on Work Team Engagement ... 247

C: Why People Follow ............. .. .. ....................... 251

References ............................................... " ....... 259

A NOTE OF THANKS TO OUR TEAM

Gallup has been studying human behavior for more than 70

years and consulting with organizational leaders for more

than four decades. Over the years, hundreds of top scientists

and leadership consultants have contributed to this collective

knowledge base. Even as we write this book, Gallup consultants

around the globe are spending their days working with leaders

to improve their organizations' effectiveness. It is the work of

the following team of experts, many of whom have devoted their

lives to studying great leaders, that fills the pages of this book.

Vandana Allman
Curt Liesveld

Jim Asplund
Mary Pat Loos

Dana Baugh
Rachel Maglinger

Cheryl Beamer
Jacque Merritt

Brian Brim
Jan Miller

Jim Clifton
Jane Miller

Tonya Fredstrom
Laura Mussman

Andrew Green
Peter Ong

Christy Hammer
Connie Rath

Anne Harbison
Tony Rutigliano

Jim Harter
Rosemary Travis

Tim Hodges
Paula Walker

RoddKarr
Stosh Walsh

Lalit Khanna
Damian Welch

In addition to this team of leadership experts, there were many

who shaped the content of this book and its accompanying

website. Our publishing team, led by business book gurus Larry

Emond and Piotrek Juszkiewicz, pushed us at every turn to tell

a better story. Then our world-class editors, Geoff Brewer and

Kelly Henry, refined this manuscript countless times and taught

us how to be more effective writers along the way. The following

members of our core team spent countless hours working on

the research, content, and technology that went into Strengths

Based Leadership: Samantha Allemang, Sangeeta Badal, Jason

Carr, Swati Jain, Trista Kunce, Emily Meyer, and Joy Murphy.

Beyond this core team, we would also like to thank all the

people who reviewed drafts of this book, the team who created

the website, our research group, and in particular, the many

critical friends in our client partnerships who kept us true to

our mission and science and provided many of the subjects of

our studies. Without these great partners, this book would not

have been possible. And to all of the leaders who gave us their

time, we extend our most sincere thanks and gratitude.

INTRODUCTION

The best leaders get to live on.

Think for a moment about the leaders you respect -

whether they lead countries, organizations, communities, or

families -
who continue to live on because of the way they

have shaped your thoughts and beliefs. Even though you may

not notice it in the moment, the most effective leaders forever

alter the course of your life.

Chances are, you will have many opportunities to

lead during your own lifetime. If you're able to seize these

opportunities, your influence will continue to grow for

generations to come. Maybe it's the desire to make a lasting

impact on the world that drives so many of us to want to lead.

In a recent Gallup Poll, we asked people to rate their own

leadership ability. Out of 1,001 people randomly surveyed, 97%

rated their ability to lead as being at or above average. And

more than two-thirds said they have led a group or team. The

fact is, whether you are taking charge in a boardroom, on a

construction site, or even in your home, it is likely that you will

find yourself leading at some point in your life.

So what are the keys to being a more effective leader? To

answer this question, we assembled a team of experts to review

2 I STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP

decades of Gallup data on this topic, which included more than

20,000 in-depth interviews with senior leaders, studies of more

than one million work teams, and 50 years of Gallup Polls about

the world's most admired leaders. Our team then initiated a

study of more than 10,000 followers around the world. In this

study, we asked followers to tell us -
in their own words -

why they follow the most influential leader in their life.

Three key findings emerged from this research:

1. The most effective leaders are always investing in

strengths.

In the workplace, when an organization's leadership

fails to focus on individuals' strengths, the odds of an

employee being engaged are a dismal 1 in 11 (9%).

But when an organizations leadership focuses on the

strengths of its employees, the odds soar to almost 3 in 4

(73%). So that means when leaders focus on and invest

in their employees' strengths, the odds of each person

being engaged goes up eightfold. As we will review in

Part One, this increase in engagement translates into

substantial gains for the organizations bottom line and

each employee's well-being.

2. The most effective leaders surround themselves with

the right people and then maximize their team.

While the best leaders are not well-rounded, the best

teams are. Our research found that top-performing

teams have strengths in four specific domains. In Part

INTRODUCTION I 3

Two, you will hear from four well-known leaders as they

describe how their strengths play out in these domains.

You will also see how one CEO maximized his existing

team and learn about the elements that differentiated

the top-performing teams we studied from the rest of

the pack.

3.
The most effective leaders understand their followers'

needs.

People follow leaders for very specific reasons. When we

asked thousands of followers, they were able to describe

exactly what they need from a leader with remarkable

clarity. In Part Three, we will review the results from

this study and tell you more about followers' four basic

needs.

To help you learn about your own strengths as a leader,

you will have the opportunity to take a new leadership

version of Gallup's Strengths Finder program. (See "Taking

Strengths Finder" in the Additional Resources section of this

book.) FollOWing an online assessment, you will receive a guide

that shows you how your top five strengths fit into the four

domains ofleadership strength (from Part Two). The gUide will

also give you specific suggestions for meeting the basic needs

of those who look to you for leadership (from Part Three).

But as you will learn from some of the most effective leaders

we've studied, the path to great leadership starts with a deep

understanding of the strengths you bring to the table.

PART ONE:

INVESTING IN YOUR STRENGTHS

INVESTING IN YOUR STRENGTHS I 7

If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you

will never be great at anything. While our society encourages

us to be well-rounded, this approach inadvertently breeds

mediocrity. Perhaps the greatest misconception of all is that of

the well-rounded leader.

Organizations are quick to look for leaders who are great

communicators, visionary thinkers, and who can also get things

done and follow through. All of these attributes are desirable

and necessary for an organization to succeed. But of all the

leaders we have studied, we have yet to find one who has world-

class strength in all of these areas. Sure, many leaders can get

by or are above average in several domains. But paradoxically,

those who strive to be competent in all areas become the least

effective leaders overall.

LEADING BY IMITATION

Sarah has a knot in her stomach as she drives to work on

Monday morning. While she rarely looks forward to the start

of a workweek, today the mere thought of going to the office

is making her ill. While driving through traffic, Sarah begins

to wonder why this particular Monday is so much worse. She's

perplexed because last Friday was one of the best days in the

office she could remember.

8 I STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP

As Sarah pulls into the parking lot, she figures out why the

end of last week was so enjoyable: Her boss, Bob, was out of

town. That was the good news. The bad news is that he was

attending yet another course that would equip him to be a better

leader. As Sarah walks across the parking lot, her stomach

tightens even more when she remembers what happened the

last time Bob went to one of those leadership retreats.

Earlier in the year, Bob had attended a conference that

explored Lincoln's leadership style during the Civil War. When

he returned, Bob predictably spent the next month trying to

teach everyone on his team to be "exceptional communicators:'

Sarah chuckled at the memory, recalling how awkward this

was for the computer programmers in her office, who usually

prefer typing to talking. Fortunately, like all Bob's phases, this

one came to an abrupt halt once he read a book suggesting that

the best leaders had humble personalities, and he subsequently

quit pressuring Sarah's more introverted colleagues to be the

next Lincoln or Kennedy.

When Sarah enters the building, she has no choice but

to pass Bob's office, and the knot in her stomach tightens. As

if on cue, Bob waves her in. Reluctantly, Sarah leans against

the frame of the open door. In her mind, Sarah is cynically

wondering what flavor will be served up this month. But to be

cordial, Sarah asks Bob about the retreat.

After telling Sarah how peaceful and serene it was in the

small mountain town where the event was held, Bob cuts to the

chase. He declares, "My big takeaway from last week was that