From focusing on the many to focusing on the few.
Doing things right doesn’t matter as much if you’re not doing the right things.
Does that statement resonate with you? Are you always trying to narrow down the options and possibilities to what is the highest priority?
If so, you might just have the StrengthsFinder Focus talent.
People with this talent are trying to consistently get the right things done. And when they do, they see their focus compound over time, delivering enormous returns
The Focus StrengthsFinder talent is all about prioritizing and distilling options down to the critical few that must be done.
Less is more.
By focusing, you can take efficient, targeted action on just a few objectives but then see them achieved on track over and over.
If you’re already familiar with StrengthsFinder, you can skip over the next section.
SterengthsFinder, now CliftonStrengths, is an assessment based on strengths psychology. The fundamental premise is you will get farther by maxing out your strengths rather than trying to improve your weaknesses.
I’ve seen numerous leaders grow as they identified their talents and turned them into well-developed strengths. But you don’t have to be a leader to benefit from StrengthsFinder, and you can apply it to more than just work.
Understanding your strengths and weaknesses helps you better understand and live out your unique design.
Focus is just one of the 34 different strengths measured by StengthsFinder. When you take the assessment, you will get back your top 5 strengths. You can pay for an ordered list of all 34, but I wouldn’t recommend that the first time you take the assessment.
Focus is critical to developing your strengths. Keeping just your top 5 in view helps you make meaningful growth in the areas of your life with the highest leverage and impact.
So you’ve taken the StengthsFinder assessment, received your results and found focus in the list. Now you’re wondering how to grow or leverage this strength in your leadership.
I know the pain of working in an organization where everything is a priority, so nothing significant gets done. I've helped many individuals and teams focus their efforts on their essential 1-3 priorities.
Focus is powerful, but sustained focus is game-changing.
These are three strategies I’ve seen focused leaders use to empower prioritization in their teams or organizations.
It’s easy to spend our day reacting to what comes at us. What if you could be proactive, intentionally making decisions based on your priorities? It is possible!
Our five-day short course guides you through the process of identifying your life priorities and scaling them day to everyday decisions. You’ll learn how to establish a rhythm to build good habits and grow a team that will be with you in the journey.
Stop asking, “What are the priorities?”
Instead, ask, “What is the priority?”
Studies have shown that when you focus on more than 3 priorities, you accomplish less. When your team or organization tries to straddle multiple priorities, they rarely see any of them realized in a meaningful way, and certainly not to the degree they would have if they took a singular focus.
You’re not just limiting what's at the top of the to-do list. You’re saying this one thing is the list.
If your team could only prioritize one deliverable this quarter, what would it be?
It’s a difficult question. But now consider the impact of every team in your organization delivering on the highest priority every quarter, over and over again.
You’re not just limiting what's at the top of the to-do list. You’re saying this one thing is the list.
Focus is powerful, but sustained focus is game-changing.
Have the team commit to keeping a single priority at a time for the year. When they look back and see what they accomplished, they’ll want to do it again.
If the #1 focus-related risk is focusing on too many things, then the #2 risk is focusing on only work.
I understand it’s a bit of an oxymoron to say focus on your whole life. The point is to elevate what is important in your personal life.
Doing things right doesn’t matter as much if you’re not doing the right things.
When you get to the end of your life, it won’t be the work you’re remembered for. It will be the relationships. Keep the people in your life in focus.
If you want help focusing your life around what’s most important, try my free 5-day journey to living from your priorities.
As you learn to lead using your focus strength, you can help others move from focusing on the many to focusing on the few.
No more hearing leaders say everything is a priority. Lead from your focus strength to align others around shared goals and put collective effort toward achieving them.
If the #1 focus-related risk is focusing on too many things, then the #2 risk is focusing on only work.
Leaders with the StrengthsFinder focus talent can struggle with an antipattern of fixation. Learning the strengths antipatterns will allow you to continue growing as a healthy, intentional leader.
You are on an extraordinary journey to living and leading from your strengths. You can explore the list below to learn about the rest of your top 5 strengths.
Strengths-based growth doesn’t encourage you to ignore your weaknesses but not to spend too much time trying to turn them into strengths. Instead, you may need to find team members or systems to fill in your gaps.
Learn more about how StrengthsFind influences your leadership.
For some people, their strengths ranked 5, 6 or 7 are almost even. You could also be misattributing a skill or behavior to a specific strength.
Learn more about how StrengthsFind influences your leadership.
Seeing your other 29 strengths can help give you a fuller picture. But initially, someone should focus on further developing those top 5 strengths rather than trying to give attention across the list. Once you have a good grasp on what it looks like to lead from your top 5, it can be helpful to explore the rest of the list.
Learn more about how StrengthsFind influences your leadership.
A talent is your natural way of thinking or behaving. A strength is a talent developed over time through knowledge, skills and practice.
Learn more about how StrengthsFinder influences your leadership.
Our five-day short course guides you through the process of identifying your life priorities and scaling them day to everyday decisions.
You’ll learn how to establish a rhythm to build good habits and grow a team that will be with you in the journey.
Our five-day short course guides you through the process of identifying your life priorities and scaling them day to everyday decisions.
You’ll learn how to establish a rhythm to build good habits and grow a team that will be with you in the journey.
Are you striving to align your goals with your values and passions?
Wondering how to measure progress or break down large goals into manageable steps?
Are you ready to transform your dreams into reality?
Our Goal Focus Guide + Worksheet is designed for you to discover how effective goal setting can transform your personal and professional life.
Download the Goal Focus Worksheet