Leading with the Significance StrengthsFinder Talent

Significance StrengthsFinder TL;DR

The significance StrengthsFinder talent means you feel driven to excel, focused on who you become and what you leave behind.

You want to make the world a better place, but you also want to be recognized and valued for what you bring to the table.

You know you have something unique to contribute and want others to see it.

If you’re already familiar with StrengthsFinder, you can skip over the next section.

How do you lead well with significance in your StrengthsFinder top 5?

So you’ve taken the StrengthsFinder assessment, received your results and found significance in the list. Now you’re wondering how to grow or leverage this strength in your leadership. 

I know both the energy and weightiness of being driven by the desire to make a significant impact in the world and the people around me. I want to help you like I've helped others identify your life mission, where you want to end up and work from there to guide how you live today.

These are four strategies I’ve seen help those with the significance strength launch into a life of impact.

1. Start at the end.
2. Level up.
3. Motivate with vision.
4. Set clear goals.

Start at the end.

How do you want to be known? What legacy do you want to leave? When you have clear answers to these questions, you’ll feel solidly oriented by a clear direction and purpose in life.

Imagine it’s the day of your death. All the people you’ve known are gathered, grieving but also sharing fond memories. What do you hope they say? What will be the themes of the stories shared that day? 

You’re not just doing a job, you’re leaving a legacy.

This activity might feel strange, but take out a piece of paper and write down the five people closest to you in your life. Now write what you hope they will say about you when you’re gone. When you’re done, look for themes. This is the first step to clarifying the purposes that will guide your life. 

If you want to explore this further, sign up for my free 5-day journey to living from your priorities. 

Level up.

Part of your significance strength involves being recognized for what you bring to the table. 

Making a personal development plan will help you focus your desire to grow and give you a clear path to leveling up your contribution.

Your personal development can include any area of your life, from physical or mental health to certification to help your career. The common pitfall I see people fall into is trying to do too much at once. 

The secret superpower of a personal development plan is focus. 

Choose 1-2 things you will work on over the next 3-4 months. For each, describe three specific actions you will take to grow and at least one person who will join you in the journey. 

Motivate with vision.

Journeys are best when taken with others. Leverage your significance strength in your leadership by recognizing the unique strengths and contributions of your team.  

Work with your team to write a vision statement for who they will become and what they will leave behind. 

Make the investment in yourself and others to become exceptional.

Don’t just print it and hang it on the wall. Reference the vision regularly when you’re making decisions and doing the work. When your team can see themselves in the vision, they will be motivated to do what it takes to get there. 

Set clear goals.

In the first strategy, you imagined what you want to be true at the end of your life. Goals bring the gap between your lifetime impact and your daily actions. 

Like your personal development plan, focus and prioritization are essential to successfully setting and achieving goals.

There are numerous goal-setting strategies out there. The two I recommend to most leaders are. 

1. OKRs: Objectives and Key Results
2. 4DX: 4 Disciplines of Execution

As you learn to lead using your significance strength, you can take yourself and others from average to exceptional

You have a meaningful contribution to make. Don’t go through the motions; just clocking in and clocking out. Make the investment in yourself and others to become exceptional.

Those with significance as a strength can struggle with an antipattern of approval-seeking, as they focus more on how others see them than on how they really are. 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.