Strengths-based assessment

Strengths-based leadership is an approach to leadership that builds on what is strong rather than what’s wrong. Research and evidence-based best practices show that strengths-based leadership empowers leaders and those who follow them, fostering healthy and positive workplace cultures.

Today, leaders also need to think about how they engage, inspire, and develop their people to be resilient and flourish, despite the day-to-day challenges they might face. This concept draws on the fundamentals of well-validated approaches such as Positive Psychology, Psychological Capital, and Authentic Leadership. These suggest that, to help people succeed and thrive, leaders must focus on helping their staff understand, harness, and build on their skills, talents, capabilities, and strengths.

A strengths-based approach is often used in executive coaching sessions & leadership development, dovetailing into other evidence-based coaching frameworks such as the RE-GROW model, Solution focused coaching, or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approaches.

Research has shown that people who use their strengths are.

• Happier and more confident
• Have higher levels of self-esteem.
• Have higher levels of energy and vitality.
• Experience less stress.
• More resilient.
• More likely to achieve their goals.
• More likely to perform better at work.
• More engaged at work.
• More effective at developing themselves and growing as individuals.

• Attract and retain their best people.
• Tap into unused talent throughout the organisation.
• Improve individual performance.
• Build employee engagement.
• Develop flexibility.
• Improve teamwork.
• Increase diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Deal more positively with changes.
• Contribute to the happiness and fulfilment of the employee

Several companies, including Gallup, The Langley Group (cappfinity) and VIA, focus on strengths profiling. 3QETC has partnered with The Langley Group and utilises its Strengths Profile reports with its clients. There are four profile reports within the Langley group approach:

i)  Introductory: Most used with mentees/coachees, providing an overview of their core strengths.

ii)  Expert: A more detailed report providing insight into the 60 strengths and ‘strength families. The report is accompanied by an hour-long debrief discussion with a qualified Strengths Profiling Practitioner (SPP).

iii)  Team: Used in conjunction with the Expert Report, it helps a group of individuals to discuss team dynamics. Also accompanied by a debrief discussion with a qualified coach

iv)  Manager: Based on the Expert Report, this is a confidential report provided to a manager detailing the strengths and profiles of their team members.

The research behind the tool is based upon.

• An extensive comprehensive study based on 30,000+ interviews in the UK
• 180 Questions
• Sixty strengths are identified and validated from 220.
• These all fall into four quadrants (see below)
• Five Families of Strengths
• Assesses 60 strengths across three dimensions of Energy, Performance and Use
• Knowing and growing our strengths helps us feel energised and engaged – learn faster, perform better, and strive to do our best.

The Introductory report is a 9-page report including the definitions of all strengths and up to the top seven realised strengths, seven unrealised strengths, four learned behaviours, and three weaknesses. These will be explained in detail, also how to use wisely, use more, use when needed, and use less.

The Expert report is an 18-page report, similar to the Introductory report, but includes in more detail how the strengths fall into different families and how they distribute across the families. The five strengths families are conceptual groupings of the 60 strengths. Each family contains a set of strengths that share related characteristics.

These families are designed to provide a framework to help you understand the patterns of strengths in your profile.