“Values in Action” – now there’s a phrase you don’t hear every day but the reality is that these underpin our moment to moment activities.
A while back I co-facilitated with two masterful coaches/consultants Sara Thompson and Elaine Maxwell. Sara and Elaine had worked with this group previously and during that time they had introduced and used Seligman’s “Signature Strengths”. From time to time during this session either Sara or Elaine would observe how a person was speaking from their strengths. As the two days unfolded it was fascinating to see how the combination of a person’s top 5 strengths and the influence of their bottom strengths shaped their perspective and their behaviours.
The twenty-four strengths are explored in Seligman’s book “Authentic Happiness” and there is also an on-line assessment available at http://www.authentichappiness.com Of course at the end of day one, I had to dig out my copy to refresh my memory about my own top five signature strengths:
Appreciation of Beauty
Ingenuity
Curiosity
Judgment
Love of Learning
Almost sounds like a recipe for an artist/coach – don’t you think?.
The one thing that stood out for me watching how Sara and Elaine coached around these strengths, is how if any are overused they can also become a source of problem area for the person. Hmmmm – a personal lesson here maybe? Perhaps instead of continually following my almost insatiable desire for what’s new, what’s next I could stop and follow through with what I have already learned and stay with executing and getting results from all that learning and exploration… Food for thought.