CONVOCATORIA EN EL ESTADO DE TABASCO PARA LA SOLICITUD Y ASIGNACIÓN DE APOYOS DEL COMPONENTE VI. PLANTACIONES FORESTALES COMERCIALES DEL PROGRAMA NACIONAL

When drought threatened the survival of Ohio farming co-op Auglaize Provico, CEO Larry Hammond realized that he would have to change the business model. Grain el- evators were sold, headcount was carefully reduced 25 percent, and the co-op took on work outside of its previous core business. Hammond even cut his own pay.

Hammond then implemented strengths-based development to leverage the unique strengths and talents of each employee. The strengths approach recognizes that ev- eryone has different talents and natural patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. Recognizing and building on those talents with pertinent skills and knowledge creates strengths. People who are applying a true strength tend to perform well. Hammond hoped that encouraging employees to leverage their innate talents would enable them to drive the business forward.

Auglaize’s management had previously used a “deficit” development approach, spending a lot of time identifying employees’ weaknesses and trying to correct them. This meant that a lot of Auglaize’s management was relatively negative. Hammond wanted to change that approach. He says, “If you really want to [excel], you have to know yourself—you have to know what you’re good at, and you have to know what you’re not so good at, and a lot of people don’t. Most of us know what we’re not good at because people tell us. And we also tend to want to fix it.” The idea that workers should “fix” their weaknesses is common, but it can be problematic because attempts to fix weaknesses take time, attention, and energy away from maximizing naturally powerful talents. Employees also enjoy using their talents and doing something well instead of struggling against their weaknesses to produce mediocre work.

Every employee in the co-op took an assessment to measure and identify his or her top five talents, and received at least two consultations on their individual strengths. This enabled Auglaize to build on what its employees naturally do best. Employees be- came more engaged, productive, and energized, and the organization became more successful. As one expert says, “One issue is that the people who are really valued of- ten don’t know who they are, especially in times of change. If managers regularly give positive feedback to key performers, it increases their confidence to undertake greater challenges and reinforces their commitment.”118

Knowing your strongest areas of intelligence can guide you to the most appropriate job and learning environments to enable you to achieve your potential. Compare your intelligence strengths to the job types in Table 3-6.

As a manager, it is possible to develop the same skills in different ways for different subordinates. For example in diversity training, bodily-kinesthetic learners could engage in role-plays while spatial-visual subordinates could create posters conveying the material being taught. Using a person’s preferred learning style helps to make learning easy and enjoyable.

so what

Understanding that there are multi- ple ways to be intelligent helps you to achieve your potential and helps you to bring out the excellence in each of your subordinates as well.

Questions:

1. Do you think it is better to focus on assessing and developing employees’ weak- nesses, or to focus on their strengths? Why?

2. Why would strengths-based development increase employee engagement? 3. If you were a manager, how might you interact with employees differently if you

were using strengths-based development rather than deficit-based development?

Source: Robison, J. (2007). Great Leadership Under Fire. Gallup Management Journal. http://gmj .gallup.com/con- tent/26569/Great-Leadership-Under-Fire.aspx; Local Ag Companies Merge to Form New Cooperative.February 20, 2008. Sidney Daily News, p. 8; Hodges, T. D., & Clifton, D. O. (2004). Strengths-based development in practice. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), International handbook of positive psychology in practice: From research to application (pp. 256–268). New York: Wiley.

Table 3-6

Matching Intelligence Types with Career Choices

Type of Intelligence Related Careers Preferred Learning Style

Bodily-Kinesthetic: physical agility and balance;

body control; hand-eye coordination Athletes, firefighters, chefs, actors, gardeners Touch and feel, physical experience

Interpersonal: ability to relate to others and perceive

their feelings; interprets behaviors of others; relates to emotional intelligence

Psychologists, doctors, educators,

salespeople, politicians Human contact, teamwork

Intrapersonal: self-awareness; understands oneself

and one’s relationship to others and to the world; relates to emotional intelligence

Related to success in almost all careers Self-reflection, self-discovery

Linguistic: verbal and written language; explaining

and interpreting ideas and information Authors, speakers, lawyers, TV and radio hosts, translators Verbal and written words and language

Logical-Mathematical: logic and pattern detection;

analytical; problem solving; excels at math Engineers, directors, scientists, researchers, accountants, statisticians Logic and numbers

Musical: recognition of rhythm and tonal patterns;

musical ability; high awareness and use of sound Musicians, DJs, music teachers, acoustic engineers, music producers, composers

Music, sounds, rhythm

Spatial-Visual: creation and interpretation of visual

images; visual and special perception Artists, engineers, photographers, inventors, beauty consultants Pictures, shapes, visually

Source: Based on Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind. New York: Basic Books; Gardner, H. (1993a). Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. NY: Basic Books; Gardner, H. (1993b). Creating Minds. NY: Basic Books; Marks-Tarlow, T. (1995). Creativity Inside Out: Learning Through Multiple Intelligences. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Seven universal emotions are expressed in the face in exactly the same way regardless of age, race,

culture, ethnicity, or gender. What emotion is this woman expressing?