A strengths story by Maria Salkeld Strengths Coach & Facilitator at Quirky Bird Strengths.
Maria’s top strengths:
“My mind raced as it often does when I get excited about something (that’s my enthusiasm strength right there), so when asked to write a story about how I have used my strengths recently I felt a bit giddy; Which one shall I choose? What has had the most impact? Which one has helped me through some tough times recently? What would people be interested in? Okay, so maybe some of those questions also came from a place of one of my lesser strengths, self-confidence ‘will anyone want to hear a story from me?’
Let’s dial-up that Enthusiasm my inner voice called as that’s when it’s important – I want to shout from the rooftops about the power of strengths and I am always talking about it to those that listen!
So, instead of sharing about one specific strength from my significant 7, I’d like to tell a story about the positive power combining strengths can have, both on performance but also my well-being. This is a tale about how I dialed into my relationship-building, enthusiasm, and bubbling under-strength collaboration to develop a stronger working partnership with a couple of fabulous people.
It’s safe to say that it’s felt like I’ve been riding a rollercoaster over the last few months for one reason and another, so when you know that your love of building and nurturing relationships and networks come to help you at a time of need, the spark comes back.
Looking at the Relationship strength & through conversations with others, it made sense to me why this might happen. I’ve realised that there is always someone in my network who can help, be a trusted colleague and advisor and part of my ‘community’ and by nurturing these and my love of collaborating (something that can be missing when some of your work is independent) I jumped at the chance to work on a project to help people have different conversations in the workplace.
This experience made me realise that I knew I had been missing a bit of motivation and that this opportunity for collaborating and connecting with people and working towards that common goal helped to bring some of that motivation and enthusiasm back.
And it’s that Enthusiasm strength that helped me to realise this and created that momentum to collaborate successfully and deliver a fab product.
So, what does this mean now?
Combining these superpower strengths together has helped to strengthen bonds, and connections and created a successful partnership for future projects, and has had a positive impact on my wellbeing. I often find that tapping into my Enthusiasm rescues me and moves me onto that Path of Possibility that we often talk about, so I’ll keep doing that and see where it takes me?
What strengths can you combine to help you with a current challenge or situation you are dealing with?”
