How to Craft a Pathway to Excellence in Your Career

Called to Coach Webcast Series -- Season 11, Episode 31

Below are audio and video plus a transcript of the conversation, including time stamps.

Excellence, says Gallup's Hannah Lomax, is going to look different for every person. So, "the first step is really defining what excellence looks like for you." What does career excellence involve, and how can employees -- including those anticipating or just starting out in a career -- use their strengths to chart a path of career excellence? What is the role of their teammates and their manager? What about the vital place of self-awareness in this journey? And what do you do if you are struggling in this area? Join Hannah and be more intentional about moving your career -- present or future -- forward.

Self-awareness, knowing who you are and how that plays out. Self-expression ... that's what makes you special. But then self-regulating. So ... coaching is one of the most powerful things that we can tap into to get us from A to B.

Hannah Lomax, 14:47

Sometimes I think managers almost need reminding of the fact that if they've got somebody who's phenomenal, keeping them where they are is going to drive them away.

Hannah Lomax, 21:55

Jim Collison 0:00
Hello friends, my name is Jim Collison. I'm Gallup's CliftonStrengths Community Manager. I'm here with Hannah Lomax, and Hannah, great to have you out today. Welcome!

Hannah Lomax 0:08
Hi, Jim, thanks for having me back.

Meet Our Guest on This Episode

Jim Collison 0:11
Good to have you; always a great day to be with you. Today, we're talking about how to craft a pathway to excellence in your career. If you're joining with us, just like John just did, if you're joining us on LinkedIn, leave a comment for us; jump in the chat room. Let us know where you're listening from, drop your Top 5, if you want, in there. We're talking about pathways to excellence today in your career. So you could also drop in the chat the theme you're using most in your career. Like, what are you leading with? That might be a good, a good topic to throw in the chat room. We'd like to, what theme, what, what strengths, what, what kind of outcomes you're having, or one word to describe your best day at work. We're going to spend a little time talking about that. So all those are options. And I'll remind you to those again, but start throwing those in chat. Hannah, let's catch up with you a little bit. Tell us a little bit about where you're located and what you do for Gallup.

Hannah Lomax 1:00
Yeah, thank you. So currently located in the London office, and I'm a Senior Workplace Consultant. So what that really means in simple terms is I partner with leaders all around the world, to help them create thriving workplaces. A lot of that is through CliftonStrengths^®, which is what I'm excited to talk about today.

Advantages of Using CliftonStrengths for Job Crafting

Jim Collison 1:17
Yeah, my career has me at home today, only because we were doing this early version. And I was like, well, I'll be headed into the office a little bit later. I'm located here in our Omaha, Nebraska, office. Hannah, let me remind folks, again, as they're checking in in the chat room, drop your Top 5 in there, if you want. The theme you might be leading in your career -- if you want to share that with, a specific theme, we'll be watching for those. Reilly, behind the scenes, will be putting those on screen. Or maybe one word that describes your best day at work. Again, we're going to spend some time talking about that today. But Hannah, let's get started. Of course, what is the key benefits of utilizing your CliftonStrengths to kind of create this, or craft -- job crafting has been a term that's been thrown around -- excellence in your career? What, what's, what are the advantages of using CliftonStrengths for that?

Hannah Lomax 2:06
Yeah. And, you know, Jim, I think we just, we don't have enough time today to cover every single one of them, of course. But when you think about excellence for every single person, just like our strengths profile, that's going to look different. So I think the first step is really defining what excellence looks like for you. And that doesn't have to be, you know, in 10 years' time, I want to be the CEO of this company; it might just be the next milestone. You know, if you're a professional sports player, it might be that your team wins the season or that you score a goal. If you're a salesperson, it might be, you hit your target or perhaps you exceed it by x%. And once you've got that vision around what excellence looks like for you, I think CliftonStrengths, for those of you that are new to CliftonStrengths, which I'm sure you're not, it's a performance tool, right. So it helps us identify what we're naturally going to be excellent in. That gives you the map to sort of start thinking about your own pathway to achieving that.

Reaching The Zone of Excellence: Conversations, Feedback

Jim Collison 3:03
Yeah, I think about, in my role, doing these kinds of programs. I get the opportunity to use this Arranger^® theme -- that's my No. 1 theme, just specifically, which means like a lot of plates spinning. We have chat going on; I'm trying to ask you questions; trying to think about future questions that may be coming up. And it kind of plays, right, it kind of plays into that. When you've, when we think about excellence, I think we only know that when we measure it. What, what are some great ways -- you kind of alluded to this a little bit when you, as you opened this up, but -- what are some great ways to kind of measure this? How can we know we're in the zone of excellence?

Hannah Lomax 3:41
Yeah, I think, you know, in lots of different roles, you're going to have clear goals. So frequent conversations, as we know, with our managers every week. If you're a manager, and you're not talking to each team member every week, that's something to definitely prioritize. But thinking about that feedback, so when you think about what your own goals are, where are you at, you know, having a conversation with team members or your manager? How do you think I'm doing? And then if you're not clear on those goals, what do you want them to look like? You know, what has your manager asked you to accomplish this year, this week, this month? So if you can start defining that, it's going to give you some more clarity around how you can actually get there. But that wider feedback is also going to help you start thinking about what more you can possibly be doing, from other people's perspective, to really hone in and achieve that.

Jim Collison 4:29
I heard two groups of people in there: I heard managers and I heard those around you, right, getting constant feedback. Should I have an expectation? And I'm gonna be a little facetious here. But should I have an expectation that this happens -- as soon as I say, Oh, I'm going to do this with this theme, that things are going to start happening? Should I have that expectation? Or does it take a little bit of time sometimes to start working through those, that process with maybe that manager and those around me? Talk a little bit about that.

Hannah Lomax 4:56
Yeah, great question. And I think, you know, the self-awareness piece on both of those pools of people is really important. So if I think about, you know, the roles that we're in, Jim, we know what we love to do every day. We know what energizes us. We know, perhaps, which of our strengths maybe get in the way if we're not managing them carefully. But also having conversations with our managers around what we think, perhaps, we can start doing differently through the lens of strengths is, like you say, going to take some work. And the great thing about the CliftonStrengths report, for those of you that have that, you know, a copy of that, it gives you action items that you can start using. It also gives you descriptions. And sometimes there's a whole host of value in just printing that out, going back through it again. Even, sometimes, I do this, you know, in my own journey and thinking about, which of those sentences are really standing out, and maybe I'd forgotten about? Or which of those blind spots have just crept up on me a little bit lately, and I can probably spend some time investing in? And again, speaking to team members, that feedback more widely can also be extremely helpful.

Jim Collison 6:00
Let's, let's focus on you for a little bit. As we think about these themes -- and chat room, we'd love for you, we asked this question when we first opened up, but many of you joined since then: What theme might you be leading with in your career right now? I'm kind of interested in knowing that. Drop that in chat, maybe a single word or a single theme or some kind of success, short success in that. Hannah, if I were just going to ask you that question, in your role with what you're doing, we're not exempt from this at Gallup. Yeah, we live in it every day; we're not exempt from it. What are you leading with right now? Give me an example from your own, kind of from your own success.

Hannah Lomax 6:35
Yep. So Positivity^® is my No. 1. And I just think there's no hiding that; it's definitely the loudest one for me. And I think with that, you know, I'm very lucky at Gallup to have some coaching around how that can create energy for clients or team members or events that I'm involved with. But also, Jim, it can get in the way, massively. You know, I was rereading my report recently. And sometimes, for me, I use humor, and it's a bit of a defense mechanism. And sometimes I'm running away from the things that I need to tackle, because I'm not taking them as seriously as perhaps I should. So I think there is value in almost reflecting on that a little bit more, when you can.

Discovering How Your Themes Are Playing Out in Your Career

Jim Collison 7:14
Some great insight. Amy out in the chat room -- Reilly, I'll take over the chat for just a second, then I'll give it back to you -- she says, Amy says from the chat room, Interestingly, I retook the assessment post- becoming a mum. (And for Americans, that's a mom, just so we know, so that we have it straight, right?) And now I have Deliberative^® and Self-Assurance^® in my Top 10. They, they helped massively being a mum. And, you know, what great, that's kind of what we're talking about, right? Of being able to see, Hey, I've got these themes that are playing out in ways in my career that can, that can be really, really helpful. As we think about that from a tips perspective, Hannah, just from a general, because there's 34 themes, and everybody's, everybody's life is completely different. We come at it from, you know, having specific examples may be difficult, but what are some practical tips? What are some things if you, once you have this, what else can we do in this area to, to help define those?

Hannah Lomax 8:10
And I think the question that you opened with, you know, about your best day at work, I think that's a great place to start. So we often, when we think about, you know, crafting this pathway to excellence in a career, we almost have two situations. One is, you love the career that you're in, and you want to think about what's next. So there's an opportunity there to look at what's energizing you every day, right? What was your best day at work? How would you describe that? And which of your strengths were you using? Can you find an opportunity to just stretch that a little bit further and to do even more of that, and having a conversation with your manager is a brilliant place to start.

Hannah Lomax 8:50
And I think the other situation that we often see is somebody who thinks, goodness me, am I in the wrong role? You know, I'm not having a great time. And again, still have a conversation with your manager. But if that is the situation for you, then there's a gap, right, between where you are today and where you want to be. Now for some people, they're very lucky. Their managers are going to say, "I can see that these are the strengths you want to be using more of. Let's make that happen in your job. Let's change some of your daily tasks. Let's put you on a particular project." Brilliant. Give that a go. If you feel like, actually, do you know what? This is just not the career route that I want to go down. Start thinking about, OK, if I took a different route here, and I ended up doing x, y, zed, which of those strengths could I start using more of? And, of course, which might get in the way, in terms of just a self-awareness and a self-regulation standpoint? So that's one thing. And then I think the other thing that's helpful, which we've touched on slightly, is just, you know, it's coming back to basics, but just practicing it. What can you do more of every day? What can you manage more carefully? Who can give you feedback?

Jim Collison 9:53
Yeah, there's some, there's some great comments in the chat room. And, and I think, you know, when we think about these themes, somebody had said, "Responsibility^® gets me in trouble." Somebody else said, "Definitely Responsibility. I often get in the basement with that one." But I think sometimes that can actually be an indicator of when it's, when it's strong for us. And that, if it's causing, I have high Communication^® (4), I talk a lot. I, I, my meet, my best meetings are when I'm talking, not when we're emailing, right; I prefer it that way. And so I get some, a lot of great things done. It also gets me in a lot of trouble. I think for some folks, if they would think about, like, not just where I've had successes -- I think that's a great place to start. But to kind of reverse that sometimes and go, Where have I gotten into a little bit of trouble? There may be an area that that's something I could work on from a, from a -- .

Your Teammates Need to Understand Your Strengths

Jim Collison 10:45
Now, you need to spend some time thinking about this. But with that Responsibility, man, I lean on people with, with Responsibility all the time, because I have none of it. Now, I'm not going to, you know, as much as I work on it, it's not going to get any better. Because it's not, it's not a talent for me. But for those that do have it, it is indeed. And so, Hannah, talk a little bit about this. I mean, we just mentioned this, but how important -- you've talked about the manager. But how important is this in the context of teams as well -- in other words, for my teammates' understanding these things, to help my own career?

Hannah Lomax 11:17
Yeah, hugely. And I think, you know, as well, just as we lead into kind of the team section, people leave managers, not companies, right. So I think making sure that that's a priority is critical. But then when you think about your team, it's just that efficiency piece, and CliftonStrengths, it's a performance tool; it drives performance. It also makes people feel better. It helps them with their wellbeing and their engagement. And, you know, with Positivity No. 1, I have had situations where high Restoratives, you know, I have felt like, Gosh, I don't understand these people! They're bringing problems to me every day. Why can't they just see what's great about the world and what's going well? And I can't imagine a day in my career now, Jim without having a team with people high Restorative^™. Because they can spot those problems that my Positivity is just, you know, perhaps ignoring. And not only can they spot them, they can solve them. So it's the most perfect partnership.

Hannah Lomax 12:13
So when you think about -- and I know that we've got a lot of coaches who are joining this session today, so thank you for being here. And we'd love to hear some of your thoughts too. But when you think about optimizing the efficiency of a team, not only to drive performance, wellbeing and engagement, but just to have, you know, that culture that's unmatchable, knowing what's going to drive people up the wall and get in their way, and knowing what's going to really energize people through that lens of strengths, is the best place to start. So some of those activities, like a Team Grid, what this team needs, what this team brings, you can spend a lot of time doing that.

Self-Expression: Getting the Most Out of Your Strengths

Jim Collison 12:50
Yeah -- Chris in chat, and I think this is a perfect example of what we're talking about here -- He says, I'm too adaptable. And I almost want to change the word too to incredibly: I'm incredibly adaptable, right, let's start with positive, with the positiveness in this, right. Now, in this case, Chris says, I end up taking too, on too many responsibilities, instead of delegating the responsibilities back to the person who needs to get the job done. Incredible self-awareness. All right, great. We know that now. So how do we take advantage of your Adaptability^®? How do we protect you from the, the areas where it's not working? But sometimes I think we end it with that, right, just the protection -- Oh I need to stop doing. I think we need to say, I need to get help. And then I need to enhance. How do I enhance what it is? Because having incredible Adaptability is very valuable. In your example, Hannah, you just talked about you lean on Restorative, right? If we shut down all those people that have Restorative and say, Stop, stop fixing things! Stop it, you're fixing too many things! Right? That's their superpower. Right? I mean, I, respond to that, Hannah. What does that, what does that make you think?

Hannah Lomax 13:58
Yeah, I think there's so much to that. And actually, one of the things that we want through a coaching approach is to get people to self-expression. And self-awareness is the first step, right. So I know, for example, I'm a highly positive person, and that has, you know, all of these different connotations, in terms of how it plays out for me. But like you said, what we don't want to be doing is using strengths as an excuse to, Oh, I'm just too positive. That's it. You know, I'm never going to look at the negatives or the risk. And I see this a lot in the work that I'm involved with is, I'm a Relationship Builder. I don't Execute. I can't Execute. I don't have any Executing themes. OK, well, guess what? Without those Executing themes, you're going to suffer, and so will your team. So how can we help you to thrive, knowing that you lead with Relationship Building? So I think it's that self-awareness, knowing who you are and how that plays out. Self-expression being even more of that; that's what makes you special. But then self-regulating. So I think coaching is one of the most powerful things that we can tap into to get us from A to B.

Students and CliftonStrengths -- Prepping for Job, Career

Jim Collison 15:02
Yeah. And I think it's incredibly powerful if you can get in a role where you don't have to regulate it. Like, we go to fight a fire. The last thing you want to do is kind of regulate the water that's coming out of the hose. No, you want that -- in most cases, you want that stuff full blast, right? What if we could put you in a role? And I think this is that conversation you're having with, with your manager, to say, What if I could be in a role where that could be on full speed all the time? What would that look like? Right? And so taking advantage of that -- instead of trying to swim against the current, swim with it. And, and I just think there's some, some great opportunities. When we think about students, Hannah -- and we also have, you know, every year, almost a million students take CliftonStrengths; a lot of students know their, their Top, their Top 5 -- what kind of, in precareer or like in the interviewing, this is where a lot of folks use it, what kind of tips or how could this be used in those areas of both precareer and interviewing?

Hannah Lomax 16:05
Yeah, great question. So, and we get this all the time, by the way. So I'm so pleased that we've got the student report available now. I think one of the things that people really need to ask themselves is that question, you know, What energizes me? And What makes me special? And something that some of our students will do is they will take their Top 5 to a job interview and say, "Look, this is what makes me stand out. This is how I'm going to use it. And this is why I think that this job would be a great fit." So there's, there's some kind of, I guess, uniqueness to having that self-awareness again.

Hannah Lomax 16:37
And then I think the other thing that students can start to do if they don't know where they're heading yet is -- and we alluded to this ever so slightly earlier -- imagine yourself in that role, and then look at your strengths profile and think, Is there a clear alignment? Or are these worlds apart? And I think, you know, anyone that goes into a new role, they're going to have a manager, right? So it comes back to that relationship and explaining to managers, Here's what I'm going to absolutely thrive at. And to be clear, something that we have to manage as well is, there are going to be parts of every job that you don't love. That there is really no, I think, dream job where you don't have to do a single thing that doesn't grind your gears ever so slightly. If I could delegate out my timesheets, I definitely would. But no one can do that for me, right. So just managing those expectations ever so carefully. But again, I think having that conversation with your manager about what's going to help you accelerate and what perhaps might get in your way, it creates that transparency and helps students think about what's next for them.

Jim Collison 17:37
Yeah, for those things I'm not good at, I make incentives that are stronger than the desire not to do it. Timesheets, I, they're, they're supposed to be daily; I'd probably do it every week. And Wednesdays, they have a special breakfast -- I won't say what it is here, because people will shame me for it. But I hold, so once I get my timesheet in, then I can go get breakfast. It's one of those, like, it's, it's like, it's one of those tricks to get it done. Partnerships are also that area, right? As we think about students, I don't, I don't know if I've ever asked this question before; let me throw it to you. As we think about students and partnerships, how could, as you think about looking for a job, and, or you're in that, you're in that, that market where you're, you're looking for that, maybe for that first career, How do you think partnerships can play in to that, to that, that task of interviews and applying for jobs? I don't know, any thoughts on that? I didn't prep you for this question; this is totally, totally a surprise. But what do you think?

Hannah Lomax 18:35
Yeah, of course. I think, I think, again, it, firstly, depends on what partnerships you're thinking about. So if you're already in, you know, a setting, whether that's a job, or if you're in university, and you're working with other people, partnerships allow you to realize what you're going to love and where you need that other person that complements you. So I think whether that's a partnership that you already have with a friend, a peer or in a work situation, again, just getting that feedback, and perhaps taking the time to sit down with somebody going through a bit of a Power of 2 session -- Here's what I'm great at. Here's the things that you have helped me with. So that when you go into a new role, yes, definitely lead with the things that you're going to do super well, so that your manager feels like it's going to be a good decision to hire you. But bring that awareness of, I'm going to work really well in a team where I've got people who can help me with x, y, zed. So if that's the type of partnership that, that you're kind of referring to, I think that might be a helpful tip.

Jim Collison 19:34
Yeah, there's a great comment in the chat room that I want to read. It says, I'm not sure one can share "what gets or what comes in their way," right, with their manager freely unless there's psychologically, psychological safety within the team. And I guess I want to be really clear about that, too. Yes, that's, that is true, right? I mean, you have to foster these environments or these environments have to -- it is tough to say what you're not good at If you don't feel safe in those environments, right. We say these things in generalizations, as we think about team settings and team environments. And yes, absolutely, that's one of those areas that you have to strive for in that. So we don't want to, we don't want to underplay or overplay, depending on how you, how you come to that, that equation. And so I appreciate that comment in the chat room, and no worries about the typos.

Jim Collison 20:25
If you have questions, we got about 10 minutes left, and we'll be taking a few of your questions; if you want to drop those in the chat there, we would, we would love those. Thinking about that team question to you, Hannah, Reilly, who's our producer behind the scenes, was part of a program at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the Strengths Institute. And it's an institute that focuses on this. And the students, they have student coaches that are there. And, and those students that come, come out of that program have this incredible self-awareness and, and ability to talk about and dialogue about their Top 5, what they're good at. I think sometimes, as we think of those partnerships, not every college or university or school is going to have an institute. But I also, somebody, saw somebody in chat that said, Hey, I should take more of this to the, to the institution I'm working in. And we'd love to see more of that, right. I mean, there's some availability -- doesn't have to be the whole school, doesn't have to be the whole, I mean, it can start with a class, right? Hannah, any thoughts, as we think about other things that you've seen work out there to get this rolling, what other ideas might be available where folks could get, start using this?

Hannah Lomax 21:35
Yeah, I think if we just also hopped back to kind of that that manager-employee relationship as well, just thinking about partnerships, something that I see a lot is managers are responsible for helping their direct reports to develop and eventually move on into their next progression phase, right. And sometimes I think managers almost need reminding of the fact that if they've got somebody who's phenomenal, keeping them where they are is going to drive them away. So if you are in that managerial role or, you know, perhaps you're a student who one day wants to be a manager; maybe you've just got a new manager, and you're thinking about how to set that relationship up, there is something to be said about that conversation and just that mindset of, if somebody stays where they are, they're probably going to move next door and get the progression that you weren't willing to give them. So as a manager, you can start having more open conversations to bring that psychological safety around the fact that, you know, one day, I want you to be so good at this job, we actually have to move you into the next stage and, and hire somebody in.

Hannah Lomax 22:39
So even as a student, if you're not sure where you're going to be in 10 years, that's fine. I don't think anybody knows what that looks like. And even if they do, it probably plays out differently, right. But even thinking about next year, where you want to go, almost starting to build that pathway for yourself in terms of mini-milestones, who's in your network that can help get you there, who do you need to be having a conversation with -- whether that's a mentor, a coach, a friend -- those steps that you can take will definitely help you in catalyzing that journey.

Traditional Career Development vs. Development Using Strengths

Jim Collison 23:09
Yeah, I'm hearing a lot of, with this concept of stress and burnout. We've talked a lot about that in our data at Gallup, right. And it's questioning, a lot of folks are questioning what they're doing. You know, and I think it's a great idea as we think about, you know, career development, right? Where do I want to go? And, you know, I alluded to this early on, I think sometimes we think, OK, I'm gonna make the decision, and tomorrow, it's gonna be different. And sometimes these things take a while. Now sometimes they can be quick. I mean, I've, I, I left a job in a day one time. And it wasn't the smartest thing I ever did, but I did do it, right. Sometimes careers change that way. Oftentimes, we want to think about career development. How does, how do you think using CliftonStrengths changes that idea of career development versus kind of the traditional thought around that?

Hannah Lomax 23:59
Yeah, great question. And I think, you know, without awareness, there is no development. So if you're not aware of where you are today, and where you want to be, and what's going to get you there, it's very difficult to make that step. I think what strengths brings is an individualized lens. So for some people, they are in a system, right, where there's levels, and they've got to hit certain competencies or certain achievements to get to the next step. And, you know, sometimes there's no getting around that. But what strengths can do is help you think about the how in between point A and B.

Hannah Lomax 24:29
But I guess on the flip side of that, if you're a manager, and you're looking at the team in front of you and thinking about, right, what's next for each of these people, if you know that somebody is high in Learner^®, for example, they're probably going to want some visibility over what they need to be doing, what they need to be achieving, what they need to be studying, to get to the next step. Whereas if, perhaps, they've got more Relationship Building themes, they might be having conversations with the people who are going to be in the new team that they want to join or, you know, the new step of their career that might look slightly different than where they are today. So I think it's less traditional, in the sense that it gives you a lens that's very specific to how you are wired as a human being, that's not going to be the same as the person next to you.

Jim Collison 25:13
Hannah, there was a comment a little bit earlier, and I think I missed it; Reilly caught it. It was, it was along the lines of, What if your manager doesn't give you any actionable feedback? Like, what if you begin to have these conversations, and the door closes? I don't know, thoughts on that?

Hannah Lomax 25:30
Firstly, that's really tough. And that's why a lot of people leave. And that's why Gallup are so busy working with so many managers to help make sure that that doesn't happen. I think if you do find yourself in that position, definitely draw a light on it, in a, in a way that's, you know, positive and professional and all of those things. But just go in and say to your manager, I'm really looking to develop, and I would love some, some feedback from you. And, you know, if you've tried that, and there's nowhere to go, find the feedback elsewhere. Who else can you speak to? Have you got colleagues? Have you got best friend at work? You know, one of the Q^12® items is that somebody talks to me about my progress and helps me think about my development. So who else can you lean on in that sense?

Hannah Lomax 26:11
And then I think the other thing is just doing some self-reflection. Oftentimes, you know, I'll sit with clients and try and figure out, in a certain phase of a project, what went really well. What can we do differently next time? And a lot of the situations that we work with our clients in is around the behaviors that we've seen, you know, on both sides that we could sharpen. So if your manager is not giving you feedback, you know, don't give up hope. I'm probably saying that because I've got Positivity 1, but see if you can get that feedback elsewhere.

For Those Who Are Struggling in Their Careers

Jim Collison 26:42
Katie in the chat room says, Hey, wait a minute, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville loves strengths-based initiatives, right? Helped our career coaches have more impact and personalized conversations with students. I mentioned University of Nebraska at Lincoln. If you go out to gallup.com/cliftonstrengths and go to the student section, you'll see UNL, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Purdue, Tennessee, Kansas State, Western and Furman -- all schools, that's just a few of the schools that have picked this up as a concept to say, Hey, yeah, we'd love to, we'd love to do more of this in a more organized manner. Again, we're taking your questions from chat; we have just a, we have kind of just a few minutes left. Hannah, as you think, this, again, on this career development, if you were, someone came to you, and they were like, you know, "I'm really struggling," right? "This just really isn't working for me." And you had a minute with them. Like, what, in your mind, what's the most important thing you'd say to them, maybe if you're on the elevator, right, the infamous elevator? And at the Shard there, maybe you do have a minute to go in between. But what would you say to them?

Hannah Lomax 27:47
Yeah, yeah, great question. I think, firstly, don't give up, you know. And I think whatever the outcome is, whether that's crafting the role that you're in now or taking a different journey, you will be able to find something that works for you. My question, when I hear this, often to people who are kind of picking my brains on it is, To what degree do you think you can actually change this? Right? Do you think that there is an element of, you know, I guess self-motivation: I'm in a role that I'm not loving right now. But I can shift my mindset. I can use my strengths more. I can get more development opportunities around the team that I'm in. Or do you feel like actually, this is probably never going to change. I've tried everything, and nothing's working. And I think that's gonna give you a good steer around whether you need to make, you know, a move and explore other options, or whether, actually, you know, you might just wake up the next day and think, I'm gonna keep going. I think I can take a different approach to this.

Jim Collison 28:40
Yeah, and back to the, you know, sometimes with the manager, like, those managers need help, too. Right. Nate said he had a previous manager who consistently asked him, "What are you learning," right? Sometimes those managers need help as well. They're pinched in between those that are managing and the those that are managing them. And that's a lonely spot sometimes. Right. All right. In the 1 minute we have left, a quick question that came in said, What's a good way to incorporate strengths into team meetings? What have you seen? What do you like? As we think about -- what's a great way, what's a great 1-minute way to get strengths going in a team meeting, maybe before the meeting even starts?

Hannah Lomax 29:19
Oh, impossible to do it in 1 minute, but I'm gonna give it a go. I think something I love is asking the team, What strength have they recognized in somebody else this week that's helped them to do great work?

Jim Collison 29:30
Yes, I love that. Recognition is an accelerant for team formations, right? You want to get a team together, working together? Get them recognizing each other on a regular basis. I love that. And we did this just yesterday. We were doing an internal session at Gallup, and I asked them to recognize someone else and a theme they, they appreciated them for. And the chat room just lit up. And, like, that's the best day for everybody, right? That gets, and I bet that, Hannah, I bet that feeds your Positivity, for sure.

Hannah Lomax 30:00
For sure, yeah. Indeed.

Jim Collison 30:03
Indeed. Pretty good. Well, Hannah, let me say thank you to you. Always appreciate your insights. Always great to be, always great to have you here. And always great to have you a part of these LinkedIn Lives. Thanks for coming out, and thanks for being a part of it. I appreciate you.

Hannah Lomax 30:16
Thank you so much, Jim. And yeah, we've definitely worked with organizations and universities and schools across in Europe as well. So if you've got any questions on that, then feel free to let me know.

Jim Collison 30:27
Yeah. And you can contact us. Just send us an email: coaching@gallup.com. You don't have to be a coach. It doesn't have to be about coaching. If you have any questions, that's just an easy email address to remember: coaching@gallup.com. We'll make this part of The CliftonStrengths Podcast. If you haven't started joining us on The CliftonStrengths Podcast, Why not? Why wouldn't, when you, free professional development for you, delivered right to your phone just about every week throughout the year. Just get on your podcast app and search "The CliftonStrengths Podcast" -- super original name. Hopefully, you'll remember that -- The CliftonStrengths Podcast -- and get subscribed today. If you joined us live, thanks for doing it. Thanks for joining us live. Thanks for all your comments out there in chat. If you're listening to the podcast, thanks for joining us there as well. With that, we'll say, Goodbye, everybody.

Hannah Lomax's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Positivity, Futuristic, Learner, Responsibility and Focus.

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