imapMyTeam Blog

Fear your Strengths Part 2; Improve Your Versatility

Last week we examined how having a healthy “fear” of overusing your strengths is actually beneficial to overall improved performance. This week we have an exercise to help you think through the strengths associated with each of the four quadrants and how you may use this exercise as a tool to improve your response to a situation or person.

What does taking a different approach look like for you? 

If you don’t already know where your strengths lie:

1.      Login to imapMyTeam® and look at your Team Player Report. You’ll find your usual behaviors or ‘strengths’ in the area your Diamond symbol falls.

2.      Once you have the location of your diamond use the attached pdf of the imapMyTeam® Versatility Grid to help you get started with the exercise.

Each of the four quadrants of the Versatility Grid has adjectives that describe strengths we associate to that particular quadrant. Once you align the position of your diamond from the Team Player report to the same location in the Versatility grid you should easily recognize having most if not all of those strengths.  They are the ones you are prone to overuse.

Your blind spot is the diagonally opposite quadrant. That quadrant represents strengths you may need from time to time, but are perhaps the most difficult for you to develop and adopt.  

For example, if your strengths fall in the ‘Red’ area, the behaviors found in the ‘Blue’ quadrant will feel the most awkward or uncomfortable for you to employ. However there will be business and relationship situations where those strengths will be the best resolution.

Remember, Self-Awareness is the critical key to strength management. It requires willingness, discipline and practice to choose to adopt a less familiar approach in the best interest of the relationship or the project. The versatility grid is a way to determine what strengths you may need to ‘fear’ and what strengths you need to nurture and develop.

Don’t limit your success by only operating out of one ‘box.’ 

Become more versatile by learning to use strengths from all four quadrants. Doing so will make you more effective with a wider range of people in a wider range of circumstances.