Here at Silverchair, that’s exactly the question that drives us. We’re continually focused on what we do well as individuals, finding ways to develop those talents and allow us to lean into them, and helping Silverchairians find purpose and satisfaction in our work using these strengths. In PeopleOps, we work with managers and teams to apply this strengths lens to how we work together, how we form teams, how we evaluate performance, and how we grow.
Silverchair adopted a strengths-based approach to performance reviews in 2021 (see our Chief People Officer and General Counsel Lily Garcia Walton’s Silverchair’s Strengths-Based Reviews Unlock Passion and Potential - Silverchair blog post to learn more about why Silverchair started this journey). The CliftonStrengths assessment helps to support both people managers and employees as they identify and unlock these strengths. Created by educational psychologist Donald Clifton and now administered by Gallup, this assessment identifies 34 distinct strengths in order to help individuals develop and leverage their talents.
All Silverchairians complete the CliftonStrengths assessment; we've all seen our results, noticed what surprised us, maybe compared notes with a colleague. That first read-through can be genuinely illuminating. But the real value of these strengths isn't in the discovery moment. It's in what you do with it afterward. As we’ve engaged in our annual Growth Camp (with internal programming focused on education and professional development), we’re committed to learning more about our industry, our business, and ourselves. Our top five strengths are a roadmap to harnessing our personal superpowers.
Personal and professional development is ongoing, and that's precisely what makes a strengths-based approach such a useful frame. The more self-aware we become, the more clearly we can see how our natural talents translate into strengths and where those strengths can take you. Strengths are different from talents: a talent is something you're naturally good at. Add deliberate practice, accumulated knowledge, and consistent application, and that talent becomes a strength you can reliably call on in your work and your life. We talked about “naming, claiming and aiming” your strengths in our recent Growth Camp session on Clifton Strengths. You need to know what your strengths are; you need to decide to own those strengths; and you need to make a conscious decision to use them.
What makes the strengths approach particularly compelling is that it's asset-focused. Rather than identifying gaps to fill, we target what we're already doing well and find more opportunities to do it. We do this because research has shown that focusing on strengths yields much better performance and satisfaction than trying to improve perceived weaknesses.
What this looks like: try looking at your daily tasks and routines through that lens, noticing where your strengths are already at work, where they could play a bigger role, and how you naturally approach your work differently than someone with a different profile might. Your strengths don't just make you effective; they make you distinctively effective. After all, you can have a completely different set of strengths than a co-worker, yet you can both excel at the same role and complement each other as teammates.
Personal and professional goals both benefit from this kind of strengths-focused thinking. Before setting a new goal, it's worth identifying the areas where you want to grow and which of your strengths can help you get there. The working equation is simple: talent + investment = strength. Think about what daily work and outcomes would signal real progress, and be realistic about where you can invest your energy. Your manager is a good partner in this - they can help you find opportunities to practice, stretch, and build on what you already do well.
It also helps to understand the four domains that CliftonStrengths themes fall under, because each one asks something different of you and brings something different to a team.
- Strategic Thinking themes thrive with space: if this is where your strengths cluster, protected time to think isn't a luxury; it's a requirement. Focus blocks can be a great tool for those with strengths in this domain (hooray for Focus Fridays!).
- Relationship Building themes require presence: consistently deprioritizing connection in favor of deadlines leaves those strengths without room to develop. Find time to connect to others to spark joy and energy.
- Influencing themes need a platform: sometimes that means stepping into a new situation, speaking up more, or taking on a visible leadership moment. Where can you find ways to apply this?
- Executing themes call for focus and flow, while allowing productivity and achievement: if this is your domain, you want conditions that let you be productive and prioritize effectively so you're contributing your best.
August’s Growth Camp has been a great example of the kind of space we create for learning and exploration. Our strengths can be a meaningful guide, pointing us toward experiences that fit how we naturally think, connect, and contribute.