The STRENGTHSPATH Principle

The STRENGTHSPATH Principle

Who This Book Is Written For

You are about to read something that could change your life forever! It’s the book I wish I had been given 30 years ago.

This book is for anyone interested in becoming the “Best Version of Themselves”. It is designed to help you, “Do Your Best, Doing What You Do Best”. And it’s for anyone actively involved in helping someone else discover, develop and deliver that “Best Version Self” as well.

The primary intended audience includes:

1. Young people selecting a college major or first career

2. Anyone contemplating a career transition

3. Those reshaping or crafting a job that partially fits

4. Someone maximizing success in a job they love

A secondary audience would include:

1. Anyone selecting and training new employees

2. Someone involved in managing and developing people

3. Parents and educators shaping young people

4. Career service professionals, advisors and counselors

Given the current reports coming from the workplace, this message is deeply needed, even urgent. According to The Washington Post, only 27% of college graduates find work relating to their degree. And they’ve gone deeply in debt to get that degree.

Many of those who do connect with an employer, find that work frustrating and disconnected from their interests, natural talents and unique abilities. According to Gallup polls, less than 20% of employees report using their strengths on a daily basis. Research by Deloitte Consulting, Manpower Staffing and Franklin Covey, all conclude that large percentages of employees are deeply dissatisfied at work and looking for change.

Nicholas Lore has received accommodations from two U.S. Presidents for his work helping over 14,000 individuals make career transitions. Nick is the author of The Pathfinder and What Now co-authored with Anthony Spadafore. Nick estimates that 30% of employees see their work as a negative, to the point of being dysfunctional or disruptive. Another 10% are actually in career hell and may be dangerous.

This book is an introduction to strengths-oriented career development. It is intended to be a brief introduction for anyone interested in maximizing their professional success. I will lay out the case that all top achievers have figured out a way to leverage their unique abilities or what I call their STRENGTHSPATH. Strength is defined in various ways by different strengths strategists or practitioners. I define it this way:

A Strength is any resource, internal or external, that can be turned into a marketplace contribution.

In this book, we will be talking about eight internal resources, including passion, talent, personality, values, learning style, skills, knowledge and character.

The mother of all career and organizational development questions is, “What Leads To High Performance?” Or restated, “What Gets Results?”

I have spent much of my career considering that question. Most of my current waking hours are invested in thinking about how to help individuals discover their unique abilities, develop them into strengths and deliver stand out results in a marketplace role they love.

The right job, role or position can transform a person’s life. It can even transform an entire family, possibly for generations. The right person, in the right job, can transform a team, a business unit and even an entire organization. I agree with Container Store CEO Kip Tindell who says, “1 Great Person = 3 Good People”.

Zig Ziglar rightly inspired when he said, “We are designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”

I would add that we are:

Designed differently

Engineered uniquely

Endowed with seeds that bloom in varied colors, shades and hues

I do believe in, and regularly teach “universal” success principles that work for everyone with remarkable consistency. I believe in the importance of Goal Setting, Positive Attitude, Leveraging Adversity, Team Work & Relationships, Leadership, Influence and Selling. But the STRENGTHSPATH adds a missing piece. Success always has an architecture or structure. But that architecture is not only universal, it is cultural, contextual and individual as well. STRENGTHSPATH recognizes the universal, cultural and contextual elements of success while focusing on an understanding of individual “uniqueness”. A technique that works very well for one person, may not produce the same results for another. A strategy that works in Atlanta may not work in New York City.

A STRENGTHSPATH is a road, track or route that engages and utilizes the best of you. It is like an 8 lane super highway that allows you to set a direction, and then reach selected destinations easier and faster with greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Your STRENGTHSPATH has a strong neurological basis with a biological foundation. It is based on the idea of Super Highways or Pathways in the brain formed by synaptic connections between neurons or brain cells. Some of these connections are stronger and larger, while others are weaker and smaller. These connections are what create your unique abilities.

A STRENGTHSPATH is:

• A set of goals based on your gifts

• Achievement based on your aptitudes

• A purpose based on your passion

• A target based on your talent

• A quest based on your qualities and quirks

• A career based on your calling

• A job based on what jazzes you

• A vision based on your values

• “How You Rock” and ‘”How You Roll”

On these pages, I want to introduce you to ideas and methods that will get you started on your unique success-oriented path.