Jim Collison:
[0:00] Welcome to Season 4 of The CliftonStrengths Podcast, where we'll dive deep into how CliftonStrengths themes build powerful partnerships and help teams thrive. I'm Jim Collison, Gallup's CliftonStrengths Community Manager.
Jillian White:
[0:10] And I'm Jillian White, Gallup's Subject Matter Expert on Culture and Leadership and our Lead Subject Matter Expert for CliftonStrengths.
Jim Collison:
[0:15] Today's theme is Focus. We'll explore what that theme brings, what it needs and how it fosters collaboration. Jillian, always great to have you. Welcome!
Jillian White:
[0:23] Thank you, Jim. It's always good to spend this time together, and I'm excited to focus on Focus today.
Jim Collison:
[0:30] Oh, that's a good — we're going to need all the focus we can get.
Jillian White:
[0:32] We do!
Jim Collison:
[0:33] Before we get started, though, let's, let's go back. What does this strength look like?
Jillian White:
[0:38] Yeah, let's remind ourselves just the basics of anyone who has that talent of high Focus. At the heart of it is a goal orientation. So these are people who really zone in on what a goal is, and then they know how to prioritize things to get to that goal. There's a relentless pursuit of that goal, almost a single-mindedness, a laser-like focus that comes with this talent. It is an Executing strength, so it acts based on that goal orientation and based on that prioritization. I took the train into the office today, and I was thinking about what my image would be that I would share around Focus. And I think it's a train track. And I was thinking about this concept this morning of having the destination of coming into Ogilvy Transportation Center in Chicago, right, where I'm based, and knowing that's the goal: Get the train safely from wherever you're picking up passengers to this destination. And when you know what the goal is, you put a track that is a singular focus to just get to that goal, right? And you keep on track. That, to me, is a picture of people with high Focus have a goal, and they know the track to get there.
Jim Collison:
[1:49] I always think of a CNC machine that uses water to cut. Like, and you think water by itself, you know, it just splashes around everywhere else. But with a little force and a little pressure and a little guidance, right, it can cut through metal. So those are, as I think about Focus and the power of that to get things done. (I love your train analogy, too, because it gets people places, right?)
Jillian White:
[2:12] That's a good way to look at it.
Jim Collison:
[2:13] When you're spending time thinking about successes, helping people be successful by getting them somewhere. Without it, sometimes we don't get anywhere. Speaking of that, let's have an example from your consulting work that you've done. Can you give us just an example what this might look like?
Jillian White:
[2:27] Well, this is just coming off this past week, I did a session as a part of our Coaches Learning Series all about just strengths-first organizations. So it's really powerful to just look at companies that are truly being strengths-based and how they run their culture. And it's truly a, I'm going to call it an offensive strategy for really protecting who they are, getting the most out of their business. We know there's so much connection to the ripple effect that you see in focusing on people's strengths inside of a culture. So it's really fun to start to look for micro examples in those type of cultures. When it comes to Focus, I think of a specific leader who's a head of a U.S. division for a company who has high Focus as a part of their leadership style.
Jillian White:
[3:12] And one of the things that I love about working with this leader and watching her in action is seeing how that Focus plays out on a macro level and a micro level. So on a macro level, beginning of every year, what I see this leader do is bring clarity to what her teams are focusing on over this next year. So U.S. division, here's our top 3 things that we need to have laser focus on that's going to make us successful for this year. So she brings that macro-level view. It helps people know where are we going? What's the things I should be working toward? And then what's been really fun with this leader is to see how she also brings it at what I call a "micro view." So she's also able to work with all of her team members, and she, leading a function within the organization, she actually brings it to her directs who bring it to their directs. But she brings a real goal orientation in people development.
Jillian White:
[4:09] So oftentimes, what you see her doing is intentionally aiming that Focus to say, what's the goals that are specific for you this year, based on where you want to develop and grow in your career? And that goal orientation actually ends up being a beautiful gift to how she is developing her people and developing her function within this organization. So once again, go back to that image we had earlier, helping people know where we're going, keeping them on track, seeing the progress along the way, that relentless pursuit, very powerful to see in a leader giving direction with their people.
Jim Collison:
[4:41] I love that example, because it reminds me, I have been very successful relying on other people's Focus.
Jillian White:
[4:49] Hey, you know what? That's the power of strengths-based organizations. You don't have to do it yourself. You're leaning into your partners who bring something different than you might have.
Jim Collison:
[4:57] A true partnership in this, and, because I need it. We have a new section in Gallup Access for everyone who's taken CliftonStrengths, in the Community tab, and actually that name's going to change here. So if you're listening to this in the future, that may be a different tab, but In it are some sections. We have a new report, or we have a new graph in there, as well as some "I bring and I need" statements. We're going to practice that a little bit, Jillian, today. As we think about Focus, what does it bring?
Jillian White:
[5:25] Yes. If I'm partnering with somebody or working with somebody who has that high sense of Focus, I can expect they are going to bring clarity of the goal, they are going to help us prioritize based on that goal, and they're going to bring some single-mindedness. So let's kind of track through those things for just a minute. Clarity of the goal — I think somebody with high Focus usually starts with the end in mind. So they're going to bring that to our partnership. They're going to say, "Where are we going? What's the destination?" And then based on that, their gift in partnership is saying, "If that's the goal, how do we prioritize everything else?" So that gift of helping us prioritize that this is important, this isn't important, sort through the clutter, keep us on track — that's a gift to partnership.
Jillian White:
[6:07] And then with that, I mentioned the single-mindedness, but these are people, I almost contrast it with, you know, Arranger. We talked about doing well with a lot of spinning parts, right? But Focus is very singular. And I think what they bring to a partnership is almost this ability to get in the zone on something and have a dogged pursuit toward that goal, an intense effort that you feel as a partner. And that can be, once again, a gift when they're focused on something that's going to have a powerful outcome.
Jim Collison:
[6:39] The focus of this new section is not to just be an individual exercise, but to compare yourself with someone else and have this exercise of "I bring and I need" in the context of a conversation. Thinking about this, then, Jillian, what does Focus need?
Jillian White:
[6:56] Yeah, if I'm partnering with somebody who brings that strong sense of Focus, how can I be a good partner to them? Remember, because of their goal orientation, they need an aim. So it's going to help them use their Focus if we clarify what our aim is together. Secondly, they're also going to need focus time. Remember I said this is a strength that gets in the zone. I have to laugh, because I remember working with a leader who, they were having some challenges. They were talking about having an open-door policy and all of this. But they were saying, "Nobody really comes to me with things." And what we realized was they were saying they had an open-door policy, but they would get in the zone on something. And people would walk by, and they would go, I don't know if I should interrupt you right now, right? Like you look in the zone.
Jillian White:
[7:40] Well, somebody with high Focus actually needs some of that "in the zone" time. So if I'm partnering with them, I want to make sure they've got that space to intensely focus on something when they need to, that singular focus. And then, thinking about that complementary piece, and we'll get into this when we talk about who might be a good complementary partner, but because they do have that laser focus, they might also need people who help them make pivots when it's needed. Because they're going to be, the tracks go in one direction. And sometimes they need a partner who says, "Hey, you know what, have we thought about rerouting just a little bit, based on this new information or based on needing to change our destination as a result of our collective aim?"
Jim Collison:
[8:21] When I work with those with Focus, I try to negotiate the ways I can interrupt them. So we start, right, we start thinking, like, I, there are times, because I'm just an in-the-moment, like, my marketing friends that live outside my, my cube, you know, my, my office will, we just get together when we need to, to get things done. But for those who have high Focus, I like to ask or negotiate, like, what, is it a Teams message or an email? Because I don't want to bother you.
Jillian White:
[8:47] Yeah, sure.
Jim Collison:
[8:48] I don't want to bother you in those moments, because I know they need those things. So, for me —
Jillian White:
[8:52] Well, and we always, you know, you're always going to hear us talk about "hack the strength to get to the outcome." You know, so high Focus, if it's focused on connecting with people during this hour, it will be good at doing that, right? But it's probably going to be the main thing it focuses on during that time. And if you catch them when their Focus is trying to get a project out or trying to, you know, finish something that their leader needs in 10 minutes, like, they're going to be in the zone. So I think that's a smart question to ask as you're partnering with people is, you know, What, what is the best times to catch you, and how do I protect when you need to be in the zone? Yeah.
Jim Collison:
[9:29] It's a good, good example of how to use that "Bring and Need" area, as you think about partnerships and what you're doing, is to ask those questions: "How can I help you in this area? Or what can I do so I don't distract you?" In the new Top 5 report, we have an area called Theme Dynamics that's really looking at two themes put together and what they can be used in those partnerships. We also, we also, from our data know that sometimes these themes come together a little bit naturally. So what, in our, out of our database, what naturally pairs, or what has the highest propensity to be paired with Focus?
Jillian White:
[10:03] I always think it's fun to try to guess this before we look at what's actually in the database. But there's some natural ones that you can imagine tend to show up a little more alongside of each other. So think about it with Focus. If Focus is really good at goal orientation, likes pushing hard to a destination, the strength it's most likely to show up alongside of is actually Achiever. So imagine those two together. Focus has a strong goal orientation. Achiever has a lot of drive to complete. There's some similarities, a bit of a Venn diagram, if you will, a little bit different motivations, right? I think what that Focus brings to Achiever is it helps direct the drive. So it gives a real clear destination of where to aim all of that hardworking energy. So what a, what a fun combination to see in people.
Jim Collison:
[10:54] With partnerships, if we're talking about these themes, give us some ideas of, and I just love this section, how can this Theme Dynamics work with partnerships?
Jillian White:
[11:02] Yeah. So if you're thinking about, Who should I partner with if I'm strong Focus, or maybe you have somebody who's a strong Focus member of your team or your organization, and you're thinking about how to pair them with other people, first of all, think about who's going to be a catalyst partner. So who's going to light up their strengths and let them be at their best? Focus loves accomplishing a goal. Partner them with other people who are going to help them get to that destination. A lot of times, I find that themes in actually the same domain as that theme are probably enjoyable partnerships. So Achiever, Discipline, Responsibility — all of those are going to help bring some "let's get it done" to that goal orientation. And that's going to feel good, because they're going to feel progress. They're going to have a plan for the progress. They're going to help build the railroad track, right, to that destination.
Jillian White:
[11:52] On the flip side, I always like to think, Who are those complementary partners? There's a few that you could think about for Focus. So a potential "watch-out" that we've been talking about with high Focus is that you may have a dogged focus that is very singular, and there might be times where you need help being a bit more agile. So think about other strengths that bring a bit of agility — Arranger, Strategic, Learner — those are all strengths that can bring some pivot to them when needed. That could help pair with that high Focus and give an ability to say, OK, when do we need to step outside of here's the direction we're going, and make that pivot or be a bit agile?
Jillian White:
[12:33] I also think Focus naturally, by itself, now this is going to depend what other strengths are around it, but it sees tasks and goals, right? So it's not necessarily thinking about people first. It's probably thinking a bit more about work or destination first. So think about pairing with some other people that help you bring people with you. So that might be Includer, Woo, Communication, right? Some of those "bring people with you" strengths. And then final thing I would say is because Achiever is, or sorry, because Focus is very good at goal orientation, wanting to see the progress, remember to celebrate the milestones and partner with people who will help you do that. So high Positivity could be a good one to say, Hey, you know what? We've been working real hard. Let's make sure we're seeing the progress and celebrating that progress as we go.
Jim Collison:
[13:22] In the time we have remaining, let's talk about some tips for leaders, teams and individuals. Let's start with the, with the, with the leaders. What's a good tip for a leader working with their teams with high Focus?
Jillian White:
[13:33] Yeah. First of all, think about how to spot this on your team or inside of your organization. These are your people, very goal-oriented, very get-in-the-zone-on-things, right, kind of dogged pursuit toward something. I want to bring in a piece of our research with this. So what we find, when it comes to goal-setting inside of organizations, people are 3.6 times more likely to be engaged when their manager involves them in goal-setting. Now, if we go back to how many people actually know what is expected of them in their workplace, only 50% of people in our database can give a "5" to that item. We've got a lot of people out there who could have some clarity around what their expectations are and what their goals are. So bring those two things together. If somebody with high Focus as a leader can help bring their people into goal-setting conversations, what a gift as a leader to bring that strength into your organization and see the fruit that comes from that.
Jim Collison:
[14:35] What should teams know, and I've added this word "onboarding" someone with this, with this strength, with Focus?
Jillian White:
[14:43] Yeah, I think if you've got somebody new coming onto your team, coming into your organization, they've got that high sense of Focus, remember they like to start with the end in mind. They're probably already thinking about, Where are we going? If I'm setting up their onboarding, I probably want to give them some clear goals we're going to accomplish during that time and help them see what the destination is and then help break that down, right? I may also talk about, What's our priorities as a team when you're coming in, and how does that help you know how to spend your time in these first few days as a part of this team?
Jim Collison:
[15:15] And then what about the individual, keeping in mind their partnerships?
Jillian White:
[15:20] I always like to think with this question, How can this strength help serve others? What's the contribution that it makes? If you have a strong sense of Focus, remember, you are good at helping to prioritize. That can be a gift to your partners. Find out what's important to them. Maybe ask some questions like, you know, Where are you wanting to see some progress in your work right now? Where are you wanting to see some progress in your life? What shared progress do we want to see together? Then help them clarify where they need to get to in order to see that progress and break down what's important to focus on to get there. So use it as a gift to your partners to help them figure out their destination and the route to get there.
Jim Collison:
[16:02] With that, we'll remind everyone to take full advantage of all the resources we do have available in Gallup Access. To focus on your learning in that, in that area, log in, my.gallup.com, and hit the Resources tab, upper left. And then in the Resources search area, just put in "Focus," and everything we've, all the podcasts we've done, all the written material around that — continue your learning today. For those of you listening live, stay around for a little bit of a midshow. If you're listening to this as a podcast, chances are we have another one for you. Just click Next. With that, we'll say, Goodbye, everybody.
Jillian White's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Achiever, Input, Learner, Belief and Responsibility.