A business where individuals and teams feel they can play to their strengths, and so achieve more than would have been the case.

• A Strength Based Business exploits its potential, both in human and financial terms, using its strengths and making more use of what produces exceptional results.

  A Strength Based Business understands and keeps applying its identified strengths, rather than constantly applying band-aid solutions to correct what isn’t working. Thus it capitalises on the source of past success.

  It understands what consistently works and produces results, challenging tradition and dogma in continually striving for exceptional results. It benefits from high levels of employee satisfaction, motivation and engagement because people are doing what they enjoy and are good at.
• It uses people’s talents, skills and strengths for what they are, not as a feature of their job description; thus matching team and personal strengths to project and task demands. It continuously allows people’s natural talents to discover and identify new strengths.
• It gives people high degrees of autonomy to move the business towards fulfilling its purpose and longer term goals; and encourages them to demonstrate personal leadership and initiative. The task of leadership also falls at different times to different people when circumstances require particular strengths, so teams become self-managing.
• It concentrates training on building abilities that make the best use of natural talents and skills, rather than simply correcting weaknesses. To support this, the (performance) appraisal system changes to being an on-going consideration of sources of personal success and future possibilities.

Already some businesses work with a strengths based approach, and these include:

• Standard Chartered Bank
• Hammersmith Hospitals
• NHS Trust and
• Castrol Marine (a division of BP)