Insights

Let me be honest with you. When I first encountered strengths-based work, I felt a flicker of scepticism. It seemed a little too positive, a little too smooth. My inner critic kept asking: "Yes, but shouldn't we focus on the stuff we're not yet good at instead of kumbaya-ing each other?" I suspect I'm not alone in that. Many of the leaders and HR professionals I work with carry a version of this hesitation. Strengths work can feel soft. It can feel like corporate self-help. A

Picture four people sitting around a table covered in playing cards. They are not playing poker. Nobody is bluffing. In fact, what is happening at this table is almost the opposite: people are putting their cards face up and explaining, in their own words, exactly who they are. That is the moment I find most interesting in a StrongSuits workshop. Not the game mechanics, which are simple enough to explain in two minutes. Not the cards themselves, which are ultimately just a ve

Senior leadership teams I have worked with are not underinvesting. Quite the opposite. They invest heavily in strategy offsites. They invite inspiring keynote speakers to challenge their thinking. They take leadership development seriously, especially for middle management. And when teams are newly formed or going through a rough patch, they often allow space for team building. All of this makes sense. None of it is wrong. And yet, one thing is strikingly absent in most organ