How To Apply CliftonStrengths Competition At Work
StrengthsFinder Definition - Competition
Often people will ask us, "What does it mean to have the Competition Strength?" First, know that StrengthsFinder will help you figure out your potential. We call them natural talents or natural patterns. We know you're here because you want to turn them into superpowers in your career, so here's the gist: People exceptionally talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests. Here's the full list of CliftonStrengths definitions so you can check out your other talents as well.
Gallup®, Clifton StrengthsFinder®, StrengthsFinder®, and each of the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are trademarks of Gallup, Inc.
CliftonStrengths Competition - Learn All About It
These 10-15 minute "Theme Overview" videos give you a peek into the awesomeness of your talent theme. They also explore the idea that talent themes represent potential, yet if they are not invested in, they might show up looking raw and unproductive at work.
These “Talent Deep Dive” videos explore the nuance of each talent theme. You’ll learn about its power and edge. You’ll consider potential blind spots. These are useful videos if you have this talent theme at the top of your list, or if you want to learn about a teammate who leads through Competition.
These Career Branding links help you apply your talents to your career. They give you examples of things you might be known for to help your personal branding at work. They also offer some watch-outs to know what situations and cultures can zap your energy.
Your Strengths Will Strengthen Your Performance At Work
In the next section, you'll explore what fuels you up and what drains you. Just like gas (or petrol) in your car, you need to keep your personal tank full to be at your best. Each StrengthsFinder talent theme is energized and drained by different things. When you see the stick figure who looks strong, you can consider how these things fuel you up at work. They're your energy makers. When you see the stick figure who looks weak, consider if these things are draining you at work. They're your energy takers.
Yucks for CliftonStrengths Competition
What's a Yuck?
It's a situation, condition, or behavior you might see at work that zaps your energy. Yucks are also things you see on your calendar or to-do list that make you think, "Yuck, if I never had to do that again I'd be thrilled."
Yuck Situations for Competition
- 2nd place, because it feels like the 1st place loser
- When there's no measure of success so you have no idea how you compare to others
Example yuck from client: "Our business unit had this 'best in class' mantra. They used those 3 words all the time and never gave us metrics or criteria for what made us better than the competition. It was maddening because 'best' actually meant nothing. I wanted to know: Are we faster? Is our quality higher? Are our people more caring? If you're not measuring anything, how do you know if you're good, better, best...or worst? When I asked what we're comparing against, they told me to just go with the 'spirit of it' and that was annoying."
Yays for CliftonStrengths Competition
What's a Yay?
It's a situation at work that boosts up your energy or makes you feel productive. Yays are also things you see on your calendar or to-do list that make you think, “Yay, fill my days with this."
Yay Situations for Competition
- Turning any mundane task into a game or challenge
- Winning — it's fun to win personally, and it also feels good to help other people win
Example yay from client: "We had a contest to see who could make the most appointments one afternoon. The reward was getting tomorrow off to go see a movie. I crushed it. If I heard my teammate say they had landed 15, I'd change my goal to 30. Every time I heard a new number I doubled their number to get my new goal. That's the mental game I play with myself all day. It's motivating when other people help me step my game up. If no one can hang, it's boring. I like a stretch challenge. Winning those feels great."
How CliftonStrengths Competition Can Be Perceived When Starved
What's a Starved Talent?
This section describes how you might be perceived when the shadow side of your talent is showing. It’s when you’re overusing, misapplying, or squashing one of your natural talents rather than turning it into a strength. We often see people starve, squash, or ignore their talent when they assume it is not valued in that role or company culture.
Perceptions of Starved Competition
- Sore loser
- In-your-face winner
How CliftonStrengths Competition Can Be Perceived When Fed
What's a Fed Talent?
This section describes how you might be perceived when the best version of you shows up at work. It’s when you’ve invested in your natural talents to mature them into strengths. You can feed your talent by considering “how” you approach each “what” on the job. When you apply your talents to productive outcomes, you’re feeding them.
Perceptions of Fed Competition
- Celebrates everyone's wins
- High aspirations for self and others
Situations That Make CliftonStrengths Competition Feel Insulted
What's An Insulted Talent?
Usually, talents get offended or insulted by other people who have natural preferences that are different from yours. It also happens if they fail to see their actions have an impact on someone else (you!). You can also insult your own talents if you have a "troublemaker strength" that speaks loudly and overpowers this one.
Things That Will Insult Competition
- Give everyone a participation trophy.
- Demonstrate your fear of public scorecards by hiding from metrics or only discussing them in 1:1s.
If you're constantly demonstrating "fair is equal" keep a close eye on those who lead through Competition. The inability to know if they're excelling will be extremely frustrating to them. They get satisfaction from getting high rewards for high achievement, so if everyone gets the "peanut butter spreading of rewards" your competitive team members will lose motivation.
Situations That Make CliftonStrengths Competition Feel Honored
What's An Honored Talent?
Usually, talents feel honored when other people acknowledge your needs and potential contributions. Talents feel honored when someone “extends an olive branch” to help you work at your best. You can also honor your own talents by investing in them, by choosing work that naturally calls on them, or by applying your strengths to performance on the job.
Things That Will Honor Competition
- Frequent opportunities to win or to help other people win
- Observing successful people to learn new winning strategies
To unleash the A-game of someone who leads through the Competition talent, give the person the gift of being around other high performers. They will work tirelessly for the gold medal, and they need a scorecard to know where they stand on the leaderboard at any given time. Give them the opportunity to work with other highly competitive people because they will invigorate each other.
Personal Brand - 'How' CliftonStrengths Competition Operates At Work
Most people have a good handle on "What" they bring to the workplace. Resumes, CVs, and career development conversations are filled with lists of skills and job titles that show "what" you can do. Nearly everyone misses the "How".
Your Clifton StrengthsFinder talent themes help you communicate "How" you show up. It's how you think. It's how you feel. It's how you act. These are huge differences in each person that are differentiators on the job. Consider these adjectives you might want to consciously put into your personal branding efforts.
We recommend working a "How" description into the Summary section in your LinkedIn profile (if you don't yet use that section, don't worry, most people haven't paid attention to it until now). Of course, make up adjectives or phrases that describe you at your best. Try to avoid words like "motivated, self-starter" because they're so overused that you'll blend in with everyone else. Here are some ideas to spark your thinking:
- Winner
- Energetic
- Selective
- Intense
- Record Holder
- Driven
- Scorekeeper
- Striver
- Measurer
- Champion
- Challenger
- Scrappy
- Ratings Creator
- Performer
- Gamer (not necessarily like the Fortnite kind, more like "I'm always game - I'm up for a challenge")
How To Invest In Your CliftonStrengths Competition Talent On The Job
- List the performance scores that can help you know where you stand every day. What scores should you pay attention to daily?
- Identify an achieving person against whom you can measure your own achievement. If there is more than one, list all the people with whom you currently compete. Without measurement, how will you know if you won?
- Take the time to celebrate your wins. In your world, there is no victory without celebration.
- Seek competitive friends.
- Try to turn ordinary tasks into competitive games. You will get more done this way.
- When you win, take the time to investigate why you won. Counterintuitively, you can learn a great deal more from a victory than from a loss.
- Design some mental strategies that can help you deal with a loss. Armed with these strategies, you will be able to move on to the next challenge much more quickly.
Tips For Managing Someone Who Leads Through The CliftonStrengths Competition Talent
- Use competitive language with this person. For example, it is a win-lose world for them, so from their perspective, achieving a goal is winning and missing a goal is losing. When you need to engage them in planning or problem solving, use the competitive word “outsmart.”
- Measure them against other people, particularly other competitive people. You may decide to post the performance records of all your people, but remember that only your competitive people will get a kick out of this public comparison. Others may resent it and be mortified by the comparison.
- Set up contests for them. Pit them against other competitors even if you have to find competitors in business units other than your own. Highly charged competitors want to compete with others who are very close to their skill level. Matching them against modest achievers will not motivate them.
- Find places where they can win. If they lose repeatedly, they may stop playing. Remember, in the contests that matter to them, they don’t compete for the fun of competing. They compete to win.
- Consider that one of the best ways to manage them is to hire another competitive person who produces more.
- Talk about talents with them. Like all competitors, they know that it takes talent to be a winner. Name their talents. Tell them that they need to marshal their talents to win. Do not “Peter Principle” this person by suggesting that “winning” means getting promoted. Help them focus on winning where their true talents lie.
- When this person loses, they may need to mourn for a while. Let them. Then quickly move them into another opportunity to win.
What To Consider When Partnering With A Colleague Who Leads Through CliftonStrengths Competition
- Ask this person to partner with you when your team needs a win. If there’s a measurable goal and a win/lose opportunity, those with the Competition talent theme are usually up for it.
- When your team needs to come up with quantifiable scores, ratings, and rankings, ask this person for input. They do not enjoy games they cannot win at, so they’ll help you ensure you’re keeping things challenging yet not impossible.
- Call on them when you need a quick boost in performance. With an incentive and a challenge, they’ll find innovative ways to break through the status quo.
Turn CliftonStrengths Competition Into A Strength This Month By Making It Your Phone Lock Screen
Click on this thumbnail image of your StrengthsFinder talent theme to link to the full size image. Then save it to your phone or mobile device as your lock screen.
That way, you’ll be reminded of your plan to focus on that talent…oh…about 98 times per day when you unlock your phone. What a great way to keep your intention front-of-mind! This will help you remember to invest in this talent theme so you can take the untapped potential and turn the natural talent into a strength.
Who knew wallpaper images could be so valuable to your career?! Here are all of the lock screen images if you want to grab an image for a different CliftonStrengths talent.