Hidden Strengths: Unleashing the Crucial Leadership Skills You Already Have

by Milo Sindell, Thuy Sindell

Books like StrengthsFinder 2.0 have helped leaders discover their strengths—but they stop there. The Sindells argue that focusing only on your best abilities neglects a vital development opportunity. They show how to identify hidden strengths that can be quickly elevated into full strengths with attention and focus.

Working mainly on your strengths can ultimately make you weaker, they argue—you need to continually add new skills, not rely on what you're already good at. And while most people assume that means they should try to turn their weaknesses into usable skills, the Sindells say that it takes too much time and effort —the ROI just isn't there. It's in the neglected middle skills, neither strengths nor weaknesses, that the most potent development opportunities lie. They're close enough to being strengths that putting your energy there can offer a powerful payoff.

Using assessments, exercises, and case studies, the Sindells help you identify your most promising middle skills and create a plan to turn them into strengths. In today's work environment, not growing and stretching yourself translates into lack of innovation, stagnation, and obsolescence. Relying upon strengths is like relying upon training wheels – at a certain point you need to take them off in order to improve and grow.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published May 18, 2015

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book designed to help you get the best return on your investment for personal leadership development. The main focus is finding the middle 70%, not the 20% of key strengths you already exhibit, nor the bottom 10% that are you main weaknesses but that middle ground that you can learn to make small changes at and focus on making changes there. Based on the studies they provide if you only focus on your key strengths you will become stagnant, and to quote Steven Brust:

"Failure leads to maturity
Maturity leads to success
Success leads to stagnation
Stagnation leads to failure!"

If you only rely on your strengths you will eventually either fail or become redundant. But on the other end of the spectrum if you try and change your greatest weaknesses, not only will it take a lot of effort but often there is very little return on investment. The amount you can make changes here is small. However on the other hand if you pick a skill or two in that middle ground and consistently work at you can turn them into key strengths. They will not take nearly the effort of your bottom 10% and the results will be much more dramatic.

The sections in the book are:

Introduction
Part 1 About Hidden Strengths
1. What Are Hidden Strengths?

Why Hidden Strengths?
The Risk of Focusing on Weaknesses
The Risk of Overrelying on Strengths
The Reward of Focusing on Hidden Strengths
2. The Four Principles of Hidden Strengths

Principle #1: Leverage Your Traits, and Develop Your Skills

Leverage Your Traits
Develop Your Skills

Principle #2: The Middle Is the Source for Development
Principle #3: Practice, Practice, Practice
Principle #4: Always Be Working on Your Hidden Strengths

Part 2 Uncovering The Gold Mine Of Opportunity
3. Identifying Your Natural Strengths, Hidden Strengths, and Weaknesses

The Twenty-Eight Skills
Leading Self
Leading Others
Leading the Organization
Leading Implementation

4. Reviewing Your Results

Your Hidden Strengths Report

Part 3 Harnessing Your Potential
5. Making Your Hidden Strengths Work for You

Hidden Strengths Development Plan
Step 1: Find Your Motivation
Step 2: Identify Your Goals
Step 3: Choose Your Hidden Strengths to Develop
Step 4: Turn Your Hidden Strengths into Learned Strengths
Step 5: Evaluate Your Progress

6. Leading Your Evolution

Sustainability
The Never-Ending Adventure
Share the Love

Appendix A: The Twenty-Eight Skills and Why They Matter
Appendix B: Hidden Strengths Development Worksheet
Notes
Accessing Your Free Hidden Strengths Profile
Acknowledgements
Index
About the Authors

This book was a great read and I have already recommended it to a number of people. It clearly lays out the why - focus on the middle 70%, and only focus on changing 1 or 2 at a time. The how - do the online survey, find your area's and work on them diligently. With the book you get access to the survey and can do it as many times as you need. After you get your results you apply Part three from the book and work on them and turn them into true strengths.

This is an excellent read and I highly recommend it and know I will be using the tools it provides to help me grow that middle 70% and you can also!

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More.

[Icy_Space_Cobwebs Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: HIDDEN STRENGTHS by Thuy Sindell and Milo Sindell

A short and fast-paced guide with a powerful impact, HIDDEN STRENGTHS is not the ordinary business leadership handbook. The authors' extensive training experience has taught them to focus not on weaknesses (which consume energy with little consequence) nor on perceived strengths (which tend to lead to stagnation rather than continued leadership evolution). Instead, teach the Sindells, current and future leaders would profit from first identifying, then focusing on, those medium-ground skills, possessed but as yet unperfected. The 70% of skills each of us possess are our Hidden Strengths, which with the effort to identify, then exercise, can become our back-up strengths, and the impetus to our leadership evolution.

HIDDEN STRENGTHS: UNLEASHING THE CRUCIAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS YOU ALREADY HAVE cuts through the clutter to deliver practical, immediate, advice and direction.



I reviewed a print copy generously provided by the authors via The Cadence Group.

[RJ McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of self help books, fair or not, to me once all the fluff is blown away, they are pretty much the same. But, this little book peaked my interest...and boy am I glad! Thuy and Milo Sindell have introduced a new concept in self improvement, The Hidden Strengths Methodology.

Hidden Strengths challenges you to think differently, most self improvement programs focus on your weaknesses, Sindell says this is where we err. According to this plan, 10% is weakness, 20% is strength, with 70% hidden in the middle. This is where your untapped potential lies. So, instead of focusing on the weaknesses, which is frustrating and has slim chance of bringing any real changes, we should be concentrating on that center 70%, these skills are closer to being strengths already. Wow, what a concept!

Sindell explains quickly, concisely, and in easy to read language what you need to do. Hidden Strengths is an investment in your future and at under 100 pages it doesn't require you to invest a lot of time. In addition you also have access to the online assessment which gives you a list of hidden strengths you already have in your arsenal. Then you narrow the list down to the skills that are vital to your professional goals at this time...and presto! You are on your way to uncovering and honing your Hidden Strengths.

People are always looking for the quick fix, you know - the fountain of youth of self help. Something that is painless, really fast, and requires no concessions, changes, or burdens. As far as I know there is nothing like that for any aspect of our lives. Simply put, it took a period of time to get in whatever "mess" you are in. It has been painful. It has altered your life, as well as, changed you. It took time to get where-ever you are. So it will take time, effort, and maybe even some pain to get to where you want to go. This book will help you get started in the right direction. So why wait any longer? Discover your inner strengths.

Happy Reading,

RJ

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good point is made here - instead of focusing on your weaknesses, and spending way too much time overcoming them, why not discern which of your middling capabilities can be improved now to bring satisfaction and boost self-esteem?

[Akibsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of common sense, well organized and explained. The focus is narrow, and that is what makes this read a powerful tool for cultivating secondary strengths.

[Xi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author wrote this book to sell his courses, right？

[Liquid Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short, concise review of common concepts within the study of leadership. As is often the case, the same principles also lend well to personal self-development and growth. Having read numerous textbooks, journal articles and a healthy smattering of similar books (graduate thesis was on Transformational Leadership), I found much of the book a solid review of leadership characteristics and traits.

So, I’ll throw this out right now: I do not subscribe to Strengths-Based Leadership. I know it is a big community I’m going against, but it is what it is. Luckily, Thuy and Milo Sindell concentrate on the vast middle-ground, or the Hidden Strengths. They chart a 20/70/10 split between Strengths, Hidden Strengths, and Weaknesses; respectively. By that, and to an extent I agree, most people live in the 20 percent, or their strengths as they've had previous success and it is in their comfort zone. Naturally, we also stay away from the 10 percent, or the areas in which we lack.

So, that leaves the 70%. That is a great deal of area to develop and that is the foundation of this book. By leveraging traits, concentrating on that 70% with self-identification and practice, you allow the (hopefully) 20% to grow and tip the scales. Through self-assessment and 360 degree reviews, you begin to identify what characterizes are good, as well as those in which development can occur.

There is a nice list of traits on page 31 that is rather robust and should help to begin your development plan. The biggest piece which often lacks is the actual call-to-action. As Jim Maxwell, Tony Robbins, and many, many others drill into their readers: Identify and Act. Often we can identify but fall short in the actual implementation of a growth and development plan. I equate this to pretty much anything in our lives.

For example, you may have spent 20 years working on pot belly. Obviously, you can’t expect 3 months of hitting the gym to correct that. But sticking with and monitoring progress, you can achieve desired results in a relatively short time, just not overnight. Manage expectations. I’m sure you've heard that tossed around at the workplace – and it actually isn't a corporate buzz phrase.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this unbiased review

[Jeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say this is a 3.5 stars book. The concept is that individuals should focus on the areas that are not their strengths or the weaknesses, but those that are in between those two spectrums. There is a basic assessment that is included with the book, and it reminds me very much of the Strength Finders book, but with a little different focus. I'm not sure this is a good option for everyone, but something to consider in your arsenal of coaching tools.