Leveraging Individual Strengths for Team Success

Cathie Leimbach • November 13, 2021

Win/Win/Win situations are the reality in healthy workplaces. Individuals, teams, and the organization are all successful. Individuals are engaged and morale is high. Trust within the team is strong and team goals are achieved. The organization is serving its mission and reaching its targets.


However, such success isn’t magic. It requires clarity and collaboration on everyone’s part. The organization needs to set growth-oriented yet realistic goals and allocate adequate resources. Each team requires clear goals that support the organization’s success and appropriate resources.  Then, team leaders have the task of determining how to engage their people and apply their resources to achieve the expected results.  Also, individual employees have the responsibility to fulfill their role. To achieve individual, team, and organizational success, good communication and strong collaboration are essential at all levels.


First, let’s look at the benefits of leveraging employee strengths to achieve team and organizational goals. Recent global research by Gallup found that when employees are regularly using their strengths at work, the organization experiences:

  • an increase in engaged employees by 9%-15%
  • a decrease in turnover by 6% to 16% in low-turnover organizations and 26% to 72% in high-turnover organizations
  • an increase in profit by 14% to 29%

 

Second, let’s look at the challenges of leveraging employee strengths:

  • Some employees may not be particularly strong in the skills required to complete the work of their current team or the organization as a whole. Or, their strengths may only add value a few hours per day or week.
  • The organization or team leader may not be interested in knowing and considering the strengths of each employee.
  • Most jobs include essential tasks that everyone must do, regardless of their strengths or interests. Seldom is it practical for employees to be using their strengths every hour of the day. 
  • When an employee’s strengths don’t contribute to achieving their employer’s long-term results or current priorities, it is necessary for them to complete whatever tasks are assigned to them.
  • If the employee’s strengths and preferences don’t match the needs of their current team, they are likely in a wrong-fit position. It’s time to explore if there are right-fit opportunities elsewhere within the organization. If not, then leveraging their strengths likely requires a job search to find a better-fit position.


Third, when the team leader wishes to leverage the strengths and preferences within his team, effectively redistributing the work requires a focus on achieving team results as well as buy-in from all team members. During a collaborative team meeting, discuss the team’s tasks, understand each member’s strengths and preferences, and match strengths to tasks as much as possible. This usually results in everyone’s strengths being better utilized, increased morale, greater job satisfaction. 


Leveraging individual strengths for team success is both desirable and achievable. How strong is your organization in this area? What step could you take this week towards leveraging workplace strengths? 

What Changes When People Actually Feel Engaged?

By Cathie Leimbach • April 7, 2026
Most leaders don’t struggle because they don’t care. They struggle because engagement feels hard to influence. But when people are engaged, the impact is hard to ignore: 18% higher sales 23% higher profitability 70% higher wellbeing These differences come from comparing the 25% of organizations with the strongest employee engagement to those in the bottom 25% (Gallup). And the stakes are bigger than most realize— disengaged employees cost U.S. organizations nearly $2 trillion in lost productivity each year (Gallup). This isn’t about perks or programs. It’s about how people are led every day. Engaged teams are clearer on expectations. They feel supported. They know their work matters. And most importantly—those conditions don’t happen by accident. They’re created in conversations: Clarifying priorities Reinforcing what good looks like Checking for understanding Following through consistently Small leadership habits drive big business outcomes. A question to consider: Where could stronger day-to-day leadership conversations improve results in your team? 👉 Join our next 60-minute Leadership Conversation: Inspiring High Performance — Monday, April 13 th at 3:00 PM ET (this is not a webinar) It’s a small-group discussion with other leaders looking at a simple question: What’s actually driving engagement—and what’s quietly holding it back? If a shift in leadership could impact sales, profitability, and wellbeing… it’s worth exploring what that might look like in your world.

4 Leadership Behaviors That Drive Trust, Performance, and Accountability

By Cathie Leimbach • March 31, 2026
Most leaders don’t struggle because they lack knowledge. They struggle because leadership opportunities show up in daily conversations —and those moments are easy to miss. The difference between average and high-performing teams often comes down to four leadership behaviors: 1. Build Trust Through Everyday Conversations Trust is built in small moments. Listen to concerns Ask thoughtful questions Follow through Address issues quickly and respectfully 🤝 Trust grows through consistent, everyday conversations. 2. Reinforce What Good Looks Like People repeat what gets recognized. Be specific: “I appreciated how you handled that client issue quickly—that made a difference.” 🔒 Clarity + recognition = stronger performance. 3. Address Problems Early—Kindly and Clearly Avoiding issues creates bigger ones. Keep it simple: What was expected? What happened? What needs to change? 👥 Clear, timely conversations reduce drama and improve results. 4. Support People So They Can Succeed Your role is to help your team succeed. Clarify priorities Remove obstacles Provide resources Coach progress 🔍 When people have clarity and support, performance follows. The Real Lever: Conversations None of this requires new systems. It happens in everyday interactions— 1:1s, quick check-ins, and follow-ups. Better conversations → better results. Quick Reflection Which one would make the biggest difference for you right now? Build trust Reinforce performance Address problems early Support success 👉 Join our next 60-minute Leadership Conversation – Inspiring Employee Performance on Monday, April 6, at 3:00 pm ET. Not a webinar. A working session with other leaders looking at what’s actually happening on their teams—and how small shifts in daily conversations change performance fast. If you're curious what even a 10% shift in consistency could look like for your team… this is a good place to start.