Healthy Brands Need Healthy People
Mission-driven work is exhilarating and exhausting. It’s common to wear multiple hats, play many roles, and work long hours. The pace is often overwhelming. As a result, burnout is lurking. So, how do you build a healthy organization and brand without burnout becoming a part of your story? Your resilience is in your strengths.
I love helping people build their brands and I’m equally passionate about making sure they are healthy while doing it. I’ve been a coach long enough to know it’s not possible to build a healthy church, company, or nonprofit without healthy people.
Period.
People can only run so fast for so long before their wellbeing suffers. And it starts at the top. Organizational leaders set the pace and tone, so when they are unhealthy, they leak. Teams suffer, brands suffer, and work suffers. People suffer.
StoryMatters Creative is dedicated to supporting the wellbeing of mission-driven organizations by helping people work more efficiently and effectively. After decades of research, Gallup research shows that people who engage their strengths at work are 50% less likely to be looking for a job somewhere else and they report thriving wellbeing.
People who know and use their strengths are:
✦ more engaged at work
✦ more productive in their roles
✦ happier and healthier
Your work is important, but you are more important.
The CliftonStrengths assessment (formerly StrengthsFinder) is one of the most effective tools to help teams and people thrive. Knowing and using your strengths at work and in life will lead to stronger social, community, physical, and career wellbeing.
I experienced its power firsthand as a church board member at a growing multisite church and believe in it so much I became a Gallup certified strengths coach in 2019.
If you’ve never taken the CliftonStrengths assessment, I provide you with a discounted code for it when you schedule a coaching session. If you already know your top 5 strengths, it might be time to unlock your full strengths profile by upgrading to the full 34 report or work with a coach to maximize your potential.
Even without the assessment, your natural talents leave clues.
Here are 5 clues to help you identify your natural talents:
Flow: when do you lose track of time or experience a sense of timelessness?
Learning: when do you pick things up quickly or with ease?
Yearning: when do you notice a magnetic attraction or a desire to do something again?
Excellence: when do others observe your high level of performance or what are you known for?
Satisfaction: when do you say “I can’t wait to do that again?”
If you’re exhausted at the end of the day, short with people, or are struggling with depression or anxiety, you may be fighting against your talents. You may be targeting your talents at the wrong work or the wrong people. Or you may not be using your talents at all or underutilizing them at best.
Burnout doesn’t have to be part of your story.
Here’s what one organization said about their experience with strengths:
“Heidi led a CliftonStrengths workshop for our staff. I could see the lightbulbs of leaders on our team going on as they learned more about themselves & how to lead their teams better. If you have a chance to work with Heidi, do it. You won’t regret it! ”
If you or your team needs a wellbeing boost, it’s time to discover and focus your natural talents.
Because healthy brands need healthy people.
