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Follow Your Strengths

Think about this statement by my Strengths Teacher, Curt Liesveld, for a moment: People get better by “working with what they’ve got rather than what they’re not.” Too often we spend our time focusing on what we are “not” at work, at home, and in our relationships. Sometimes, we get so caught up in areas of weakness, or “opportunities for improvement” as they’re more politely and deceptively referred to, that we may even completely disregard our natural gifts, talents, and abilities leading us down the path to mediocracy. At Follow Your Strengths, we want to change your focus.  Why? When you lead with your strengths, you’re more likely to be engaged, productive, and have an excellent quality of life. 

Traci McCausland

My first job out of college took me to Kansas City where I worked for a great company and was surrounded by great people.  Yet something was missing.  I spent three years attempting to work in IT consulting and outside sales and my work left me feeling unfulfilled, underutilized, and knowing I had more to give.  I was in the early stages of what Abby Wilner coined, the quarterlife crisis. At 24, I read the book, Do What You Are by Paul Tieger and Barbara Burron-Tieger and had a light bulb moment which propelled me on my current path.  I realized I was in a line of work experiencing feelings similar to writing with my left hand, swimming upstream, or going against the grain.  In that instant, I realized I was in the wrong job for me and this realization provided me the clarity, confidence, and power I needed to make a move.  While leaving such a successful organization was arguably a bit gutsy and  naïve, I knew it was the path I needed to follow.  My reasoning to others was, “I’m taking a step back now to someday take a step forward.”

My next step was graduate school at the University of Kansas where I focused my studies on career development with a plan to bring that back to the world of business.  My mission was simple; to help others be happier at work.  After 10 more years of HR and organizational consulting experience, I grew to realize this simple mission was actually not such a simple equation.  Employee engagement, culture, organizational behavior, management styles, policies and procedures, and people practices all influence how we feel about our work.  That being said, I am still driven by that innate desire to help…that desire to share…and that desire to teach.  My mission now is to help others Follow Their Strengths on their personal paths of success