Table Of Content“The authors succeeded in whetting my curiosity and challenging my
intellect. This provocative yet pragmatic book drove me to ‘up the
ante’ by leading with my strengths and intelligently mining the strengths
of my team.”
—Katy Holt-Larsen, director, Training and Development and Qual-
ity Assurance, North American Customer Support, eBay, Inc.
“Play to Your Strengths is a rich, easy-to-read conversation about a very
transformative mindset. This book is thorough, thoughtful, and—above
all—practical.”
—Phil Sandahl, coauthor, Co-Active Coaching
“Play to Your Strengths is an excellent resource for anyone who is seeking
to leverage personal strengths more effectively at work and in life. The
poker analogy is very enlightening, even for those of us who don’t play
the game! Unlike many assessment exercises, the material in this book is
both entertaining and informative, and very useful as soon as you decide
to apply it. The authors have succeeded in transforming their years of
experience into easily accessible and usable wisdom.”
—Dr. Kathy E. Kram, professor of organizational behavior, Boston
University School of Management
“Leavitt and Sigetich deal us a winning hand with Play to Your
Strengths! Finally, a breakthrough book that shows leaders how to en-
gage the best talents of each employee to generate amazing results and
achieve competitive advantage. This book, written with clarity, pas-
sion, and conviction, assures us that what’s needed for success in the
workplace—and in life—is right here inside each of us. A must-read
for leaders everywhere!”
—John Barrasso, M.D., United States Senator
“Stop bluffing. If you’re ready for full-flush success, show your pay
hand, buy this book.”
—Cliff Hakim, Career Consultant, best-selling author of Rethinking Work
“Playing to your strengths is such a simple yet powerful idea, so much
more productive than beating yourself up over shortcomings! And this
book is the ‘real deal’ for helping you to get clear about your unique
genius and to deploy these special strengths to ensure success.”
—Dr. Douglas T. Hall, Morton H. and Charlotte Friedman profes-
sor in management, faculty director, MBA Program, Boston University
School of Management
“Within hours of reading just the first few chapters of Play to Your Strengths
I was able to harness this new perspective, helping me through a chal-
lenging situation. It is amazing to be able to look at individuals with the
expectation that they can and will be excellent at certain things, and that
they will never fully excel at others. It is freeing as an employee and as a
manager. Thank you to Leavitt and Sigetich for helping me to see, appre-
ciate, and nurture the glorious potential in my staff members.”
—Jamie Lynn Bails, senior vice president, Paradigm Business Solutions, Inc.
“This extraordinary book discusses an aspect of leadership that is often
overlooked, misunderstood, and ignored. The single most important real-
ization I’ve had in my career is that I don’t have to, nor can I, do it all.
There are those whose skills and insights are superior to mine, and actively
endeavoring to get those strengths into the ‘game’ in a meaningful way is
the primary challenge for an effective leader. To do otherwise smothers the
very development of others in the up-and-coming leadership progression,
which is so critical to the long-lasting success of any organization. I whole-
heartedly endorse this book.”
—John Inglish, general manager and CEO, Utah Transit Authority
“Every person has talent. The challenge is to recognize it and develop
it until it leads. This book offers profound insight into how the unique
talents of each person can enrich an organization. A must read...a leap
forward in helping all of us discover the great potential within our-
selves, in others, and in our organizations.”
—Terri Kane, CEO/administrator, Dixie Regional Medical Center
“Play to Your Strengths opens doors for leaders to find greater satisfac-
tion and success by applying a new philosophy of professional develop-
ment to help individuals achieve more of what they really want out of
life and to support the very best possible outcomes for their organiza-
tions. Now, that’s what I call a winning hand for all!”
—Lois Peters Vallerga, FACHE, Former Vice President of Organization De-
velopment, St. Charles Medical Centers, Cascade Healthcare Community
“Play to Your Strengths is an extremely practical leadership primer.
Wonderful and effective stories.”
—Oliver K. Myers, Ph.D., Chairman, College of Graduate Business,
Utah Campus of the University of Phoenix
P Y
LAY TO OUR
S
TRENGTHS
Stacking the Deck
to Achieve
Spectacular Results
for Yourself and Others
Andrea sigetich
AND
Carol Leavitt,
MBA
Career Press, Inc.
Franklin Lakes, N.J.
Copyright© 2008 by Andrea Sigetich and Carol Leavitt
All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International
Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or
in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission
from the publisher, The Career Press.
PLAYTO YOUR STRENGHTS
EDITEDBY GINA TALUCCI
TYPESETBY MICHAEL FITZGIBBON
Cover design by Lucia Rossman/Digi Dog Design NYC
Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press
To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and
Canada: 201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further
information on books from Career Press.
The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687,
Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
www.careerpress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sigetich, Andrea.
Play to your strengths : stacking the deck to achieve spectacular
results for yourself and others / by Andrea Sigetich and Carol Leavitt.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-56414-980-0
ISBN-10: 1-56414-980-3
1. Leadership. 2. Management. 3. Success in business. I. Leavitt,
Carol. II. Title.
HD57.7.S5225 2007
658.4’09--dc22
2007041385
D
edication
To Beryl, my hero and guide. You play to your strengths with
such heart, panache, and attitude! The strength of “us” far surpasses
the mere sum of us. And, fast gratitude to Carol Leavitt for her
strengths of insight, perspective, and above all, perpetual energy!
—Andrea
To my magnificent parents, Joan and Blaine, whose uncondi-
tional love and whole-hearted encouragement have been—and
continue to be—instrumental in my discovery of personal
strengths. To Mae Taylor, Dorothy Dart, and Andrea Sigetich—my
compassionate mentors—and to countless colleagues who have
supported me in growing and capitalizing on my strengths
throughout a thrilling career. And to Coby Sr., Coby Jr., Ian, and
Dave, whose unique and splendid strengths inspire me to amplify
my own in this glorious life.
—Carol
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A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are deeply grateful to our clients who, by seeking their own
strengths, contributed to this work more than they know.
We appreciate the seminal work of the Gallup organization, which
has been highly instrumental in bringing strengths to the forefront.
You have been spared from our incomplete explanations and
blunders due to the brilliance of our amazing guest readers! They
provided us with insights and perspectives that significantly im-
proved the book. For your time and wisdom, we thank Jamie Bails,
LaNae Barber, Donna Billings, Joan Cameron, Steve Camkin,
Mary Cary Crawford, Carolyn Esky, Janet Janke, Kathy Kram,
Gretchen Rawdon, Teresa Rozic, David Sigetich, and Lois Vallerga.
In addition to our readers, we had others on our support team
who bolstered and encouraged us, and also made us get out and play
every once in a while! We very much appreciate Jan Baker, Cindy
Clemens, Martha Ham, Darci Hansen, Kayla Koeber, Stephanie Martini,
Nancy Obymako, Jane Oliver, Mary Ronnow, Charlene Rynders,
The Juice Group, and the Wild Women.
Finally, we wish to acknowledge our “silent partner” Beryl
Rullman, who read—red pen in hand—every single page of this
book in nearly every iteration along the way. We owe you a huge debt
of gratitude, and a box of red pens!
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C
ontents
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AAAAA PPPPPoooookkkkkeeeeerrrrr PPPPPrrrrriiiiimmmmmeeeeerrrrr 1111177777
Chapter One
Pat Hand: Playing the Cards You’re Dealt 19
Chapter Two
Dealer’s Choice: Naming the Game You’ll Play 41
Chapter Three
Discards: Knowing When to Hold ’em or Fold ’em 67
Chapter Four
Showdown: Playing for High Stakes 95
Chapter Five
Ante Up: Building the Kitty 119
Chapter Six
Ace in the Hole: Uncovering Hidden Strengths 149
Description:Even savvy organizations can make big mistakes, like expending precious resources of time, money, and energy to repair a leader's weaknesses, only to achieve...mediocrity. No leader achieves greatness by fixing a weakness; strengths lead to excellence. Based on their combined 50 years consulting to
