Spotting Strengths at Work: The Questions and Cues That Matter

Many leaders can describe what their team members do. Strong leaders also name what gives each person energy while they do it. That difference matters as teams settle into the rhythm of a new year and expectations lift quickly.

Spotting strengths at work is a practical leadership habit. It helps you see what is authentic and energising about someone, then use that insight to shape better one-to-one conversations, clearer development conversations, and more sustainable performance across the year.

Why Spotting Strengths Goes Beyond Talent

A person can be skilled, reliable, and high performing, and still experience a high energy cost in work that looks impressive on paper. Spotting strengths adds an energy lens.

In workplace terms, a strength has two features:

• It is authentic, meaning it feels natural and accessible now
• It is energising, meaning it gives energy and supports momentum

This approach supports wellbeing and performance together. It builds capability that lasts. You may also hear this described as strengths spotting, meaning the skill of seeing what someone does well and what gives them energy.

Questions That Reveal Strengths

The quality of the question shapes the quality of what you hear. Strengths show up in stories, and real examples bring the detail to life.

Try these in a one-to-one, coaching session, or team check-in:

• What work has lit you up recently, and what made it satisfying?
• What are you most proud of achieving in the last year, and what did you contribute that mattered?
• Which project did you enjoy most, and what part of it felt easiest for you?
• When have you felt most like yourself at work, and what was happening?
• What type of work would you happily do more of if time opened up?

For a new year reflection that feels grounded:

• What do you want more of this year because it brings out your best work?
• What do you want to reduce this year because it carries a high energy cost over time?

What to Watch and Listen For

Strengths are often visible. Leaders who build this habit learn to trust what they observe, then check it with a simple follow-up question.

When someone is speaking from a strength, you will often notice:

• Rich detail and specific examples
• More expressive tone and natural emphasis
• Faster recall, fewer fillers, and clearer structure
• More meaning-based language, such as what mattered and why it felt important
• A visible lift in posture, facial expression, and presence

A short follow-up question can confirm what you are seeing:

• What part of that gave you the most energy
• What did you find yourself wanting to keep doing
• What would you want to repeat in a future project

Strengths and Learned Behaviours: The Difference Leaders Often Miss

Some tasks are completed to a high standard and still carry a high energy cost. These are often learned behaviours. Someone has built competence, and the energy return stays low.

This matters because learned behaviours can become a quiet pathway to reduced sustainability. This becomes more likely when someone is repeatedly recognised for work with a high energy cost, because managers often allocate more of it with positive intent.

A simple check helps:

✔️ After you finish that work, do you feel energised, steady, or depleted?
✔️ If your calendar filled with this work for a month, what would happen to your focus and motivation?

This is a kinder and more accurate way to talk about sustainability than labelling tasks as good or bad.

A Practical Example Leaders Recognise

A leader may write excellent reports, deliver on time, and receive strong feedback. Their manager sees capability and increases the workload.

Over time, the leader procrastinates, stays late, and experiences reduced momentum. Capability remains strong. The lever is energy. Writing may sit in learned behaviour territory: performed well and energy costly over time.

A strengths-based response keeps performance high and supports sustainability:

• Keep writing when needed and balance it with energising strengths work
• Share the writing load across the team where possible
• Use templates, shared outlines, and co-authoring so the energy cost drops
• Shape roles so energising strengths drive the highest value work

Spotting Strengths in Interviews and Talent Decisions

This habit is valuable in recruitment because it improves role-fit decisions and strengthens long-term engagement.

In interviews, ask for real examples, and listen for:

• Energy in the story, alongside competence in the outcome
• What the candidate chooses to emphasise and expand
• The difference between confident detail and flat delivery

Useful prompts:

1. Tell me about a project you loved and why
2. Tell me about a project you delivered well and experienced as energy costly, and what you learnt from it

A Simple Team Ritual That Makes This Easy

This becomes easier when it is part of the rhythm.

Try this fortnightly check-in:

• What has given you energy recently
• What has carried a high energy cost
• What strength do you think was in play
• What small shift would make the next fortnight more sustainable

In five minutes, teams learn to name energy, work design, and capability in a way that feels practical and psychologically safe.

Organisational Lens: Psychosocial Safety and Strengths Conversations

Spotting strengths supports psychosocial safety because it changes how leaders see people and how teams talk about work.

It leads to:

• More specific recognition that feels genuine
• Better conversations about load and energy with care and clarity
• Development that focuses on growth and contribution
• Stronger belonging because people are seen for what they bring

Performance lifts too, because teams move faster when energy is protected and capability is used wisely. 

Explore Two Evidence-Based Tools for Real Change

Both emotional intelligence and strengths shape how people think, feel and perform at work. When leaders understand and measure these capabilities, they can build cultures that support confident, capable and energised performance.

Strengths Profile Accreditation (Tuesday 17 February)

Strengths Profile is a world-leading assessment that measures how people use their energy and capability across 60 strengths. It looks at three dimensions - energy, performance and use - providing a more complete picture of what people bring to work.

Through the accreditation, you will explore:

• The science behind strengths-based development
• The difference between realised and unrealised strengths
• How to identify learned behaviours that drain energy Practical ways to coach, debrief and design work around strengths

This accreditation is delivered virtually by our very own CEO and Founder, Sue Langley, across four half-day workshops designed for interaction, reflection and practice.

MSCEIT®2 Accreditation (Monday 16 February)

Emotional intelligence sits at the heart of effective leadership, communication and decision-making. The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT®2) measures emotional intelligence as an ability - not a self-report - offering a credible way to assess and develop emotional skill.

The program builds a deep understanding of how to:

• Interpret and debrief MSCEIT®2 results with confidence
• Apply emotional intelligence in leadership, coaching and team contexts
• Strengthen capability in recognising, understanding and managing emotions
• Use data to support growth, performance and psychosocial safety

Sessions are interactive, combining theory, case work and reflective practice.

Request the MSCEIT®2 course guide to explore how emotional intelligence can enhance your professional impact.

Explore how our science-backed courses and tools can support you or your team to flourish. Whether you are starting your journey or deepening your expertise, Langley Group is here to help you thrive.

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