Celebrating American strengths on Independence Day





Trudy Bateman - Head of Strengths Profile 

Happy Independence Day to all our American friends and colleagues. On this 4th July the world looks on as America celebrates breaking free and ploughing its own furrow for almost 250 years.

But are we all as different as history would have us think?

Capp has studied the Strengths Profiles of almost 32,000 people globally – assessing their strengths across three areas. How people performed when they used strengths, how much they enjoyed using them and how often they used them.

And whilst nations might face many and varied challenges, we found that globally, Pride was the top strength unifying us all. Wherever we are in the world, we want to deliver the very best in everything we do. Where Americans do differ from the rest of the world is in the two realised strengths of Gratitude and Authenticity. Here’s our take on how these two strengths are leveraged across the pond.
 
Those two powerful words

Americans tend to be more grateful for what they’ve got and appreciative for what exists in their world. Perhaps the best example is Thanksgiving – the last Thursday of November when the nation gives thanks for the first harvest. Gratitude can develop naturally but can often develop in ourselves as we overcome challenges and gain perspective on what it is important. Little things don’t go unnoticed; making time to say ‘thank you’ can go a long way towards making others feel good at home or in your teams.

Staying True to oneself

Authenticity is also very important to Americans as they are true to themselves and stand up for what they believe in. It’s very important to them that they do things that are right for them – in all aspects of life. And perhaps even more so at work, as their vacations tend to be shorter than other nations across the world so need to be happy in what they do.
Capp’s Strengths-based methodology is used more and more in the US as the number of our global clients grows, and the Strengths Profile grows in popularity amongst organisations and business coaches.

Let’s take time today to celebrate the uniqueness which exists between us. Differences are as important as similarities in helping to shape successful working environments and relationships.

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