1 STRENGTH INTERVIEWING

GUIDELINES

ADVICE N/A PRACTITIONER

BACKGROUND

Strengths interviewing is a very dynamic process that can be facilitated by taking into
account some important guidelines. This tool was designed to clarify some essential
guidelines that can be used to guide an effective strengths interview.

GOAL

The goal of the present guidelines is to help the practitioner guide a strengths
interview more effectively.

ADVICE

Practice makes perfect. The guidelines that are presented here follow from personal
experience. The aim of these guidelines is not to provide a complete overview of all
the aspects that one should take into account during strengths interviewing, but
rather an attempt to increase awareness of some common factors that are often
forgotten or neglected during the interview.

SUGGESTED READINGS

Linley, A. (2008) Average to A+: Realising Strengths in Yourself and Others. Warwick:
CAPP Press.

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 TOOL DESCRIPTION

INSTRUCTIONS

When working with a client on strengths finding, it is helpful to be aware of the

following:

ALWAYS ACKNOWLEDGE PROBLEMS AND PAINFUL

EXPERIENCES

Often clients have a need to express what is troubling them. Do not let this inhibit
you from helping your client find his/her strengths. The act of confirming your client’s
difficulties will likely increase the probability that he/she will be willing to discuss
strengths later. Assessing strengths too early may result in the client feeling rejected.

OVERCOME THE RELUCTANCE OF THE CLIENT TO TALK

ABOUT STRENGTHS

Many clients are reluctant to engage fully with the strengths introduction. They have
learned to be humble and modest and feel uncomfortable when the practitioner
addresses their positive qualities. It is often easy to overcome this reluctance: simply
inform your client that this exercise is not about impression management. The goal
is not about bragging or proving that the client is better than other people. Every
human being possesses strengths. In this exercise, the strengths of your client will be
addressed.

BE AWARE OF VERBAL CUES

Listen to how the client is talking. Is his/her voice stronger and more assertive?
Does he/she have improved vocabulary? Does he/she use strengths words more
frequently? The client’s rate of speech may change, signifying different strengths. For
example, if a client speaks slowly and methodically, he/she may be demonstrating the
strength of relaxed confidence.

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 BE AWARE OF NON-VERBAL SIGNS

Be aware of non-verbal expressions of strengths. Examples of non-verbal cues

include straightened posture, increased smiles and laughter, better eye contact, and
expressed joy, hope, and excitement. But please note: not everyone expresses their
strengths in the same way: cues may be subjective. So be attuned to the fact that any
client may respond to something completely differently than another client.

REMEMBER THE MOST IMPORTANT SIGNS OF

STRENGTHS USE

When interacting with clients, notice signs of strengths:

1. When using strengths, the client expresses engagement and excitement.

2. The client may feel time flies when conducting the activity.
3. The client quickly learns something new, and has an attuned interest in learning
about his/her strengths.
4. The client has continual successes and exceptional performance when given the
opportunity to apply his/her strengths.
5. The client has an interest in getting tasks completed first that use his/her
strengths.
6. The client wants to use strengths, especially after not being able to use it/them
for a while.
7. Even when not feeling well (tired, stressed, or disengaged), the client is drawn to
activities that use strengths.

BE AWARE THAT STRENGTHS ARE MANIFESTED IN

MANY DIFFERENT WAYS

People can have a similar patterns of strengths, but a completely different way
of displaying their strengths. Therefore, when identifying people’s strengths, it
is important to maintain an open mindset: a mindset that is able to see the many
different ways strengths can be displayed. This is especially relevant for strengths
that evoke a stereotypical image, for instance creativity, honesty or bravery. Let
us start with creativity, one of my own personal strengths. I love being creative.

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 In my case, making music and taking photos is an important way of expressing my
creativity. However, creativity is a concept that is expressed beyond traditional
and stereotypical manifestations, like painting or writing music. For instance, some
people are very creative in finding solutions for complex commercial problems,
others may be creative in formulating novel and interesting research ideas, etc..

TUNE IN TO THE EXPERIENCE AND WORLDVIEW OF

THE CLIENT

Some strengths are associated with strong stereotypical images. It may feel that, in
order to truly own this strength, there must be a high level of consistency or intensity
of expression. A good example of such a strength is bravery. When we hear the
word bravery, we may think of heroes, people who have achieved great things and
overcame their darkest fears. We may even see images of historical figures, freedom
fighters and so on. Many people do not perceive themselves as brave. But bravery is
much more than this. First of all, it is a subjective concept that is strongly determined
by personal experiences and emotions. For example, for some people, starting a
business is nothing that requires bravery. They just do it and don’t feel any fear at all.
In this case, there is no fear to be overcome and no bravery involved. For others, the
mere idea of starting a business may be something that causes sleepless nights and
great fear. If someone wants to start a company, and does so despite considerable
fear, then that person could rightly be called “brave”. That person is able to leave
his/her comfort zone and enter the unknown, something that requires bravery. The
unknown is different for all of us. It may be a new relationship, a new job, an oral
presentation, etc..

This is why strengths spotting is a very personal process. The coach must move
beyond his/her own conceptualisations of a strength and tune in to the experience
and worldview of the client. In this way, strengths potting becomes more personal
and accurate. This also brings to light an interesting downside of only using
questionnaires when identifying strengths. Questionnaires are based on statements
that are perceived as typical for certain strengths. For instance, the VIA item
“I never hesitate to publicly express a popular opinion” is used to assess bravery.

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 EVALUATE STRENGTHS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF
THE OTHER AND THE SELF

We live in a social world, dealing with others on a daily basis. Some strengths,
especially those who are most visible in a social context, like honesty, kindness and
fairness, are predominantly evaluated from the perspective of the other. An honest
person treats others honestly and a kind person is kind to other people. However,
the strength honesty is not only displayed in our relationship with others, but also in
our relationship with ourselves. I have had a number of clients who were very honest
when dealing with other people, but were not really honest to themselves. Deep
inside, they knew that they were unhappy at their job or feeling dissatisfied about
their marriage, but they chose to ignore this feeling, pretending it was not there.
Suppressing these feelings is everything but being honest.

In a similar way, many of my clients are kind to other people, forgiving and
compassionate when their loved ones fail. Interestingly, these strengths can be
shockingly absent when considering how they treat themselves when things
go wrong. Making people aware of the discrepancy that can exist between how
strengths are used with others and with the self, can be a very important step
towards cultivating a better relationship with the self. In addition, it also helps to
promote more balanced strengths use.

EXPRESS GRATITUDE

Giving and receiving feedback can be a challenge, whether addressing strengths

or improvement opportunities. It can be helpful for clients to practice giving and
receiving gratitude for observed strengths and behaviours. Practice with clients
and help them re-word their gratitude. For example, it can be helpful to say “I really
appreciate the way you are careful in thinking through all the risks” instead of “I really
appreciate your prudence” as the first is more specific, describing behaviour, and is in
line with the VIA Classification language.

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