Strengths Based Coaching—A Positive Psychology Intervention

Abstract

Strengths approaches have grow in popularity over the past decade, with a profileration of writing, models and questionnaires used for strengths assessment and in coaching. These questionnaires include including VIA, Strengthscope and StrengthsFinder and Strengths Profile. The questionnaires have become a popular intervention for consultants, HR professionals and executive coaches for adding both personal development and coaching, to assisting with recruitment and selection. We will briefly review in the first section of this chapter three popular questionnaires, considering their development and constructs. In the second section we will explore positive psychology coaching as an intervention using questionnaires and strengths cards, before reviewing the research evidence and opportunities for future research.

Full text

Strengths Based Coaching—A Positive
Psychology Intervention
Jolanta Burke and Jonathan Passmore
Abstract Strengths approaches have grow in popularity over the past decade, with
a profileration of writing, models and questionnaires used for strengths assessment
and in coaching. These questionnaires include including VIA, Strengthscope and
StrengthsFinder and Strengths Profile. The questionnaires have become a popular
intervention for consultants, HR professionals and executive coaches for adding both
personal development and coaching, to assisting with recruitment and selection. We
will briefly review in the first section of this chapter three popular questionnaires,
considering their development and constructs. In the second section we will explore
positive psychology coaching as an intervention using questionnaires and strengths
cards, before reviewing the research evidence and opportunities for future research.
Keywords Strengths coaching ·VIA ·StrengthsFinder ·Strengthscope ·
Strengths cards
1 Introduction
For over a century both researchers and practitioners have been interested in talents
as the nature of work has changed (Drake, 1935; Subarsky, 1948). This has seen the
emergence of the ‘war for talent’ (Michaels, Handfield-Jones, & Alexrod, 2001),
with corporations competing to recruit or retain what they perceive to be the most
able employees. While the crash of 2009 saw a decline in this recruitment, the topic
has re-emerged, with firms continuing to seek to attract the most able through their
recruitment strategies. While talent is considered, in psychological terms, to be a
natural or innate ability to achieve an outcome faster or to a higher standard (Duck-
worth, Eichstaedt, & Ungar, 2015), for these firms, it is considered to be ‘the bright
J. Burke (B)
University of East London, London, UK
e-mail: jonathancpassmore@yahoo.co.uk
J. Passmore
Henley Business School, University of Reading, Henley on Thames, UK
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
L. E. Van Zyl and S. Rothmann Sr. (eds.), Theoretical Approaches
to Multi-Cultural Positive Psychological Interventions,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3- 030-20583- 6_21
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Copyright 2019. Springer.
All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law.
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464 J. Burke and J. Passmore
and best from the top universities’. The psychological definition remains relevant,
but the term continues to be overused in common parlance, leading to misunder-
standings and confusion (Tansley, 2011). Of course examples like Enron (McLean,
2004) confirms that despite being the smartest guys, corporate failure can still follow,
and factors like employee-role fit, motivation and experience remain factors to be
considered in successful recruitment strategies’, alongside innate ability (Goldstein,
Pulakos, Passmore, & Semedo, 2017).
Alongside these discussions of talent, there has been significant interest in what
might be considered to be the dark side of talent (Lombardo & Eichinger, 1999; Furn-
ham, 2015). These writers and others like Robert Hogan (Hogan, 2007)havedrawn
attention to attributes, traits or talents, which can contribute to failure or derailment.
One example is the development of a fixed mindset. For talented individual this can
occur due to early successes in formal education or career, leading to less willingness
to learn and adapt to changing role and competitive environmental demands (Dweck,
2009; Duckworth, 2016; Furnham, 2015). But the multiple examples exist across the
behavioural spectrum.
One of the first attempts of combining talent with individuals’ further development
came from the Gallup StrengthsFinder (Clifton & Anderson, 2001–02). According to
the Gallop model, while talents could be wasted (not developed), their development,
through the acquisition of knowledge and skills, talents can become a higher-order
talents; a ‘strength’. This concept of strength recognises the importance of both innate
attributes with development.
In this chapter we explore; strengths based coaching. We will start by review-
ing the development of different conceptual approaches to strengths that have been
developed into three widely used questionnaires in strengths. We will briefly explore
the development of these tools, and the themes which they include. In the second
section we will explore positive psychology coaching and its use of strengths based
questionnaires. In the third section will consider the research evidence and whether
strengths coaching is an effective approach to use with clients. Finally, in this short
chapter on interventions, we will review opportunities for future research.
2 Different Approaches to Strengths
Over the past two decades we have seen the emergence of a number of alterna-
tive approaches to strengths, such as Values into Action (VIA), StrengthsFinder and
Strengthscope and their operationalization as tools for use in organisational or well-
being coaching. In Table 1we consider the development of these approaches. We
will review three popular models that have been published in English.
StrengthsFinder is based on the theory that each adult possesses a number of per-
sonal character attributes, known as ‘Talent themes’ (Asplund, et al. 2014). Through
awareness of these talent themes and focused practice, strengths can be created
and effectiveness enhanced. The model consists of 34 strengths, such as strategic,
learner, achiever, self-assurance, and woo (Gallup, 2018). These are sorted into four
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Strengths Based Coaching—A Positive Psychology Intervention 465
Tabl e 1 StrengthsFinder questionnaire’s 34 strengths
Achiever—one with a constant drive for
accomplishing tasks
Activator—one who acts to start things in
motion
Adaptability—one who is especially adept at
accommodating to changes in direction/plan
Analytical—one who requires data and/or
proof to make sense of their circumstances
Arranger—one who enjoys orchestrating
many tasks and variables to a successful
outcome
Belief—one who strives to find some ultimate
meaning behind everything they do
Command—one who steps up to positions of
leadership without fear of confrontation
Communication—one who uses words to
inspire action and education
Competition—one who thrives on comparison
and competition to be successful
Connectedness—one who seeks to unite
others through commonality
Consistency—one who believes in treating
everyone the same to avoid unfair advantage
Context—one who is able to use the past to
make better decisions in the present
Deliberative—one who proceeds with caution,
seeking to always have a plan and know all of
the details
Developer—one who sees the untapped
potential in others
Discipline—one who seeks to make sense of
the world by imposition of order
Empathy—one who is especially in tune with
the emotions of others
Focus—one who requires a clear sense of
direction to be successful
Futuristic—one who has a keen sense of
using an eye towards the future to drive
today’s success
Harmony—one who seeks to avoid conflict
and achieve success through consensus
Ideation—one who is adept at seeing
underlying concepts that unite disparate ideas
Includer—one who instinctively works to
include everyone
Individualization—one who draws upon the
uniqueness of individuals to create successful
teams
Input—one who is constantly collecting
information or objects for future use
Intellection—one who enjoys thinking and
thought-provoking conversation often for its
own sake, and also can data compress
complex concepts into simplified models
Learner—one who must constantly be
challenged and learning new things to feel
successful
Maximizer—one who seeks to take people
and projects from great to excellent
Positivity—one who has a knack for bringing
the light-side to any situation
Relator—one who is most comfortable with
fewer, deeper relationships
Responsibility—one who must follow
through on commitments
Restorative—one who thrives on solving
difficult problems
Self-Assurance—one who stays true to their
beliefs, judgments and is confident of his/her
ability
Significance—one who seeks to be seen as
significant by others
Strategic—one who is able to see a clear
direction through the complexity of a situation
Woo —one who is able to easily persuade
(short for “Winning Others Over”)
business-competency-related domains of strategic thinking, executing, influencing,
and relationship building.
Even though the concept of strengths is not new (e.g. Weick & Saleebey, 1995),
StrengthsFinder was the first assessment tool, which helped individuals identify
their strengths and create a language around them. As a commercial tool, it has
been used extensively (Gallup, 2008), however a literature review by the authors
(completed in 2018 for this chapter) reveals little peer review published material
about the instrument, its development and its validity as a developmental tool.
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466 J. Burke and J. Passmore
Tabl e 2 VIA strengths
VIA-IS (2018)Wisdom and knowledge Creativity
Curiosity
Judgment
Love of learning
Perspective
Courage Bravery
Perseverance
Honesty
Zest
Humanity Love
Kindness
Social Intelligence
Justice Teamwork
Fairness
Leadership
Temperance Forgiveness
Humility
Prudence
Self regulation
Transcendence Appreciation of beauty
Gratitude
Hope
Humour
Spirituality
The second, popular strengths assessment is the Strengthsscope (Brook & Brew-
erton, 2006). Its strengths are divided into four categories; emotional, relational, exe-
cution and thinking strengths, with 24 strengths. In addition to creating a strengths’
assessment, Strengthscope has also introduced the concept of strength-overuse
(Brook, 2008), which has since been adapted by other strengths assessments. It
refers to individuals overusing their strengths, which may result in their strengths
becoming weaknesses. Of all the three tools, the StrengthScope is the only measure
to have achieved the registered test status by the British Psychological Society (BPS,
2017).
The third questionnaire which we will briefly review has had wide exposure;
VIA-IS (Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005), offering greater transparency in its
conception, development and research (McGrath, 2014;McGrath,2017a; Peterson
& Seligman, 2004).
VIA consists of 24 character strengths, divided into 6 virtues, wisdom, courage,
humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. The questionnaire aims to measure
the frequency of use of the 24 strengths, with those most frequently used labelled as
‘signature strengths’ (Table 2).
Various studies have showed the benefits of using the VIA’s signature strengths
on a regular basis, ranging from enhancement of well-being (Mongrain & Anselmo-
Matthews, 2012), through to flourishing (Hone, Jarden, Schofield, & Duncan, 2014),
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Strengths Based Coaching—A Positive Psychology Intervention 467
happiness (Proyer, Wellenzohn, Gander, & Ruch, 2014), satisfaction with life and
reduction in anxiety (Peterson & Peterson, 2008). However, there is also evidence of
the benefits of using and developing weaknesses that show positive outcomes (Rust,
Diessner, & Reade, 2009). Therefore, what the research on character strengths claims
is that as long as individuals develop their trait-like qualities, they are likely to see a
range of benefits in their personal and professional lives.
The 24 VIA character strengths are not exhaustive, or exclusive. The developers
of the model (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) recognise the model may need to change,
along with changes to the questionnaire used to identify signature strengths (Peterson
& Seligman, 2004). McGrath (2017b) carried out significant work on reviewing
the psychometric properties of the original questionnaire, and in the light of the
research carried out in the first decade after its creation. This research confirmed the
high validity of the questionnaire, but included recommendations about use, noting
that higher levels of validity were achieved from the longer form questionnaire and
noting the challenges of using the questionnaire with individuals with cognitive
impairments.
This work has lead to improvements to the questionnaires (McGrath, 2017b). They
also indicate signature strengths, overuse, underuse and optimal-use of character
strengths that identifies whether or not strength-use is balanced (Freidlin, Littman-
Ovadia, & Niemiec, 2017), which can serve as a starting point for coaching dis-
cussions. Furthermore, they are available for 360° assessments, whereby partners
can identify individual’s perceived strengths (Kashdan et al., 2018), which can be
compared to the self-assessed character strengths. Also, the new assessment can
identify weaknesses and measures of virtues, not only strengths (McGrath, 2017b).
Therefore, the measurement tools created extend to a comprehensive assessment of
strengths.
Alongside these validated instruments, a host of consultants and practitioners are
now publishing ‘Strengths cards’. These cards typically consist of 40–80 playing
cards with images, which aim to facilitate a discussion about the image and lead
to an exploration of the client’s strengths. However, our literature review found no
peer review published research regarding the value, or the reliability or validity of
strengths cards as a coaching tools.
We have briefly explored four different strengths frameworks which have been
operationalized into questionnaires, as well as briefing discussing strengths cards.
As a result we define strengths as “an attribute, either innate or learned, which when
used by the individual leads to superior performance”.
As we discuss in the next section, both the questionnaires and strengths cards
are being increasing used in coaching work with clients. In the next section we will
explore how they are being used and their contribution to outcomes.
3 Strength-Based Coaching Practice
With the growth of positive psychology coaching (Freire, 2013) coaching practi-
tioners have been drawing on both positive psychological models to apply in their
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468 J. Burke and J. Passmore
coaching practice (Passmore & Oades, 2014a;2015a;2015b,2016), as well as look-
ing to strengths models to use with their clients (Kaufman, Silberman, & Sharpley,
2012: MacKie, 2015). Biswas-Diener and Dean (2007) began a discussion about pos-
itive psychology coaching pointing out the similarities between the fields of positive
psychology and coaching psychology and encouraging using strengths assessments
and their outcomes in a coaching practice. Biswas-Diener approach has been further
advanced through a practical guide to applying positive psychology coaching with
clients (Biswas-Diener, 2010). Following from this, strength-use has been proposed
by Passmore and Oades (2014b), as a fundamental part of positive psychology coach-
ing. More recently, Burke (2018) argued in the conceptual framework for a positive
psychology coaching practice that using strengths questionnaires in coaching are an
essential element of positive psychology coaching.
We suggest strengths questionnaires can be used in 4 main ways within the coach-
ing practice, i.e. by; (1) creating coaches’ awareness of strengths; (2) carrying out
strength assessment with clients; (3) using strength-based coaching to develop confi-
dence; and (4) coaching clients to further develop their strengths to improve personal
performance. Each one of these approaches will be discussed below in more detail.
4 Creating Coaches’ Awareness of Strengths
There is a multiplicity of benefits associated with identifying strengths that can be
helpful in various aspects of individuals’ lives. For example, the benefits of strength
awareness in the workplace was studied in a sample of 10,000 employees in New
Zealand, and the results showed that those who were aware of their strengths were
9.5 times more likely to psychologically flourish than employees who had no such
awareness (Hone et al., 2014). Coincidently, workplace strengths were also connected
with employees’ higher levels of vitality, concentration and experiencing harmonious
passion (Dubreuil, Forest, & Courcy, 2014) as well as engagement at work (Crabb,
2011). Therefore, in this context, coaches awareness of their own strengths may serve
as a benefit to them when working with clients, by increasing coach confidence and
deepening the coaches’ self awareness, through self-reflection.
Whilst to date, there is no specific research about the impact of strength awareness
on coaches’ effectiveness at work, a study with psychotherapists showed that priming
therapists’ attention to their strengths five minutes before the therapy sessions showed
improved therapeutic relationship and outcomes measured at session 20 (Fluckiger
& Grosse Holforth, 2008). Equally, when cognitive behavioural therapy was person-
alised to clients’ strengths, as opposed to their deficits, the therapeutic process led yet
again to better clients’ outcomes (Cheavens, Strunk, Lazarus, & Goldstein, 2012).
Therefore, it is possible that the same applies to a coaching intervention, whereby
focusing on clients’ strengths prior to the coaching session, may prove beneficial to
both coaches and their clients. However, more research needs to be carried out to
confirm this.
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Strengths Based Coaching—A Positive Psychology Intervention 469
5 Carrying Out Strength-Assessments with Clients
Coaches may also use character strengths assessments as tools during a coaching
intervention, either at an organisational client’s request, as a strengths questionnaire,
like the coaching, is part of the wider development programme, or because in dis-
cussion with the individual client, a strengths assessment has been agreed as part of
the coaching assignment.
The coach may invite their client to complete one of the questionnaires as their
homework before the session (Littman-Ovadia, Lazar-Butbul, & Benjamin, 2014).
Or the coach may use strength cards to facilitate a strengths based conversations with
coaching clients (Jumpp, 2018; Markström, 2011; Smith & Barros-Gomes, 2015).
Strength cards may act as a more accessible and low cost way to encourage clients
to reflect on their perceived strength. However, some clients may struggle to name
their strengths (Hill, 2001), which would make such conversations more challenging
than using an instrument that provides both terms and descriptions of these terms
such as one of the strengths questionnaires discussed above.
When using any strength-assessments, Roche and Hefferon (2013) have argued
that a structured coaching debriefing should form part of the process. In a qualita-
tive study with 20 participants, they found that such a discussion lead to enhanced
results, such as self-efficacy enhancement, stimulation of psychological development
through self-awareness and insight, as well as strength development and use. Thus,
if strengths are to be used in coaching, a structured approach is required for the most
effective outcomes.
There are various models of strength discussions, that coaches may choose to
apply, such as a simple identify and use approach (Biswas-Diener, 2010), or a three-
step process of creating awareness, exploring strengths further and applying them
accordingly (Niemiec, 2013). Regardless of what model is being used, the coach
needs to consider the intricacies of strength assessment and evaluation (Biswas-
Diener, Kashdan, & Minhas, 2011). We would argue, drawing from our practice,
that strength-assessment is not about merely using strengths more, but using them
in different social situations. Therefore, coaches need to help clients reflect upon
how specific strengths can be used at work, at home and with friends, rather than
simply encouraging clients to apply their strengths more frequently. Furthermore,
we would suggest five factors that we have found useful when discussing strengths
with clients: (1) strength tilt; (2) strength constellation; (3) strengths blindness; (4)
strength sensitivity; and (5) social costs of strengths.
‘Strength tilt’ refers to an individual’s interests and preferences, as well as ways
in which strengths can be applied uniquely in each person, in order for them to
live their lives in alignment with their values. Each strength profile identifies the
‘Strength constellations’, which are the interactions of strengths with each other. For
example, an individual who frequently uses the strengths of fairness and bravery,
would be more likely to stand up for someone who is unfairly treated than those who
score highly in fairness but low in bravery. Therefore, such intricacies need to be
considered in a coaching conversation. ‘Strength blindness’ refers to individuals not
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470 J. Burke and J. Passmore
appreciating their strengths and viewing them as something common and ordinary,
rather than something that needs to be celebrated and developed further. ‘Strength
sensitivity’ may occur in clients who are being criticised around their strengths or
when they discuss the negative aspects of their strengths. Finally, the ‘Social cost of
strengths’ denotes the perception others have of individuals’ strengths and the impact
of it on how the client views their own strengths.
Each one of five factors need to be considered when debriefing clients on their
strengths assessment. Recent developments in strength assessment also delves into
the overuse and underuse of strengths as well as their optimal use to achieve desired
results (Niemiec, 2018). Taking all into consideration, coach plays an important role
in firstly guiding clients towards strength-assessments, but also in relation to helping
clients make sense of the result of the assessment and the impact it has on their daily
lives, as well as how individuals’ strengths can be used more effectively in their lives.
6 Strength-Based Coaching Practice
The first attempt of using VIA character strengths in a one-to-one work with
clients came from Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson (2006) who made strengths-
identification and strength-use part of a positive psychotherapy intervention. This
work was further developed into Strength-based Careers Counselling (SBCC)
(Littman-Ovadia et al., 2014) when the researchers brought together strength-centred
therapy (Wong, 2006) with a strength-based counselling model (Smith, 2006), and
VIA character strengths assessment (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Their aim was to
help career counsellors/coaches facilitate their clients employment. The study results
showed that over 80% of strength-based intervention clients reported achieving their
goals three months later, in comparison to 60% of traditionally coached clients. Fur-
thermore, clients undertaking the SBCC evaluated their careers coach much more
favourably than the control group clients. This study showed the positive impact that
strength-based coaching may potentially have on both clients’ outcomes, as well as
their experience and satisfaction with the entire coaching process.
Strength-based coaching has also been shown to be effective when used with
younger clients as well. In a pilot study with primary school children, researchers
carried out group coaching sessions, during which they helped students identify their
strengths and use them in an innovative way to strive for a personally meaningful goal,
which resulted in their increased levels of engagement and hope (Madden, Green &
Grant, 2011). These results echo other findings with disadvantaged primary school
children, for whom strength-based coaching prompted a process of improvement
in social skills, anger management and school attitude (Dennison, Daniel, Gruber,
Cavanaugh, & Mayfield, 2018), as well as adolescents who have shown a decrease
in depressive symptoms (Naify, 2009).
Similar studies, using strength-based models in a coaching practice have been
used in business (Elston & Boniwell, 2011; MacKie, 2014; Welch, Grossaint, Reid,
&Walker,2014) and in coaching with private clients (McDowall & Butterworth,
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Strengths Based Coaching—A Positive Psychology Intervention 471
2014). Therefore, whilst this is still a relatively new area of inquiry, the preliminary
evidence is showing positive effects of using strength-based models. More research
needs to be carried out in a coaching context in order to advance the theory and
practice.
7 Developing Specific Clients’ Strengths to Improve Their
Outcomes
Over the last decade, a significant amount of research has focused on identifying spe-
cific strengths and their association with various outcomes. Writer such as Niemiec
(2018) have encouraged practitioners to use this research with clients, encouraging
them to develop their strengths in order to achieve their desired results. Research has
shown perseverance is associated with work productivity (Littman-Ovadia & Frei-
dlin, 2019), whereas curiosity, zest, hope, gratitude and spirituality are associated
with work satisfaction (Peterson, Stephens, Park, Lee, & Seligman, 2010). Drawing
on this research coaches may help clients achieve their goals but considering their
personal strengths.
8 Suggestions for Future Research
Whilst all of the strength assessment organisations have developed tools for coaches
allowing them to apply strengths in their work with clients (e.g. Brook, 2016;
Strengthscope, 2018), there is limited research about the effectiveness of the ques-
tionnaires as a tool to enhance personal effectiveness.
Research is needed to explore the relationship between enhanced awareness, use
of a specific strength and goal realisation. Work is also needed to examine in multiple
context the application of strengths in work based tasks; does using a specific personal
strength lead to performance gains?
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Strengths Based Coaching—A Positive Psychology Intervention 475
Jolanta Burke, Ph.D. is a senior lecturer and co-leader of the Masters in Applied Positive Psy-
chology and Coaching Psychology at the University of East London. She has been a practicing
coach for almost 15 years, working mainly in a business environment with leaders and sales pro-
fessionals. She has published articles in academic journals, popular magazines, newspapers and
spoke at events across 4 continents. Dr Burke is an author of “Happiness after 30: The paradox of
aging” and a soon-to-be-published book on applying positive psychology to a coaching practice.
For more information, please go to www.jolantaburke.com.
Jonathan Passmore is director of Henley centre for coaching, Henley Business School, Univer-
sity of Reading and professor of psychology at the University of Evora. He has written and edited
over thirty books and 100 scientific papers and book chapters, including the eight volume series
on Industrial Psychology for Wiley-Blackwell. His work has been internationally recognised with
multiple awards including the Outstanding Contribution to Coaching Award from the British Psy-
chological Society in 2017.
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