Strengths Spotting Worksheet

What Is Strengths Spotting?

Strengths spotting is the practice of deliberately observing and naming what someone does well — with enough precision that they can recognize themselves in it.

Most leaders rely on intuition for this. They have a general sense that someone is “good with people” or “strong analytically” but haven’t developed the vocabulary or the habit to make it specific.

This worksheet gives you a structured process. Use it before 1:1s, feedback conversations, performance reviews, or team-level strengths mapping exercises.

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Part 1: The Observation Log

For the team member you’re focusing on, recall 3–5 specific moments in the past month where they were effective, engaged, or operating at a high level. Use this log to capture what you observed.

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Moment 1

What happened / what did they do?

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What was the context or challenge?

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What specifically did I observe — what words, behaviors, or decisions?

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What was the outcome or effect?

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Moment 2

What happened / what did they do?

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What was the context or challenge?

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What specifically did I observe?

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What was the outcome or effect?

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Moment 3

What happened / what did they do?

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What was the context or challenge?

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What specifically did I observe?

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What was the outcome or effect?

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Part 2: The Pattern Analysis

Review your observations from Part 1 and look for threads.

What do these moments have in common? (Think about: the type of challenge, the mode of engagement, the effect on others)

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What underlying capability or quality do they reflect? (Use the vocabulary below, or your own language)

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What does this person do naturally that others often find difficult?

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Strengths Vocabulary Reference

Use this list as a starting point for naming what you observe. The most useful names are often combinations or adaptations — “contextual intelligence” is more precise than “smart,” for instance.

Thinking Strengths

• Analytical reasoning / systems thinking
• Pattern recognition across domains
• Conceptual clarity — making complex things simple
• Strategic foresight — thinking three moves ahead
• Intellectual humility — holding positions with openness to being wrong
• Synthesis — combining disparate ideas into coherent frameworks

Communication Strengths

• Precision in language — says exactly what they mean
• Audience awareness — adjusts tone and frame instinctively
• Storytelling — makes information land through narrative
• Active listening — creates the experience of being deeply heard
• Difficult conversation navigation — holds truth and relationship simultaneously
• Facilitation — holds space for multiple perspectives productively

Relational Strengths

• Trust-building under pressure
• Psychological safety creation
• Conflict de-escalation without losing the substance
• Advocacy — champions people and ideas credibly
• Mentoring instinct — develops others without being asked
• Team attunement — reads the room and adjusts

Execution Strengths

• Reliable follow-through under ambiguity
• Resourcefulness — finds paths when obvious ones are blocked
• Pace calibration — knows when to push and when to pause
• Translating vision into action steps
• Quality discipline — holds standards consistently
• Calm under pressure — best when stakes are highest

Leadership Strengths

• Decision clarity — makes calls when others hedge
• Values coherence — lives what they say
• Constructive challenge — pushes back without destabilizing
• Generosity of credit — amplifies others’ contributions
• Presence — full attention as a leadership act
• Long-game thinking — willing to sacrifice short-term for the right outcome

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Part 3: The Feedback Statement

Using your observations and pattern analysis, draft a specific, evidence-based strengths statement to share with the person.

Template:

“When [specific situation or pattern], I observe that you [specific behavior]. That reflects [strength name] — [what makes it valuable]. I’ve noticed it [impact or effect].”

Your draft:

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Part 4: The Forward Point

Great strengths-based feedback points toward application, not just acknowledgment.

Where else could this strength be applied?

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What opportunity, project, or role would allow this person to use this strength more?

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Draft a forward-pointing suggestion:

“Given this strength, I’d love to see you…”

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Team Strengths Map (Optional)

For team-level use: after completing this worksheet for each team member, create a simple grid mapping individuals to their top 2–3 identified strengths. This makes the team’s collective capability visible and supports better role design, delegation, and collaboration.

Team Member	Strength 1	Strength 2	Strength 3

Use the map to ask: Where are we strong as a team? Where might we have gaps? How can we collaborate to cover each other’s less-developed areas?