Everybody has strengths. But sometimes it is hard to communicate a person’s essence through a conventional biography or CV. Imagine that somebody has asked you to write their personal profile. Obviously much depends on what they want to achieve with the document. They may want to use it to get a job, put in a brochure, produce as a biography or whatever. Your initial task will be: a) To clarify the audiences they want to reach; b) To clarify the results they want to achieve. You can then move onto clarifying and communicating their strengths. Here are three steps you can take to make this happen.

1) You can collect information about the person’s strengths profile.

Begin by clarifying their strengths. One approach is to use the exercise called The person’s strengths profile. The person completes it about themselves - as if observing themselves from the outside. They also ask 3 people whom they respect to fill-in the questionnaire. People answer questions about the person under three headings: their strengths, style and area of greatest potential success. Here are the questions.

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The Strengths Profile

Thank you for agreeing to answer questions about the person. The questionnaire is divided into three parts - though there are obvious overlaps. First, the person’s strengths - what they do best. Second, the person’s style - how they work best. Third, the person’s potential future success. Several points are worth bearing in mind when completing the profile. a) Please be honest and as specific as possible when writing the answers. b) Do not be worried if some of the answers seem contradictory. c) Be prepared to put aside up to 30 minutes to do the profile. It may not take that long - but it is quite a commitment. Thanks again.

The person’s name is:

*

Strengths

The kind of words I would use to describe
the person and their contribution are:

*

The specific activities in which the person
delivers ‘As’ – rather than ‘Bs’ or ‘Cs’ - are:

*

The times when the person transmits
passion and positive energy are:

*

The times when the person seems to be in their
element – at ease yet also able to excel – are:

*

Style

Looking back at their history, the kind of ‘projects’ –
in the broadest sense of the word - the person
has delivered successfully in the past have been:

*

The person’s preferred style of working
– the way they work best - is:

*

The kind of manager with whom
they work best is somebody who:

*

If the person is leading a team or project, the kinds
of people who work best with them are those who:

*

The kinds of support, encouragement & infrastructure the
person needs around them to do their best work are:

*

Success

The specific things I believe the person
can achieve in their professional life are:

*

If I had a blank piece of paper, the perfect role I would invent
for the person - even if it did not exist today - would be:

*

The specific benefits that the employers - or other
people - could get from the person’s contribution are:

*

The other things I would like to say about
the person and their contribution are:

*

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Answering these questions can take a lot of time. So check out with people in advance if they would be willing to set aside 30 minutes, for example, to do the questionnaire. After collecting the information, move onto the next step.

2) You can create the person’s strengths profile.

Gather the information and take time-out to reflect on the material. Look for the recurring themes under each heading - because these provide the essence of the person. Try to find specific examples that bring these themes to life. Re-write the material in a way that makes sense to you - then check it out with the person. You now have masses of material, so the next steps are:

a) To clarify the different formats in which to present the material. For example, a biography, press release, CV or whatever.

b) To clarify the target group for each piece - and the actual words you want to hear people saying after they read the profile.

c) To write the profile - varying the forms in order to have the most impact with different audiences.

During the process it is vital to keep in touch with the person. Make sure they are happy with the way you intend to present them in the profiles. They can also give specific examples that will bring the words to life. Complete the writing - then move onto the next step.

3) You can communicate the person’s strengths profile.

You can communicate the profile in many ways - as part of a CV, web-site biography, pod-cast, DVD or whatever. But there is one key point worth bearing in mind. The method must be in tune with the person’s message. For example, a humble person does not want razzmatazz. Communicate the person’s profile in a way that: a) Reflects their contribution; b) Reaches the right target audience. This can be quite a challenge - and sometimes calls for being extra creative. But that is part of the fun of creating a person’s strengths profile.

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