Strengths Profile and cultural differences

One of the many things that I enjoy doing when working on Strengths Profile is analysing the data to see what patterns there are, what differences and similarities there are against different criteria and to see what are most and least common skills in each of the four quadrants of the Model of Development.

Looking at the latest Strengths Profile data for the continents of the world, it once again provides interesting insights. When it comes to the top ranked skill in each quadrant, [TB2] Africa has the most differences compared to the other continents. While the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania have Humility as their number one Realised Strength, Africa has Growth. Diving deeper, Europe and Oceania do not even have Growth in their top 7 Realised Strengths. [TB3] With Africa being expected to account for eleven of the world's 20 fastest-growing economies of 2024, maybe the findings of the Strengths Profile data shouldn’t be that surprising.

In the Learned Behaviours quadrant, Africa again differs from the other continents with its number one skill[TB4] . Africa has Courage and the other continents have Work Ethic. Exploring the Learned Behaviours data in more detail, it is interesting to note that the Americas find Personalisation as one their most draining skills, but it doesn’t appear in the top four of the other continents. Could it be that people in the Americas are growing tired of recognising individuals’ subtle differences? Maybe it’s an opportunity for individuals in the Americas to take a step back from noticing people’s uniqueness and just to engage authentically with them.

All continents have the same number one Weakness of Time Optimiser and share similarities in their top three. The only noticeable difference is that Asia has Courage in their top three Weaknesses. Courage is also in the top four Learned Behaviours in Asia, which may mean that people there find it challenging to overcome their fears and participate in activities that make them nervous[TB5] . Where Courage is required, perhaps individuals in Asia could dial up one of their top Unrealised Strengths of Curiosity, in order to reframe the fear of a challenge as an opportunity to be open to new ideas or to seek new knowledge or experiences.

When it comes to number one Unrealised Strength, Africa again differs, where it has Mission as number one and the other continents have Legacy. Looking at all continents, they do have the same three Unrealised Strengths in a variety of orders, Legacy, Mission and Innovation, meaning there is a huge opportunity in finding purpose in designing new ways of leaving behind a legacy for future generations all around the world. How will you play your part?