Help your students find ways to tap into the strengths of others. Why? Because the best schools, communities, teams, and organizations know how to harness the strengths of each other — and you can help your students do the same.

This means helping students become well-attuned to their strengths and limitations and learn how to work with others with different strengths and limitations. 

For example, some people are fantastic at making decisions quickly and effectively. Others are great at seeing all possible consequences of a decision. Some find inspiration in unexpected places. When you have a team that is familiar with each individual’s approach, you can create a culture where everyone feels comfortable contributing to what they’re best at. This leads to bigger and better ideas than if everyone just worked on their own, and it also leads to increased trust in the team — which is what makes them stronger overall.

One way to help people tap into the strengths of others is to ask them, “How might you use one of your strengths to help someone else?