Finding out who was actually in the right seat

In February of 2024 I told my 18-person leadership team we were going to spend eight weeks figuring out who they actually were.

Unique Ability. StrengthsFinder. Kolbe. Working Genius. Letters from people who knew them well. The goal wasn't team-building. The goal was to find out whether each person was in the right seat on the bus.

The opening monologue was blunt. Something like: This process has risk. You may decide you're in the wrong role. You may decide you're at the wrong company. That's okay. What I believe is that when you operate in your unique abilities, you show up differently. And you stay longer.

Nobody left.

But this fall, two years later, we restructured the music and dance departments around what we learned. People moved into roles that fit how they're actually wired. The target is simple: at least 60% of each person's day spent in their unique abilities.

I've since taken every assessment result and built a custom GPT I call the Staff Advisor. When I have a hard conversation coming up... a coaching moment, a conflict, a decision about placement... I talk to it first. It knows each person better than my memory does.

Most companies give people a job description and ask them to fit it.
We're trying to do the opposite.