You may have noticed our shiny new "TMBC" logo here, or on our web site. Pop quiz: what exactly is TMBC? A group dedicated to promoting the Strengths revolution? The Marcus Buckingham Company? Teenage Mutant Boxing Chickens? Give yourself points for two of those replies, but the full answer to the question is a little more complex. You could say that TMBC is the practical extension of Marcus Buckingham's theories, research, and ideas.
While Marcus Buckingham founded TMBC and remains instrumental in creating and shaping all of its core programs, the company has a reach that extends beyond what one person could do alone. Realizing that getting the Strengths revolution in motion would require a practical, hands-on approach to effecting change in organizations across the world, Marcus assembled a team of seasoned and energetic professionals in various fields — content creation, workshop facilitation, executive coaching — to help turn theory into practice.
To that end, TMBC creates and delivers cutting-edge training solutions to help businesses enhance performance by engaging the Strengths of
their people. The idea is to be a catalyst for change within organizations by empowering individuals to show the best of themselves. While anyone can (and we hope everyone will!) derive great benefit from reading Marcus's books or attending one of his keynote speeches, the watchword for TMBC is "sustainability." Given the stresses and commitments of day-to-day work lives, it can be challenging for individuals and companies to stay on track with the principles of playing to Strengths. TMBC's service offerings are designed to help our clients create enduring Strengths-based organizations over time.
The TMBC team is headquartered in Los Angeles, with a satellite office in Nebraska. In addition, we have a team of experienced professional facilitators and trainers who travel around the country to deliver the Strengths message in corporate and public workshops. Together, we hope to spread the simple yet important idea of creating a workplace that achieves high performance by allowing all of us to play to our Strengths.
On The Whiteboard
New From TMBC
Our mission at TMBC is to get a national conversation going about how to achieve greater performance in the workplace. All the data show that the path of least resistance to great performance is to get people playing to their Strengths. We’re excited to tell you about some new avenues we’ve created to help people do that.
First, we’ve launched several initiatives on the communications front in order to jumpstart that Strengths conversation. You’re reading one of those initiatives right now, of course. Each month, we plan to send out a new edition of Inside Strengths, sharing information and insights about the Strengths movement and new developments at TMBC. We’d love to know what you would like to see in Inside Strengths, so be sure to answer the survey in this edition.
We’re pleased to note that, by popular demand, Marcus has a new blog. He started it to share news about his book tour for The Truth About You and had such a great time doing it that he plans to keep writing periodically to let you know what he’s up to. You can even subscribe to the blog via RSS.
If you’d like to have your say, you’ll be glad to know we just started some discussion forums at marcusbuckingham.com. We’d love to hear from you there about your own success stories and challenges, or any tips and comments you’d like to share.
Finally, we have a brand new program designed to let people take what they’ve learned about their own Strengths and bring that same passion
back to their companies and the people they manage. The program is called Strong Manager, and it focuses on practical tools to help people deal with the four demands of strong managers: selecting the right people for the right roles, clarifying expectations to set them up for success, fully engaging them in their work and accelerating their performance. If you think Strong Manager sounds right for you and for your company, contact us.
OVERHEARD On The TMBC Forums
"As a small part of some [hiring] interviews, we’ve actually showed videotaped scenes of a normal daily flow of business in a restaurant. The full tables, the lines with a wait, the crying kids--the whole kit and caboodle of a daily restaurant. Then, we simply asked the person who was watching it what they saw and what they might do about it. And the answer reveals a ton about whether or not the person will be able to see those same things in real life, and, when trained, if they will actually be able to act on what they see. As we dived into this, we’ve found that the core of this issue really is a matter of wiring. Those that can perform this role best of all are the ones that not only see the opportunity, but can act on it with real comfort and not end up feeling drained by their work at the end of the day."
—andy lorenzen, on hiring restaurant staff
Click here to join in on the conversation about how to use your Strengths.
Featured Video
Marcus talks about The Truth About You and "passion plus precision" with Oklahoma State University president Burns Hargis on "Inside OSU."
Q:"I love this strengths idea, but how does that work in the real world? What happens if you work for a boss or a company that doesn’t let you do any of this at all?"
In various forms, this is one of the most commonly asked questions about Strengths. So let’s set the record straight about the real world.
In the real world, when you ask people— ordinary people, working in a vast range of jobs—"do you have the freedom to modify your job to fit your Strengths?" over 70% agree or strongly agree that they do have that freedom. Others are neutral. And only 16% of people disagree or strongly disagree. In other words, 84% of the people in this world have at least some freedom to maneuver.
So, if you truly want to be realistic, most people can play to their strengths; the problem is that they don’t. You may in your mind think that people are going to stop you, but in most jobs, there’s nobody looking over your shoulder every hour of the day. It’s just that people don’t know what to do, or how to start on the Strengths path.
The solution is as simple as it is monumental: start something this week, even just a small thing. Your manager won’t even know what you’re doing. Start small and create a constant and deliberate push toward certain activities and away from others. That’s what a Strong Week Plan is all about: using the room to maneuver that you know you’ve got. That is the real world.
Got a question for Marcus? Write to ask@tmbc.com and you may get your
answer next month!
Your Take
What would you like to see in future editions of Inside Strengths?
What’s on Marcus’s Mind
Strengths Success Stories
Behind the Scenes at TMBC
Upcoming Products
Other (tell us in the forums)
To share your answer, click here.
Calendar
Simply Strengths 2-Day Workshop
Sofitel Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
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The Marcus Buckingham Company is located at 8322 Beverly Blvd. Suite 204, Los Angeles, CA. 90048.
