Many of us spend most of our time in areas of our jobs or business activity that consume time and, more importantly, energy from us. The more time we spend in these areas of minimum contribution, the less energy we have and the less value we create for the company and, ultimately, for ourselves. When this downward cycle continues, we can end up needing to put even more time into these unrewarding areas of minimal contribution.

Ironically, our parents, our teachers and now even our employers often drive us to work hard on improving the areas in which we are ‘weakest’. Imagine for a moment that we all understood that if we supported each other to focus on the areas where we create the most value – where we are the A+ student – everyone would be better off, both in our work environments and at home.

What if, as a gifted salesperson, you were given the opportunity to focus 100% of your time on activating new sales while someone else focused on nurturing those long-term relationships once on board? Imagine what the rewards could be for you and your company. Think about how much more fun you would be having simply because it does not feel so hard, and it makes a much more powerful impact on the world around you.

Unless we understand what our unique and valuable contribution is and where we add the most value, then how can we have the rest of the conversation? It is not to say that you are no good at the ‘other stuff’ and it is not to say that you ‘cannot do it’. Yet it is to say, let’s focus you on what you can do and on what creates the most value for you and for your organisation.

The Contribution Compass is a tool to guide your focus and direction. In understanding others more deeply, it supports you to make sure that all those on the journey with you are ‘aces in their places’ and motivated to achieve excellence. The whole really does then become greater than the sum of its parts.

There are many tools out there that offer a tremendous amount of value to an individual or organisation. Myers-Briggs and Enneagram are great ways to understand yourself and are personality-based tools that give insight into your personality. DISC and Gallup StrengthsFinder are great at identifying your strengths. Contribution Compass is neither personality nor strength-based, as strengths can reveal some learned behaviors, and personality tools are more focused on the individual in their personal capacity. Contribution Compass focuses on your natural energy, which is your default or your area of flow in the workplace specifically. When you are in flow, it feels as though you aren’t “working,” and there is the ability to complete a task with sustained focus and interest in a particular area of the business. The quality of that specific one area is by far more beneficial for a business in terms of employee value as the employee is engaged. If you know your Contribution Compass profile, you can identify what role will keep you in flow with less chance of burnout or disengaged behavior. An organisation that focuses on maximising the contribution of team members in the workplace can save money on wasted time and maximise their returns.

Contribution Compass can be applied every day because the profile is easy to understand, memorable, and the application with other team members is where the magic happens. Many profiling tools leave you with the questions of “ok, what now?” Your Contribution Compass profile doesn’t sit in a drawer or under a stack of pages on your desk after skimming through the report – it is embedded in your memory, and the application is easy. You can apply your profile every day and reap the rewards daily by understanding your team members and yourself, maximising both professional and personal relationships.

At Contribution Compass, we also have a network of incredible partners that ensure that the tool is used practically, and they pride themselves on the additional value they provide organisations. We believe in meaningful economic impact, and we can guarantee that using the tool with a Contribution Compass partner will reduce employee turnover, maximise team contribution, and build a foundation for peak performance in your organisation.

Your natural energy reflects the way that you naturally think and operate. Your natural energy is most easily observed in critical moments when you will always respond based on your natural energy. A critical or defining moment is usually a brief and intense pressure or turning point, in which the decision you make or the action you take, dramatically impacts your journey, either positively or negatively.

By default, you will respond in that moment from your natural energy as your instinct kicks in. However, your ability to respond effectively in a critical moment that is in alignment with your natural flow can be refined. This is achieved through developing a deep understanding of your natural energy, asking the right questions at the right time and committing to ongoing learning and development.

Some people are naturally innovative and intuitively drive concepts, projects and activity forward, despite all odds. Other people wait for the right time to make a decision or take action based on their sense of the market, their team or their clients. Some people will always be focused on who is affected by a decision and who they can connect with, whereas others will naturally think of the process or the system first and how that should operate.

The concept of natural energy does not suggest that any of these approaches are right or wrong. It simply acknowledges that they exist, and therefore different people will naturally be more effective at different aspects of a business’ activities. The ace in the finance department will never come close to being the star of the sales team. The individual who is brilliant at leading and inspiring the team will not be the best planner and innovator of new products and ideas to drive the strategic activity of the business forward.

Maximising a company’s growth potential, and its contribution to society, occurs in an environment where a team of loyal and supportive people with the appropriate energies and skills collaborate to achieve the business’ purpose. This should in turn support those individuals to achieve their own goals. Knowing how to choose the right person for the job and ensuring that the best people stay and continue to grow, is paramount in achieving this.

Every business is made up of people. People are the heart and soul that create the energy, activity and flow in a business. They are the lifeblood of an organisation. The magic that is achieved when you have a truly effective team is unmistakable. The approach to creating an effective team, or the lack thereof, can determine the success or failure of a business.

In applying this principle, you must ensure that your team is in flow and that people are in positions that leverage their individual natural energy. No matter how hard you try to follow processes to identify the ideal candidate for a position, to review and confirm their experiences and to consider their cultural fit in your organisation, if an individual is put into a role that does not leverage their own individual natural energy, they will not be a star player on your team.

In applying this principle, you must ensure that your team is in flow and that people are in positions that leverage their individual natural energy. No matter how hard you try to follow processes to identify the ideal candidate for a position, to review and confirm their experiences and to consider their cultural fit in your organisation, if an individual is put into a role that does not leverage their own individual natural energy, they will not be a star player on your team.