Alice Ko: Why is focusing on your strengths important?

I am excited to welcome my fabulous guest, Alice Ko, a businesswoman, an entrepreneur, and Strengths for Teams coach. She founded a remote digital marketing agency, Pivot six, and for the last 15 years, she was building businesses and working with teams around the globe. Alice taught us about CliftonStrengths methodology. Many studies and research have shown that a set of strengths makes an individual unique, so everyone should be focusing on their strengths instead of weaknesses.

Alice shared with us her daily routines and healthy habits, as well as the story of her early life as a child of Chinese immigrants in Canada and the beginnings of her career. She early recognized her ability to assess the moment and look into the future. Working with different teams, she realized that at the end of the day, whatever you do, it all comes down to the people you are working with. This encouraged her to become a coach for teams.

We talked about how focus moved from projects to people in the last decade and how to fill the gap between different generations. We agreed that the secret is in micro-shifts.

Using the example of an overachiever, Alice showed us how the methodology works and what people with achiever strength can do to avoid burn-out, which is a natural result of overusing this strength.

We talked about the range of skills and how some of the best leaders choose their coworkers to make success even more certain. We also reflected on the past year and what changes Alice noticed happen in teams.

Alice shared how she decided to start working remotely from Colombia four months a year. She also talked about learning and choosing the right content. Right now, she is learning about philosophy, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.

Key Takeaways:

Introduction (00:41)
How does your day start? (02:24)
About Alice’s early life (03:13)
When did you decide to become a coach? (07:20)
What shifts did you notice while coaching teams? (11:20)
Generational differences in teams (13:20)
About CliftonStrengths methodology – Why focusing on your strengths is important (16:00)
Overachiever(22:04)
About strengths partnerships (24:44)
Specialist vs Generalist (28:41)
Observation on teams in 2020. (34:25)
About Colombia and working remotely (38:57)
Ongoing learning and passion in your life (44:30)
What is the best advice you have been given? (48:46)
If you could have coffee with anyone, who would that be? (53:15)

Additional Resources:

Follow Alice on Linkedin

Learn more about Pivot six

Find the book “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” by David Epstein