“A strength is a pre-existing capacity for a particular way of behaving, thinking, or feeling that is authentic and energising to the user, and enables optimal functioning, development and performance” (Alex Linley 2008).
The Community Media Training Organisation partnered with leadership experts at The NonProfit Alliance for our latest professional development program.
Over 20 CMTO team members, trainers, and community radio managers and board members completed a personal profile, received a professional consultation, and attended a workshop in Sydney on 18 June.
Carmel Molloy, CEO & co-founder of The NonProfit Alliance, led the half-day workshop on understanding how best to utilise our own strengths and those of our teams.
The process of assessing leadership strengths from a diverse range of community media organisations gave a snapshot of current strengths across the sector, and valuable insight into skills development needs.
Individual assessments were used to build a Team Strengths Profile based on:
REALISED, that energise but risk overuse
UNREALISED, that could be used more
LEARNED, that aren’t necessarily enjoyable but could be made easier by using strengths to compensate
WEAKNESSES, that could be delegated to people who have those strengths.
Our Sector’s Realised Strengths
The community broadcasting sector snapshot resulted in an encouragingly accurate list of top REALISED STRENGTHS:
Pride – striving to produce work that is of the highest standard and quality
Improver – constantly looking for better ways of doing things and how things can be improved
Esteem Builder – helping others to believe in themselves and to see what they are capable of achieving
Legacy – wanting to create things that will outlast us and will deliver a positive and sustainable impact.
But could we be leveraging, balancing, and sharing more?
The sector snapshot highlighted some interesting patterns and potential burnout risk as community media organisations continue to adapt in the wake of pandemic shifts and fundraising challenges.
Understandably, the strength of Creativity may be currently underused, ‘striving to produce work that is original by creating and combining things in imaginative ways’.
Equally, as funding diversifies and reporting requirements increase, it is unsurprising that Detail becomes the top learned behaviour, ‘naturally focus on the small things that others easily miss, ensuring accuracy’.
These results link to the top self-identified weakness among the sample of Time Optimisation.
The ability to make the most out of whatever time is available to us is a challenge that most of us will be able to relate to over the past 18 months.
Together again
It was a rare chance to meet face to face, including visits to the CMTO, CBAA, Community Radio Network, and FBi Radio, with participants traveling from across Australia to network with community radio colleagues and represent their organisations:
| 1CMS Canberra Multicultural Service | 2HHH Triple H Hornsby |
| 2MFM Muslim Community Radio | 2SER Sydney |
| 2RBM 89.1 Radio Blue Mountains | Technorama |
| 2RSR Radio Skid Row | 2RES Eastside Radio |
| 3VKV Alpine Radio, Mount Beauty | 4RFM Moranbah |
| 5UV Radio Adelaide | 8CCC Alice Springs & Tennant Creek |
| CBAA | CMTO |
Participants from across the sector found the workshop enlightening and were also able to match up with others in the sector who had strengths in areas they were lacking:
“Was a great starting point to begin thinking about things in a new way that could be helpful long term for the team” – CMTO Learner
To discover more about the strengths-based leadership skill approach, sign up to the CMTO Bulletin for updates on our monthly masterclass series – TAKE IT ON Leadership Learning Online with The NonProfit Alliance.