Dear Crucial Skills,
I just completed the Strength Deployment Inventory and have been reviewing my results. I’m curious about how these insights could help when holding a performance-related conversation with someone else. Any suggestions?
Signed,
Middle Manager
Dear Middle Manager,
That’s a great question. The Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) provides valuable insights into a person’s motives and strengths. It’s both a powerful self-awareness tool and a helpful guide for understanding others. These insights can be especially helpful in performance-related conversations. We know that people act for two reasons: because they want to and because they can. Motivation is about desire—seeing value or purpose in the task. Ability is about skill—knowing how to do it and having the resources to succeed.
The goal of any leader in a performance conversation is to first diagnose what’s causing the gap? Is it a motivation issue? Or is it an ability problem? If they are struggling to see the value in the desired behavior, how does a leader help make it motivating for them? If the gap is caused by a lack of skill or knowledge, how can they make it easier for them to perform at the desired level?
It’s important to note that this works not only for a gap between performance and expectation, but also between expectation and aspiration. Not every employee is failing to meet the standard expectation. Some may be wondering how they get to the next level of performance. This makes accountability more about matching performance to potential, rather than just about holding them to a set standard.
The SDI can expedite this process in many ways. First, the assessment identifies a person’s Motivational Value System (MVS). This is a unique blend of core motives of People (Blue), Performance (Red), and Process (Green). Knowing someone’s MVS helps leaders and teammates understand what energizes and inspires them. It’s easier to motivate when you know what matters to the other person.
For example, a person motivated by helping others (Blue) will respond best when accountability is framed around trust and teamwork. However, someone motivated by results (Red) will be more inspired by achievement and results. The SDI removes the guessing from the equation.
The SDI supports ability by showing people both their Strengths and Overdone Strengths Portraits. The Strengths Portrait identifies how a person prioritizes twenty-eight different behaviors to bring value to relationships and achieve results, highlighting how they naturally contribute when things are going well. For example, a person’s top strengths might be Helpful, Methodical, or Quick-to-Act.
The Overdone Strengths Portrait reveals what happens when those same behaviors are used too much or in the wrong situation. Even a person’s best intentions can, on occasion, work against them. For example, if someone is overly helpful, others may perceive them as smothering. If overused or misapplied, the strength Methodical can be experienced by others as Rigid; Quick-to-Act may come across as Rash; Trusting can become Gullible; and so on for each strength.
To effectively close performance gaps and strengthen accountability, it helps to look at behavior through multiple lenses. The Six Sources of Influence model (used in both our Crucial Conversations for Accountability course and our Crucial Influence course) provides the answer for why people do what they do and explains where to influence behavior. The SDI shows how to do it in a way that connects with each person’s unique motives and strengths.
Let’s look at how relationship insights from the SDI can be applied to the six-source model in a performance-related conversation:
Source 1: Personal Motivation – Do They Want to Do It?
“How can I frame this expectation or outcome so it connects to what genuinely motivates this person — what gives their work meaning or purpose?”
Source 2: Personal Ability – Do They Know How to Do It?
“How can I help this person recognize the use of their key strengths to help them be more effective and refine their overdone strengths that may be impacting that effectiveness?”
Source 3: Social Motivation – Do Others Encourage or Support It?
“Who or what social influences matter most to this person, and how can I use those relationships or examples to encourage the desired behavior?”
Source 4: Social Ability – Do Others Help or Model It?
“Who can model or support this person in using their strengths appropriately? How can I create feedback opportunities that speak their MVS language?
Source 5: – Structural Motivation – Are the Rewards Rewarding?
“What kinds of recognition or rewards will feel most meaningful to this person based on their motives – and how do I tap into those to improve accountability?”
Source 6:- Structural Ability – Do Systems, Processes, and Environment Make it Easier?
“What structures, processes, or cues can I put in place to help this person use their strengths effectively?”
When leaders use the Six Sources of Influence as a framework and then layer on insights from the SDI, they can close performance gaps in a way that strengthens both results and relationships. By understanding a person’s Motivational Value System (MVS), leaders make accountability motivating—connecting expectations to what truly drives the individual.
By using the Strengths Portrait and Overdone Strengths Portrait, they tap into ability—helping people use their natural strengths more effectively and avoid overuse through reflection and support.
Together, these tools move accountability from correction to connection. The goal is not just to improve performance, but to enable people to perform in ways that align with their motives, strengths, and relationships.
Want to sample the SDI assessment? Try it now—for free!
