CPM Strengths-Based Feedback 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'strengths overuse' risk in feedback refers to:
- Spending too much time on strengths assessments
- A strength applied excessively or in the wrong context becoming a liability (Correct answer)
- Mentees becoming overconfident after positive feedback
- Ignoring technical skills in favor of soft skills
Correct answer: A strength applied excessively or in the wrong context becoming a liability
Any strength overused or misapplied can turn into a derailer, such as confidence becoming arrogance when unchecked.
Question 2: In the context of CPM mentoring, 'strength blindness' means:
- A mentor failing to notice a mentee's weaknesses
- A mentee being unaware of their own natural talents because they seem effortless (Correct answer)
- Refusing to use standardized strength assessments
- Focusing exclusively on one strength while ignoring others
Correct answer: A mentee being unaware of their own natural talents because they seem effortless
Strength blindness occurs when individuals discount their greatest talents precisely because those abilities feel easy and natural to them.
Question 3: Which feedback structure is most aligned with strengths-based mentoring?
- Sandwich method (positive-negative-positive)
- Problem-cause-solution format
- Strength-impact-opportunity format (Correct answer)
- STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) for failures only
Correct answer: Strength-impact-opportunity format
The Strength-Impact-Opportunity format names the strength, describes its positive impact, and connects it to a growth opportunity — keeping the frame asset-based.
Question 4: When a mentee's StrengthsFinder results show 'Competition' as a top theme, a strengths-based mentor should advise:
- Suppress this trait in collaborative team environments
- Leverage it by setting personal performance benchmarks and celebrating progress (Correct answer)
- Replace it with 'Harmony' behaviors for career advancement
- Report it to HR as a potential culture risk
Correct answer: Leverage it by setting personal performance benchmarks and celebrating progress
Strengths-based mentoring guides individuals to deploy their natural themes productively, such as channeling Competition into self-improvement benchmarks.
Question 5: A mentor notices a mentee receives consistent praise for 'empathy' but the mentee never lists it as a strength. The best strengths-based action is to:
- Accept the mentee's self-assessment and move on
- Surface the external evidence and help the mentee own empathy as a strength (Correct answer)
- Add empathy to the mentee's development goals without discussing it
- Refer the mentee to a psychologist for a self-esteem assessment
Correct answer: Surface the external evidence and help the mentee own empathy as a strength
Surfacing external evidence of an unrecognized strength helps the mentee develop an accurate and empowering self-concept.
Question 6: Which of the following is a valid critique of purely strengths-based feedback in professional mentoring?
- It improves engagement but neglects critical performance issues that need addressing (Correct answer)
- It is only suitable for senior executives
- It requires expensive proprietary tools to implement
- It conflicts with federal employment law
Correct answer: It improves engagement but neglects critical performance issues that need addressing
A valid critique is that exclusively focusing on strengths can allow significant performance deficits to go unaddressed, harming the mentee's career.
Question 7: In strengths-based mentoring, 'energy mapping' helps a mentee by:
- Tracking caloric intake and physical stamina for peak performance
- Identifying which tasks energize versus drain them to align work with strengths (Correct answer)
- Mapping organizational power structures to improve office politics navigation
- Scheduling workouts during high-energy times of day
Correct answer: Identifying which tasks energize versus drain them to align work with strengths
Energy mapping identifies activities that generate versus deplete energy, serving as a practical proxy for recognizing strengths in action.
CPM Strengths-Based Feedback 3
The 'strengths overuse' risk in feedback refers to: