Inspired by Nick Claxton's article "The Heist Team"
A good friend of mine, Nick Claxton, wrote an article recently about assembling the perfect heist team. I don’t think he is planning a bank job but it did get me thinking about intentionally crafted teams rather than casually assembled mobs.
But how do you actually choose who fits what role? That’s where CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) becomes an incredibly valuable planning tool.
As someone who has worked across life sciences, diagnostics, public health, and high-growth startups, and as a certified Gallup Strengths coach, I’ve seen firsthand the difference between simply assigning people to roles based purely on technical knowledge versus allowing people to use their natural talents and most importantly helping them enhance what they are naturally good at.
If the heist analogy makes team-building exciting, then StrengthsFinder helps to make it accurate, sustainable, and scalable.
Talents in action
Nick’s article identified classic heist roles: each bringing a specific energy and purpose. StrengthsFinder gives us a language to map these roles to real-life team dynamics:
- The Planner might use their Strategic, Futuristic, or Analytical talents to ensure success
- The Driver could thrive on Activator, Achiever, or Focus
- The Muscle isn’t about brute force, it could be someone with Command, Responsibility, or Self-Assurance.
- The Insider is going to need their relationship building talents such as Relator, Connectedness, or Individualization.
Instead of gut feeling or resume checkboxes, you’re building your team on what they are naturally talented at and therefore what they love to do more of.
The Science Behind the Strengths
According to Gallup’s research, people who play to their strengths every day are:
- 6x more likely to be engaged in their work
- 7.8% more productive
- 3x more likely to report excellent quality of life
In short: matching strengths to roles improves performance, morale, and output.
And when stakes are high, whether you're launching a clinical trial, scaling operations, or rolling out a major transformation, why would you settle for anything less?
Coaching in Action: What I’ve Seen
In coaching sessions with project teams, especially in scientific and technical sectors, I’ve often seen the “hidden hero” emerge once strengths are surfaced.
I worked with a research team that was struggling with last-minute execution. By running a CliftonStrengths session, we uncovered a significant part of the team had similar strengths, often focussed on learning, ideation and intellection. They developed some great ideas, did some more research, discussed it some more, learned some more and discussed it again. Unfortunately, deadlines were looming. Identifying and helping them to lead with other talents such as activator, achiever, responsibility and focus, the team moved from conversation to action much quicker.
Nick talks about leading Jazz teams, allowing individuals to improvise based on their natural talents. Strengths-based coaching doesn’t just optimise teams it reveals the capabilities they didn’t know they had and provides the platform for them to use them.
The Missing Piece in Most Project Planning
We often start with:
- Scope
- Budget
- Timeline
- Risk
But rarely do we look at resource planning through a Strengths based lens.
Creating one doesn’t need to be complex. In a project kick-off, each team member can share their top five strengths. A facilitator (ideally someone certified in StrengthsFinder) can then guide how each person’s talents contribute to the goals, relationships, and pressure points of the project.
From Hollywood to Boardroom: Assemble Like a Pro
Nick’s metaphor reminds us that successful teams aren’t created by accident. Whether you're planning a heist or a product launch, the core question remains:
What do they do best?
CliftonStrengths turns that question into a method.
And as someone who’s coached dozens of leaders and teams through this model, I can say confidently that it works.
If you’re planning a mission-critical initiative, a system redesign, or even just assembling a new cross-functional team, I’d urge you to consider the StrengthsFinder lens. It might not get you out of a bank vault, but it will absolutely unlock the potential of your people.
Interested in strengths-based coaching for your team? Let’s start a conversation.
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