Your Spotlight Attributes help you understand how to grow with purpose - not pressure. They highlight what’s most important for your role, what energizes you, and what may require more intention to sustain.
What Are Spotlight Attributes?
Each person receives five spotlight attributes, grouped into three categories:
Critical Attributes – Most important for success in your current role
Least Effort Attributes – Traits that come naturally and require less energy
Most Effort Attributes – Traits that take more energy or focus to demonstrate consistently
Together, these help you align your development with your job needs, natural strengths, and opportunities for growth.
Understanding Each Spotlight
Critical Attributes
These are selected based on your specific job role. They reflect traits that are statistically linked to performance in jobs like yours, even if they take effort.
Why they matter:
They represent the “must-haves” or “differentiators” for your role.
Even if they take effort, growing in these areas may yield the biggest impact.
They help you align your personal development with your team’s or company’s goals.
Example: For a manager, “Decision Making” or “Teamwork” might be critical - reflecting the need to lead, collaborate, and act decisively.
When prioritizing:
If you're unsure where to start, focus on Critical Attributes. They're role-aligned, high-impact areas for growth.
Least Effort Attributes
These are your most natural strengths - behaviors you use easily and consistently, without much energy drain.
Why they matter:
You can rely on these to sustain performance and balance out high-effort areas.
They’re often the behaviors that others already see as your strengths.
Example: High in “Teamwork”? You can lean on this to energize others and keep momentum in group projects.
When prioritizing:
Use these to build confidence or buffer more draining tasks. You can also double down on them to create more visible value.
Pro tip: Use these traits as anchors to support goals in more effortful areas.
Most Effort Attributes
These take more energy or focus to demonstrate regularly. That doesn’t mean you’re bad at them - just that they may feel more draining or inconsistent.
Why they matter:
They’re often the source of workplace friction or fatigue.
With the right support or strategy, they can become manageable or even strengths.
Example: Low in “Adaptability”? Try simple rituals to stay grounded during change.
When prioritizing:
Pick one that’s important for your role or goals, and approach it with a clear, realistic plan.
Why They Matter Together
These three spotlights give you a balanced view of:
What you should grow based on your role (Critical)
What you can lean on easily (Least Effort)
What you might need to manage differently (Most Effort)
When planning development, this structure helps you focus energy where it will have the most meaningful, sustainable impact.
How to Use Your Spotlights
Pick one to grow: Choose a spotlight (Critical or Most Effort) as the focus for a development goal.
Pair effort with ease: Use Least Effort traits to support goals that take more energy.
Start conversations: Share your spotlights in 1:1s or coaching sessions to get aligned support.
Use the Action Planner: Break goals into small, meaningful steps that build momentum.
What to Do Next
Reflect on how each spotlight shows up in your day-to-day work
Use the Action Planner to create one focused development goal
Discuss your spotlights in a 1:1 or coaching conversation
Final Reminder: Effort ≠ Performance
Just because something takes effort doesn’t mean you can’t excel at it.
Effort highlights where you may need more planning - not a prediction of success or failure.