SAM I AM: Leveraging Your Strengths Kendra Washington-Bass Director of Leadership Development, GCPS Georgia SAM Coordinator

Your Expectations

Focus on You What name do you prefer to be called? What is your role in SAM? When were you recently at your best?

I.A.M. FRAMEWORK Insight What do the terms TALENT and STRENGTH mean to you? Application In what ways have you specifically APPLIED your talents and strengths to your role recently? Meaningful Impact What were the POSITIVE RESULTS of this application?

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS Select the image that best represents how YOU use your strengths and talents to create meaningful impact.

Think-Pair-Share How does this picture represent:  The way you work with others?  How you manage the things you are responsible for each day?  What motivates or energizes you?  How you think about and process information?

Identify Improvement Areas Develop an Improvement Plan Conventional Approach to Personal Development Most, if not all, behaviors can be learned The best in a role display the same behaviors Weakness fixing leads to success Maintain each person’s strengths and work on fixing weaknesses P. 4 Assumptions:

Develop Strengths Focus on each person’s strengths and manage around weaknesses Strengths-Based Approach to Personal Development Only some behaviors can be learned (skills & knowledge) The best in a role deliver the same outcomes using different behaviors Weakness fixing prevents failure; strengths building leads to success Identify Talents P. 4 Research says:

The Key to Success People who focus on using their strengths … are three TIMES as likely to report having an excellent quality of life are six TIMES as likely to be engaged in their jobs

Definition of Talent A naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.

Stand up if … Talk to people on elevators, in grocery stores, on airplanes, wherever you go… Make the bed, pick things up, before you leave the house… Have a color-coded or otherwise organized closet… Make a list of things to do, write it down, and stick to it… Make a list of things to do ON WEEKENDS… Make a beeline for a familiar face at a big party….. Need to pick someone to race while driving on the freeway… Say what’s on your mind… Are asking too many questions… Are always figuring out the plot of the movie before anyone else does… Just want everyone to get along… Are pushing the elevator button to “remind the elevator” you are there…

FLOW: In what activities did you seem to “automatically” know the steps to be taken? GLIMPSES OF EXCELLENCE: During what activities have you had moments of subconscious excellence when you thought, “How did I do that?” YEARNING: To what kind of activities are you naturally drawn? RAPID LEARNING: What kinds of activities do you seem to pick up quickly? SATISFACTION: What activities give you a kick, either while doing them or immediately after finishing them, and you think, “When can I do that again?” Clues to Talent

Clifton’s StrengthsFinder® By the Numbers There are 34 main themes of talent Built on about 50 years of research Originally based on over 2 million interviews Now taken by over 14 million individuals Over 5000 assessments taken per day In over 50 countries In over 20 languages An individual’s Signature Themes are unique to that one person.

What It Is....and What It Isn’t WHAT IT IS Tool for development Identifies “how you are wired” Understand the lens through which you view the world Common language to integrate within the organization Maximize productivity Where you find your energy vs. what exhausts you WHAT IT ISN’T Tool for hiring Tool for promotion or advance Identify the “right” vs. “wrong” or “good” vs. “bad” talents Labeling people One-size-fits-all approach An excuse to NOT do something because “it’s not my strength” Complete explanation of who you are and why you do things

Achiever Activator Adaptability Analytical Arranger Belief Command Communication Competition Connectedness Consistency Intellection Learner Maximizer Positivity Relator Responsibility Restorative Self-Assurance Significance Strategic Woo Context Deliberative Developer Discipline Empathy Focus Futuristic Harmony Ideation Includer Individualization Input Clifton StrengthsFinder ® Themes

Clifton StrengthsFinder ® Synthesis Top 5 TalentsInitial ReactionDescribe a recent situation in which you applied the talents within this theme

Who are we? Use your Top 5 Report. Talk with your table group. Take a look at each other person’s Top 5 and talk about how you use one of your Top 5 in your work Use about 1 minute person.

Learner - a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them. Achiever - work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. They take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive. Arranger - can organize, but they also have flexibility that complements this ability. They like to determine how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. Input - have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information. Relator -enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal. Responsibility - take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Turning Talent into Strengths

The Anatomy of a Strength Talent (a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behavior) Investment (time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base) Strength (the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance) X=X=

The Anatomy of a Strength Talent (a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behavior) Investment (time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base) Strength (the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance) X=X=

Style and Substance Before a person can intentionally invest in his or her talents, that person must appreciate the variety and intricacy of his or her talents and how these talents land in the world.

Style and Substance Being Talent: natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving Doing Strengths: the ability to consistently provide near- perfect performance

Mining for Strengths Think about a peak experience in your life – one of those transformative moments when you were firing on all cylinders and when you were “in the flow”. Describe this to a partner.

When Talent Gets in the Way

Balconies and Basements Self – Starter Mover and Shaker Energy Source Activator Ready-Fire-Aim Loose Cannon Speaks before Thinks

Balconies and Basements Self – Starter Mover and Shaker Energy Source Activator Ready-Fire-Aim Loose Cannon Speaks before Thinks A person with strong Activator is attending a meeting. How might this theme manifest itself? Positively?Negatively?

Claim Your Talents Review each theme and select one you will claim. How does this theme influence how you make things happen? How does theme affect how you influence others? How does this theme affect how you build and nurture relationships? How does this theme affect how you think about and analyze important information?

Identify the talents. Know the power and opportunities that your themes give you. Accept responsibility for developing them. Invest in the development of your talents by taking specific actions to accomplish goals, reach desired outcomes, and respond to situations that happen every day.

Take Action Take the theme that have you selected to CLAIM and think about it for a day. Ask yourself the following questions: – How can I use this these today? – Where can this theme make a positive difference in my life today? Begin to flex this theme by using the action items provided in your report. Once you are deliberately using the theme everyday, focus on another theme.

Questions SAM I AM: Leveraging Your Strengths