Achiever

Today’s Goals You should be able to: Articulate what being an Achiever means to you Identify two ways you can develop your Achiever strength. Reflect on ways you can use your Strengths to contribute to your community now and in the future. Facilitator Notes Time : 10 minutes Supplies Needed: Copies of Values and Calendar handout, pencils Welcome Introductions (name, title, department, fun fact) If there are 10 or less participants in the session who are not familiar with one another, ask them to introduce themselves. Share that this session is a part of the Be Better @Iowa Initiative. The Be Better initiative is aimed at establishing the University of Iowa as the university that creates leaders who leverage their strengths, leadership knowledge, and leadership skills to contribute to their communities now and in the future. Learning Goals Share the takeaways Ask students if they have additional things they’d like to learn about the Achiever strength Engagement Ask students to silence and put away electronic devices Make sure everyone has something to write with. Ask who is and who is not an Achiever. If applicable, ask Achievers to sit next to someone who is not an Achiever.

Who are Achievers? People exceptionally talented in the Achiever theme work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. They take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive. Facilitator Notes Time : 7 minutes Who are achievers? Ambitious Goal setter List maker Not content until the job is done Definition: Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by "every day" you mean every single day -- workdays, weekends, vacations. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. Achiever comes from the executing domain, and this short description obviously describes how this person makes things happen. The Achiever is self-motivated with stamina that non-Achievers simply don't have. Group Discussion: What are some ways you’ve seen your Achiever strength show up in your life and interactions with others? Either inside or outside of the classroom. Provide an example to get the conversation started.

Facilitator Notes Time: 7 minutes Clip from the film Zootopia (2015). Clip is 2:36 Officer Judy Hopps (Rabbit) exhibits Achiever theme. Group Discussion What aspects of the Achiever theme did you see in this clip? Give specific examples.

What’s Your Perspective Balcony Basement Responsible Strong work ethic Leads by example Go-getter Overcommitted Competitive Burning the candle at both ends Identity lies in achievement Facilitator Notes Time : 7 minutes A barrier label describes when a talent is mistakenly devalued and dismissed as a weakness. Remember: Nobody is perfect. Nobody can always be in the balcony. Everyone finds themselves in the basement from time to time. Group Discussion: Do you agree with the balcony and basement/barrier labels associated with Achiever? Now that you are aware of the basement or barrier labels. What are some things you can do to manage and/or avoid them?

“It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are “It’s not hard to make decisions once you know what your values are.” -Roy Disney Facilitator Notes Time : 10 minutes Activity Distribute Values Clarification (pg 66 of the StrengthsQuest Activity workbook) handout to students Students will need to select their top 10 values from the list and write them on the back of the paper. They have 2 minutes to do this. From the list of ten, choose their top three. They have 2 minutes to do this. Give each student an index card and have them write the value on one side and an 1 sentence definition on the back of the card. Group discussion What did you notice about this activity? Was it hard for you to narrow down your values? Why or why not? How did you feel knowing you may have different values than others in your group? Adapted from Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2013) The Student Leadership Challenge. P.47

Mark Your Calendars Facilitator Notes Time : 10 minutes Activity Using your top three values index cards, identify one thing you can do in the time frame defined that will align well with one of your values. Example: if health is one of your values, can you put a regular exercise into your planned time? Talk with a partner about what you are planning and why. Then actively listen to what your partner has to say. We often get insight from others when we share our thinking and truly listen to the response. Adapted from Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2013) The Student Leadership Challenge. p. 48

Next Steps for Achievers Select challenging courses Find the hours of the day when you are most productive Take a moment to appreciate your successes. You can look ahead tomorrow. Today, celebrate. Collaborate with someone with a strong Discipline or Focus theme. This person can help you use your energy as efficiently as possible. Facilitator Notes Time : 10 minutes Select challenging courses in which you have the leeway to work as hard as you want and in which you are encouraged to measure your own progress. You will feel challenged and alive in these environments. Own the fact that you might work longer hours than most people and that you might not need as much sleep as many other people do. Find the hours of the day when you are most productive and use that time for your most challenging work. Choose to study with other hard workers Join organizations where your accomplishments will be recognized. Insist on establishing deadlines for each objective. Intensify Strength (handout –Supplemental Activity 2.K: Intensify Strength p. 38 of StrengthsQuest Activity workbook) Ask the students to develop talent based actions to respond to each touchpoint on the worksheet. Debrief this activity by asking students to share their responses with a small group. As with so many others, the positive effect of this activity can be enhanced by having students discuss their work in small groups and/or report to the entire group.