Welcome!! Strength-Based Ministry Teams Stephanie Moore Catholic Strengths and Engagement Community (CSEC)

When individuals use their strengths AND come together in concert, the results are exponential

Introductions… Greet someone else God has called by name Discuss: A memory of a great team experience The type of team(s) you are now part of (ministry, outreach, committee, staff, councils, fund raising, corporate) What have been some of the challenges you’ve face? (personalities, approaches to work, work not getting done, takes a long time to make decisions, etc…)

Agenda The Power of Strengths Based Teams How to Orchestrate a Strengths Based team Exercise

Principles to Keep in Mind Every person is of value Every person has a contribution to make The most effective teams build on the strengths of members Every person is of value..The gifts we have been given by God are special enough by themselves however when COMBINED/ the contribution is Exponential… The contribution you can make is beyond what one person can do…Something happens in the synergy of the team…Synergy as defined by the “SUM is great that the total of the individual parts” Teams that leverage the strengths of the individual can TRANSCEND the ordinary performance into extraordinary results…. Think about the individual notes on a guitar when played singularly…Then when you strum the chord the sound is so different…. The chorus is the chord….richness and depth…an experience that goes beyond just the moment…

Partner Exercise: Your Experience? When have you faced a challenge for which you… …did not feel equipped? How did you feel about yourself and the process? …knew you had just what was needed? What within yourself did you draw upon? What was the result? Here’s a great exercise to think about when you were faced with a challenge…what did you do??

Strengths Based Teams begin with people who know their own talents and recognize the strengths of others 1 Corinthians 12:17-20 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

How to do this…. If it is a team that already exists, look at the makeup of the team If you are coming together for the first time: Get to know one another's talents and strengths. Where do people WANT to contribute. What do they do well? Where do they feel their greatest sense of satisfaction and contribution? Orchestrate those talents based on your goals and objectives…

Research Around Strengths 236 Organizations 1,000,000+ Customers 25,000 Sales Managers StrengthsFinder philosophy is based on 40 years of research by the Gallup Organization. At the heart of this research are millions of interviews to discover what the world's best workers had in common. Theme of talents are based on behaviors, it is not a definition From this research, the most significant finding was that most organizations are built on two flawed assumptions about people: that they can learn to be competent in almost anything, and that their greatest room for growth is in their areas of greatest weaknesses. Gallup worked with the Corporate Leadership Council to identify key drivers that impact performance. The research indicates that when we focus on strengths, productivity can increase by up to 40%. That is serious bottom-line impact. The Strengths based approach is based on the assumptions that each person's talents are enduring and unique, and that each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength. This is quite a different way to look at things. Research shows that people who aren’t on their “strengths zone,” or who don’t build on the strengths they possess are six times less likely to be engaged in their job. 250,000 Sales Professionals Source: Gallup Inc.

A Talent … A talent is a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving that can be productively applied.

Defining the Terms Talents & Strengths Talents are manifested in life experiences characterized by yearnings, rapid learning, satisfactions, and timelessness. These trait-like “raw materials” are believed to be the products of normal healthy development and successful experiences over childhood and adolescence. The belief is Talents can be operationalized, studied, and capitalized upon in work and academic settings. StrengthsFinder measures the presence of 34 talent themes. Talents are people's naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied. The more dominant a theme is in a person, the greater the theme's impact on that person's behavior and performance. 40 years of Gallup research Focus on strengths = productivity 40% Talents are enduring and unique Most growth in areas of strength Consistent, near perfect performance in an activity you enjoy Natural or innate way of thinking, feeling, or behaving

Clues to Talent To what kinds of activities are you naturally drawn? What kinds of activities do you seem to pick up quickly? In what activities did the “steps” just come to you automatically In what activities have you just “lost track of time?” During what activities have you had moments when you asked “how did I do that?” or when you said “when can I do that again?

Individual Talent Themes Name Theme #1 Theme #2 Theme #3 Theme #4 Theme #5

What are the odds? 1 in 275,000 chance of meeting someone with your “Top 5”. 1 in 33 million chance of meeting someone in your lifetime with your “Top 5” in same order. Done all over the world… No significant cultural differences nor gender differences… We all possess in one form another and we’ve been given the unique combination 1 in 447 trillion meeting someone with your TOP 10 in same order. God made you unique!! Source: Gallup Inc.

Enjoyment and Competence: Nebraska School Study Council Research - Words Read per Minute Study 350 WPM RESEARCH… Reading experiement… Lincoln Nebraska, group of 8th grade students entering into highschool… Study took a group of students that were average readers (90 WPM – total comprehension) and a group of excellent readers (350 words per minute) put them in the same class with the same instruction…(course equivelant of Evelyn Woods speed reading program) May theorys on what would happen… Would the 90 go up or decrease… Would the 350 stay the same or decrease… lot’s of speculation… 90 WPM Group 1 Group 2 Source: Clinfton D.O., & Harter, J.K. (2003). Investing in Strengths Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline

Nebraska School Study Council Research: Words Read per Minute Words Read per Minute Study 350 WPM 150 WPM The 90 WPM increased to 150WPM with total comprehension 66% improvement… Notable improvement…. 90 WPM Group 1 Group 1 Group 2 Source: Clinfton D.O., & Harter, J.K. (2003). Investing in Strengths Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline

Nebraska School Study Council Research: Words Read per Minute 2900 WPM The Zone 67% vs. 729% 350 WPM 150 WPM Typing exam – took two groups of people – one with average typing capability, another with pretty great typing ability Had them go through Rapid Typing expertise course – expected biggest change to happen with lower performers – they’re the ones with most opportunity to improve right? Guess what? Click enter – 90 WPM went to150 WPM increase Click enter again – 350 WPM went to 2300 WPM! 90 WPM Group 1 Group 1 Group 2 Group 1 Source: Clinfton D.O., & Harter, J.K. (2003). Investing in Strengths Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline

10 X 10 x 10 x 10 = 10, 000 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40

Steps Towards Strengths Become intimately familiar with your own talents and build strengths Help each other recognize the ways in which each person is offering his or her talents Build on strengths of the collective individuals Ask: How do you use your talent within your current role? How do you partner together so that each person has the ability to do what he or she does best? “A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” - Psalm 133:1

The Power of Team and Engagement Chances of Being Engaged in Your Work 100% 80% 73% 60% LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT 40% 20% 9% 0% Leader Does Not Focus on Strengths Leader Focuses on Strengths

Form Complementary Partnerships Executing: "Leaders with dominant strength in the Executing domain know how to make things happen. When you need someone to implement a solution, these are the people who will work tirelessly to get it done. Leaders with a strength to execute have the ability to "catch" an idea and make it a reality." Achiever Arranger Belief Consistency Deliberative Discipline Focus Responsibility Restorative Strengths-Based Leadership (Rath, Conchie 2008)

Form Complementary Partnerships Influencing: "Those who lead by Influencing help their team reach a much broader audience. People with strength in this domain are always selling the team's ideas inside and outside the organization. When you need someone to take charge, speak up, and make sure your group is heard, look to someone with the strength to influence." Activator Command Communication Competition Maximizer Self-Assurance Significance Woo Strengths-Based Leadership (Rath, Conchie 2008)

Form Complementary Partnerships Relationship-Building: "Those who lead through Relationship Building are the essential glue that holds a team together. Without these strengths on a team, in many cases, the group is simply a composite of individuals. In contrast, leaders with exceptional Relationship Building strength have the unique ability to create groups and organizations that are much greater than the sum of their parts." Adaptability Connectedness Developer Empathy Harmony Individualization Includer Positivity Relator Strengths-Based Leadership (Rath, Conchie 2008)

Form Complementary Partnerships Strategic Thinking: "Leaders with great Strategic Thinking strengths are the ones who keep us all focused on what could be. They are constantly absorbing and analyzing information and helping the team make better decisions. People with strengths in this domain constantly stretch our thinking for the future. Analytical Context Futuristic Ideation Input Intellection Learner Strategic Strengths-Based Leadership (Rath, Conchie 2008)

Strengths in Teams  Identify Team Strengths What strengths do our team members have?  Understand & Agree on Strengths What does each strength mean to the team? How & when can we leverage? Potential Scripting: Using our strengths within this theme is going to mean FIRST, we identify and share our talent profiles SECOND, we need to take a moment to understand those talents and discuss how we can use them on our team. THIRD – we can make a habit of finding opportunities to leverage each other as projects and tasks come about. [Transition:] Next – let’s look at each talent theme and who on the team possesses that talent >  Leverage Strengths for Team “Can you help us accomplish this using your strength?”

Resources StrengthFinder 2.0 www.gallupstrengthscenter.com “Strengths-Based Leadership” -Tom Rath and Barry Conchie

Conclusion on Strengths Based Teams We thrive when we operate from our strengths The team is more engaged Our ministry will be stronger So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 2:1-30