“Every human being has talents that are just waiting to be uncovered…” Strengths Training “Every human being has talents that are just waiting to be uncovered…” Mindy - Goal: to start a global conversation about what’s right with people. - Tired of living in a world that revolved around fixing our weaknesses. Erin - People have several times more potential for growth when they invest their energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies. Maria - **Throughout this training, if you have any questions or comments  Ask them at any time! It’s great to discuss strengths and learn about strengths from many different angles. So much to learn – lets help each other. Mindy

Strengths Video https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/PrivateResources/Basic

History Exercises Investments Tools Strengths Agenda History Exercises Investments Tools Maria – Run them through the Agenda Exercises People Who Know You My Strengths & How I Use Them My Shield of Strengths ***BREAK*** My Strengths, Your Strengths Strengths-based Leadership Map Austin

Strengths History “Our talents hold the key to excellence.” Only 1/3 of 10 million people worldwide agree with this statement: “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday.” Just to give you a brief history - Based on Gallup’s 40-year study of human strengths, they created a language of the 34 most common talents and developed the Clifton (Donald O. Clifton – Father of Strengths Psychology) StrengthsFinder assessment to help people discover and describe these talents. 2001: Initial version of this assessment – ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths’ spent more than 5 years on the bestseller list Over the past few years alone, millions of people have participated in StrengthsFinder. Over the past decade, Gallup has surveyed more than 10 million people worldwide on the topic of employee engagement (or how positive and productive people are at work), and only 1/3 “strongly agree” with this statement: “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday.” …And for that 2/3 who do not get to focus on what they do best—their strengths– the costs are staggering. In a recent poll, more than 1000 people, among those who “strongly disagree” or simply “disagreed” with this “opportunity to do what I do best everyday” statement, not one single person was EMOTIONALLY engaged on the job. Mindy

Fold Your Hands Rachel

Language of Strengths Talent: natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving Theme: a cluster of talents Strength: the ability to apply a talent or a theme to some specific activity and produce exemplary performance Mindy

TALENT X INVESTMENT = STRENGTH Strengths Formula Talent: natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving Investment: time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base STRENGTH: the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance -Talents: -Natural tendencies to share thoughts -Create engaging stories -Find the perfect word *These are directly related to COMMUNICATION -Natural dependability -Sense of commitment -Avoidance of excuses *These are directly related to RESPONSIBILITY - “NOW – you may be wondering what near-perfect performance is… Let’s take a look at human performance measures” TALENT X INVESTMENT = STRENGTH Maria

Engagement Manager Influence on Engagement: People who have the opportunity to focus on their strengths everyday are: 6 times as likely to be engaged in their jobs 3 times as likely to report having an EXCELLENT quality of life in general. Manager Influence on Engagement: If your manager primarily: Chances of being actively DISENGAGED: Ignores you 40% Focuses on your weaknesses 22% Focuses on your strengths 1% The epidemic of active disengagement we see in workplaces every day could be a curable disease… if we can help the people around us develop their strengths! Mindy

Human Performance Measures Competency: ability to perform some task well under a moderate amount of stress = (Ability X Desire X Efficacy) + Situational Factors Exemplary: worth following as an example; honorable or admirable = (Ability X Desire X Efficacy + TALENT) + Situational Factors -What StrengthsFinder actually measures is talent, not strength. As an aside, they named it “StrengthsFinder” instead of “TalentFinder” because the ultimate goal is to build a true strength, and talent is just one of the ingredients in this formula. Efficacy: belief in our ability Situational factors: always present (positive or negative) *65% of what you do in life, you are competent at Dr. Peterson

Strengths Zone What happens when you’re not in strengths zone? You are a different person. You are 6 times less likely to be engaged in your job. To be an exemplar – how do you develop your strengths into talents? Being in the strengths zone! Strengths Zone: actively working on your strengths. Talking about them. Pointing them out. Working in groups with others who are working on their strengths. Having a manager/teacher help you develop your strengths. Maria

Not in the Strengths Zone Chances are you… Dread going to work Have more negative than positive interactions with your colleagues/classmates Treat your customers/classmates poorly Tell your friends what a miserable company you work for/class you’re attending Achieve less on a daily basis Have fewer positive and creative moments -Beyond the work world, there are serious implications for your health and relationships if you’re not in the strengths zone. Mindy & Maria

Strengths-based Approach Improves your confidence, direction, hope, and kindness towards others. “Those with higher self-confident levels at a younger age ended up with higher income and career satisfaction 25 years later. ($12,821 more annually and that number only got larger as they got older). The group that reported with low self-confidence levels at the beginning in 1979 had three times as many health problems 25 years later compared to those who had high levels of self-confidence.” –Tom Rath & Barry Conchie Erin

Finding Your Strengths “You cannot be anything you want to be – but you can be a lot more of who you already are.” In this increasingly talent-driven society, we need to know and develop our strengths to figure out where we fit in. Leaders stay true to who they are – and then make sure they have the right people around them. *Rudy* Mindy & Maria

Exercise: People Who Know You Think of some positive words people use to describe you. Write down who uses them. Finally- link the word to one of your 5 talents -This is opening exercise that… -One BIG problem is that most people are either unaware of, or unable to describe their own strengths… or the strengths of the people around them. -Certain strengths are engaged more in certain environments. You may find your family sees more of your compassionate side and your colleagues more of your competitiveness or focus. Gives you some perspective on what you show to others. Rachel

Exercise: My Strengths & How I Use Them Application is key! Look at your Reference card and define your strengths Write down what it enables/empowers you to do Write down when you recently used those strengths This is opening exercise that… Though learning about your strengths may be an interesting experience – it is about you APPLY your strengths If you want to improve your life and the lives of those around you, you must TAKE ACTION *Knowing your own strengths provides exceptional clarity about who you are and who you are not.

My Shield of Strengths Instructions: Take each one of your strengths and draw an illustration of what that strength means to you or your life. - What character are you?

Exercise: My Strengths, Your Strengths Left side: When I… Plan I use ___ strength Right side: When I… Plan I need ___ strength Directions: -Write down what type of person you are -Would could you use when you are planning, stressed, etc. *Understanding your own. *Deficiencies? Surround yourself with others who have this. Austin

Exercise: Strengths-Based Leadership Map “Not one definitive strength defines all leaders.” -One BIG problem is that most people are either unaware of, or unable to describe their own strengths… or the strengths of the people around them. While the best leaders are not well-rounded, the best teams are. Most chances, teams are product of circumstance more than design. DIRECTIONS: - Group up with three people around you and write down on the map where your strengths fall - Do you have a balanced team? What do you need? *Once you understand where your group members fall, you will then be able to understand your team. Just understanding what you have and what you need can make the world of a difference! *STU GOV: Refer to the Strengths STATS! Austin

Strengths-Based Leadership Map Austin

Managing Your Strengths Maximize the use of your Strengths Become competent Say No Accountability Partner Maria

Balconies & Basements Balconies: the positive aspects to your strengths, high points Basements: the negative aspects to you strengths, low points “blind spots” - Blind Spots (Basements): - Essential to become more conscious of any “blind spots” that are caused by your talents. Command: may not realize the damage left in our wake as we are pushing to get things done each day Consistency: might focus so much on keeping the steps uniform that they ignore the overall outcome and goal. The key is for you to be aware of your potential and your limitations. Pull up the balconies/basements word document for the audience Maria

Investing In Your Strengths In order to develop a strength – you need to invest Focusing on one area of talent at a time is the best route to excellence. How will you do that? Pose the question – “where do you go from here?” Mindy

Tools Reference Guide StrengthsQuest/StrengthsFinder 2.0 Coworkers All: Know your strengths! Thank you for your times Continue to invest and work on your strengths. We are available for any questions Some tools to use are your strengthsquest materials found online The best way is to talk about them! StrenthsQuest