T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION StrengthsQuest Heidi Lender, Assistant Director Strommen Career and Internship Center Copyright © 2004 The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ. All rights reserved.

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION KNOW YOURSELF! We all can say what we are good at, but taking the StrengthsQuest assessment helps you to understand it at a different level and gives you language to articulate it better We have all been given gifts or “talents” Identifies your greatest talents, which are your sources of potential strengths All strengths are created equal 2

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Understanding Strengths... This instrument originated out of positive psychology Developed by Gallup over 30 years ago for businesses who wanted to get the most out of their employees Gallup conducted millions of psychological interviews and identified 34 themes of talent 3

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Understanding Strengths... What’s the Opposite of a Strength? 4

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION 5 Weakness Fixing: The Wrong Assumptions If you try hard enough, you can do it. If you want it badly enough, you can do it. If you dream it, you can achieve it. Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety- nine per cent perspiration. Weakness fixing leads to success. How many positive affirmations do you need to off-set one negative one? All behaviors can be learned. Copyright © 2004 The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ. All rights reserved.

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION FACTS: 6

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION 7 “Despite the American myth, I cannot be or do whatever I desire – a truism, to be sure, but a truism we often defy. Our created natures make us like organisms in an ecosystem: There are some roles and relationships in which we thrive and others in which we wither and die.” Parker Palmer “You can’t be anything you want to be, but you can be a whole lot more of who you are” Curt Liesveld

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION 8 There is a difference between Talents and Strengths… Talent: A naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied. Talents are inborn and can turn into a potential Strength Talents and Strengths

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION 9 Talents, Knowledge, Skills, and Strengths Strength: The ability to provide consistent, near- perfect performance in a given activity. To build your strengths, identify your talents, and add knowledge and skills. Strength = Talent + Knowledge + Skills “Talent without technique is merely a bad habit.” Pablo Picasso

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Owning your Talents Read through the descriptions for each of your top 5 Strengths Underline or highlight those lines that you feel are highly representative of you. Cross out the sentences that you don’t think apply to you. Using what you have underlined take a post-it note and write down the following:  Name  Strength  Adjectives I use to describe myself and this theme 10

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Uniqueness of Others Connect with your mentor and complete the worksheet. 11

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Make a Great Wall of Talent 12

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION 13 Signature Themes and How You Use Them Strengths Description/ Definition of the Strength Why it’s a strength (What does it enable/empower me to do) When/where I recently used this Strength Copyright © 2004 The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ. All rights reserved.

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Strengths in the Workplace The 4 Domains of Leadership EXECUTING: They know how to make things happen. They implement a solution and work tirelessly to get it done. They are the “Doers”. AchieverArranger BeliefConsistency DeliberativeDiscipline FocusResponsibility Restorative 14

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Strengths in the Workplace The 4 Domains of Leadership INFLUENCING: Help their team reach a much broader audience. They are able to “sell” the ideas within and outside the organization. ActivatorCommand CommunicationCompetition MaximizerSelf-Assurance SignificanceWoo 15

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Strengths in the Workplace The 4 Domains of Leadership RELATIONSHIP BUILDING: The “glue” that holds the team together. They can create groups/organizations that are greater than the sum of their parts. AdaptabilityDeveloper ConnectednessEmpathy HarmonyIncluder IndividualizationPositivity Relator 16

T HE G ALLUP O RGANIZATION Strengths in the Workplace The 4 Domains of Leadership STRATEGIC THINKING: Keeps people focused on ‘what could be’. They are constantly analyzing information, looking at things from different perspectives, and helping the team make better decisions. AnalyticalContext FuturisticIdeation InputIntellection LearnerStrategic 17