12.11.2023. Context. Individualization. Relator. Restorative. Responsibility
My top 5 strengths from Clifton Strengths 34.
I recently finished my education with Gallup and got certified as a Strengths Coach.
There were several things that convinced me to follow Gallup’s coaching program:
A different approach on how we view personal development vs the traditional one of “let’s identify the improvement areas and develop an improvement plan”.
According to the Gallup studies, only 21% of employees strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. What this means is that we are really focusing on the wrong things.
the podcast/you tube of Leading with Strengths and Called to Coach
The below quote by Don Clifton
What will happen when we think about what is right with people rather than fixating on what is wrong with them?
Don Clifton was an educational psychology professor at the University of Nebraska. When he returned from WWII, he decided to focus on what is good with the humankind. He started at University of Nebraska the research in human development. He was struck to see that all the books he could find were focused on what is wrong with people, so he decided to study and research the opposite- what is right with the humankind.
He later founded Selection Research Inc that acquired Gallup (known mostly for polls) in the 80s.
He later developed what today we know as Clifton Strengths 34. This is an amazing tool about what makes us unique and helps us understand what we do best (our talents) and how to use the talents to live our strongest life. The report gives a ranked listing (1-34) of the talents, grouped under 4 themes: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, Strategic thinking.
So, I got trained to help people tap into their strengths, once they identify what their talents are.
And this was done after 4 full days of understanding about my strengths, skills and resistance points.
What makes a person excel, you may ask? It is mostly their talents - the ways in which they most naturally think, feel and behave. The talents are mostly unconscious, unknown. The annoying person that speaks to everyone in the elevator, or the person that color codes their clothes, or the friend that impatiently pushes the elevator button to remind the elevator that he/she is there. These are actually talents (although we look at them as quirks) and with Gallup Strengths report and coaching you can bring them into the “known” and develop them into strengths.
Strengths based development starts with Naming, Claiming and Aiming your most dominant Clifton strengths.
Name it - understanding your strengths profile and what it means to you.
Claim it - come to know and accept your talents. Appreciate your uniqueness.
Aim it- turn your talents into strengths by intentionally practicing them.
Does focusing on strengths mean that we ignore our weaknesses? Absolutely not. We should be able to manage our weaknesses.
However, focusing on improving something that is an area of a lesser talent, will only make us mediocre.
How well do you know your talents?