Strengths

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Strengths
and
Leadership
Presented by Jeremy David Jones
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Who is this guy
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What are we here to do tonight

• Establish a baseline understanding of Strengths
• Define what Strengths mean to you
• Discuss value of self exploration/identification
• Explore what you can do with your Strengths
• Interact and dialogue

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What Are Strengths?

• Talent Knowledge Skills Strength
• Talents are naturally recurring patterns of
  thought, feeling, or behavior that can be
  productively applied
• By refining our dominant talents with skill and
  knowledge, we can create strength the ability to
  provide consistent, near-perfect performance in a
  given activity.
• --Clifton Harter, 2003

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Where do we start

• Transforming talents into strengths involves
• Learning experiences
• Acquiring skills
• Critical thinking
• Reflection
• Acquiring knowledge

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How do I find my Strengths?

• Using Strengthsfinder
• Identifies top 5 themes
• Six-month test-retest reliability across all
  populations ranges from .60 to .80
• Three-month test-retest reliability among college
  students ranges from .70 to .76

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What makes strengths so special?

• The Gallup Organization
• Founded in 1969
• Over 400 Colleges and Universitys have
  implemented Strengths based education
• Strengthsfinder has been used with over 4 million
  people in 17 languages
• Study the best of the best
• Hotel Chain testimony
• Edward Chip Anderson

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What makes you unique?

• The combination and the order of the 34 themes of
  talent measured by StrengthsFinder lead to more
  than 33,700, 000 possible unique sets of
  Signature Themes
• Among the first 800,000 people who took
  Strengthsfinder, less than 20 people had the same
  top five themes, without considering the order of
  the themes

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Consider the Uniqueness of Each Persons
Combination of Strengths

• Each signature theme works in combination with
  the other 33 themes.
• Each signature theme is influenced by the
  application of the other themes.
• Each persons strengths have the potential for
  success when developed.
• When each person is aware of personal strengths
  and sees strengths in others, the possibilities
  for excellence are exponential.

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Strengths Connect with Four Key Motivational
Drives

• THINKING
• RELATING
• IMPACTING
• STRIVING

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The 34 different strengths
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Relating Themes

• Communication-People strong in the Communication
  theme easily put their thoughts into words and
  are good conversationalists.
• Empathy-People strong in the Empathy theme can
  sense the feelings of other people by imagining
  themselves in others lives or situations.
• Harmony-People strong in the Harmony theme look
  for consensus, do not enjoy conflict, and look
  for areas of agreement.

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Relating Themes (cont.)

• Includer-People strong in the Includer theme are
  accepting of others, show awareness of those who
  feel left out, and make an effort to include
  them.
• Individualization-People strong in the
  Individualization theme are intrigued with the
  unique qualities of each person and have a gift
  for figuring out how different people can work
  together productively.
• Relator-People who are strong in the Relator
  theme enjoy close relationships with others and
  find deep satisfaction in working hard with
  friends to achieve a goal.
• Responsibility-People strong in the
  Responsibility theme take psychological ownership
  of what they say they will do and are committed
  to stable values, such as honesty and loyalty.

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Impacting Themes

• Command-People strong in the Command theme have
  presence, can take control of a situation and
  make decisions.
• Competition-People strong in the Competition
  theme measure their progress against the
  performance of others, strive to win, and revel
  in contests.
• Developer-People strong in the Developer theme
  recognize and cultivate the potential in others
  and spot the signs of each small improvement.
  They derive satisfaction from these improvements.

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Impacting Themes (cont.)

• Maximizer-People strong in the Maximizer theme
  focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal
  and group excellence. They seek to transform
  something strong into something superb.
• Positivity-People strong in the Positivity theme
  have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are
  upbeat and get others excited about tasks.
• Woo-People strong in Woo love the challenge of
  meeting new people, winning them over, and derive
  satisfaction from making connections with others.

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Striving Themes

• Achiever-People strong in the Achiever theme have
  a great deal of stamina and work hard. They
  derive great satisfaction from being busy and
  productive.
• Activator-People strong in the Activator theme
  make things happen by turning thoughts into
  action. They are often impatient.
• Belief-People strong in the Belief theme have
  certain unchanging core values, out of which
  emerge a defined purpose for their lives.

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Striving Themes (cont.)

• Discipline-People strong in the Discipline theme
  enjoy routine and structure. Their world is best
  described by the order they create.
• Focus-People strong in the Focus theme can take a
  direction, follow through, and make the
  corrections necessary to stay on track by
  prioritizing and acting.
• Restorative-People strong in the Restorative
  theme are adept at dealing with problems,
  figuring out what is wrong, and resolving it.

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Striving Themes (cont.)

• Self-Assurance-People strong in the
  Self-Assurance theme feel confident in their
  ability to manage their lives. They possess an
  inner compass that gives them confidence that
  their decisions are right.
• Significance-People strong in the Significance
  theme want to be very important in the eyes of
  others. They are independent and want to be
  recognized.

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Thinking Themes

• Analytical-People strong in the Analytical theme
  search for reasons and causes. They have the
  ability to think about all the factors that might
  affect a situation.
• Arranger-People strong in the Arranger theme can
  organize, but they also have flexibility that
  complements this ability. They like to figure out
  how all of the pieces and resources can be
  arranged for maximum productivity.
• Connectedness-People strong in Connectedness
  theme have faith in the links between all things
  and believe there are few coincidences because
  almost every event has a reason.

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Thinking Themes (cont.)

• Consistency-People strong in the Consistency
  theme are keenly aware of the need to treat
  people the same and try to treat everyone in the
  world fairly by setting up clear rules and
  adhering to them.
• Context-People strong in the Context theme enjoy
  thinking about the past and understand the
  present by researching its history.
• Deliberative-People strong in the Deliberative
  theme are best characterized by the serious care
  they take in making decisions or choices. They
  can also anticipate the obstacles.

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Thinking Themes (cont.)

• Futuristic-People strong in the Futuristic theme
  are inspired by the future and what could be.
  They inspire others with their visions of the
  future.
• Ideation-People strong in the Ideation theme are
  fascinated by ideas and are able to find
  connections between seemingly disparate
  phenomena.
• Input-People strong in the Input theme have
  craving to know more and often like to collect
  and archive all kinds of information.

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Thinking Themes (cont.)

• Intellection-People strong in the Intellection
  theme are characterized by their intellectual
  activity. They are introspective and appreciate
  intellectual discussions.
• Learner-People strong in the Learner theme have a
  great desire to learn and want to continuously
  improve. In particular, the process of learning,
  rather than the outcome, excites them.
• Strategic-People strong in the Strategic theme
  create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with
  any given scenario, they can quickly spot the
  relevant patterns and issues.

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Strengths are tools

• Your tool bag is full, but you have to get a good
  handle on the tools you have
• Trying to work on a project with the wrong tools
  is frustrating
• Find projects that your tools fit
• Find people who have tools you dont have to
  collaborate with

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What if Gallup got it wrong?

• Maybe you dont agree with some or all of your
  Strengths
• You have to start somewhere
• Many tests out there
• 39 percent of companies surveyed use personality
  testing as part of their hiring process
  (American Management Association)

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The Highest Achievers

• Spend most of their time in their areas of
  strength
• Focus on developing and applying their strengths
  and managing their weaknesses
• Know the strengths of people around them
• Empower the people around them to use their
  strengths

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More About the Highest Achievers

• Use their strengths to overcome obstacles
• Invent ways of capitalizing on their strengths in
  new situations
• High achievers excel because they more fully
  develop and apply their strengths and talents
• High achievers find ways to apply their strengths
  to their tasks
• High achievers build their lives around their
  strengths

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Consider the Applications of Excellence Success

• Consider your own life
• What applications of your signature themes have
  you seen in your most successful experiences?
• How have you used combinations of your signature
  themes in challenging situations?
• What strengths do you see in your fellow
  students?
• How can these strengths be potentiated with
  greater collaborative efforts on campus between
  faculty, staff and students?

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Excellence A Central Value and Goal

• Excellence academic achievement, persistence,
  and maximum development of students
• Excellence occurs only when individuals
  capitalize on their strengths and talents, and
  invest the time and energy needed to excel

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Capitalizing on Strengths

• Results
• higher levels of motivation
• greater engagement in the task at hand
• personal satisfaction
• productivity and higher levels of performance
• job satisfaction and longevity

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My Strengths

• Woo
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Relator
• Maximizer

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But What About My Weaknesses?

• The beauty of the strengths approach is that by
  developing your strengths, you have a new
  approach for managing your weaknesses
• Apply your strengths to challenging tasks or
  areas in need of improvement
• Partnering with others who have overlapping
  strengths

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Where do we go from here

• You now have your strengths, you have a good
  understanding of your abilities, and you know who
  you are.

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The Heart of It All

• Motivation
• It all begins with getting motivated
• Student motivation is the best predictor of
  persistence
• Motivation generates and directs energy and
  effort
• Student persistence and college outcomes are
  determined by quality of effort
• What motivates you?
• Maybe it is Jordan's fault
• fear in your eyes

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Now

• You have the opportunity to figure out how you
  fit in the bigger picture with your family,
  friends, peers, community, and the global
  population.
• You have the opportunity to set or reaffirm goals
  for your future and put that motivation to work

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• Strengths are the tools, leadership is the job
• Do you want to use your strengths to pursue your
  personal best?
• The best of the best know their strengths, they
  know the strengths of those around them, and they
  strategically put their collective strengths to
  work

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Leadership Models

• Several different leadership models
• Situational leadership
• Skills leadership
• Team leadership
• Leader member exchange theory
• You can spend a great deal of time studying
  leadership theory
• Use what works for you and your Strengths

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KISS Theory

• Leaders have
• A drive to execute
• Ability to relate
• Integrity
• Chip Anderson

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KISS Theory cont.

• Leaders do
• Model the Way
• Inspire a shared vision
• Challenge the process
• Enable others to act
• Encourage the heart
• Kouzes and Posner (2007)

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Model the Way

• Lead by example
• Actions speak louder than words
• Lead through serving others
• Display your values in agreement with
  group/organizational values

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Inspire a Shared Vision

• Dream what could be
• Envision possibilities
• Bring excitement to possibilities

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Challenge the Process

• Change from the status quo
• Dont wait for something to just happen to you
• Search for opportunities
• Learn from mistakes

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Enable Others to Act

• Big dreams require more than one person
• Group collaboration
• Build trust
• Seek to understand before you seek to be
  understood
• Individual accountability
• Full disclosure no surprises
• Create group ownership

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Encourage the Heart

• It is easy to give up
• Genuine acts of caring uplift the spirits and
  draw people forward
• Leadership is a relationship
• People dont care how much you know until they
  know how much your care

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Leadership produces change

• To produce excellence you must study excellence
  Don Clifton
• Leadership is designed to produce measurable
  change.(220)
• Learning always involves changing

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Where can we practice leadership at SOCC?

• Instructors
• Classes
• Assignments
• Study Groups
• Student Leadership
• Mentor

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Instructors

• It is important to note instructors who inspire
  change
• What talents do the best instructors seem to
  have?
• How do the best instructors interact with
  students?
• How do the best instructors organize lessons and
  classroom activites?
• How do the most effective instructors persuade
  others?
• How do effective instructors use their talents
  when they teach and interact with students?

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Classes

• Choosing classes that inspire leadership
• Communication studies or speech
• Leadership studies or management
• Sociology or social psychology
• Philosophy
• Political science
• Anthropology
• History
• Mathematical reasoning or logic classes

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Assignments

• Take advantage of class assignments
• study inspirational leaders
• historical or current
• Every assignment is an opportunity to dream up a
  vision for change

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Athletics

• Leadership in athletics
• What is your role in the overall success of the
  team?
• What are your team goals?
• What are your individual goals?
• What is your responsibility in achieving those
  goals?
• What are effective coaches doing during practice
  and during a game?
• What is the best way to learn a new approach, a
  new play, or new moves?
• How can you develop a team and team spirit?
• How can you best deal with injuries,
  discouragements, and setbacks?
• What are the most effective ways to maintain
  motivation?

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Study Groups

• Leadership in study groups
• An effective leader helps others use their
  strengths to help the group function better and
  to effectively move toward a desired goal.

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Student Leadership

• Student Leadership opportunities
• ASG, RA, Ambassador,
• Student Clubs and orgs.
• volunteer

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Mentorship

• Find some one you look up to and you respect and
  intentionally meet with them
• Create small groups of friends that you trust and
  invest in those relationships

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Works Cited

• The Gallup Organization. Internet, 2009. Wed. 19
  Nov. 2009.
• Kouzes, James Posner, Barry. The Leadership
  Challenge. San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass ,
  2007. print.
• Northouse, Peter. Leadership Theory and Practice.
  Thousand Oaks, CA Sage, 2004. print.
• Clifton, Donald Anderson, Edward.
  StrengthsQuest. New York, NY Gallup Press,
  2006. print.
• Azusa Pacific University Strengths Academy.
  Internet, 2009 Wed. 19 Nov. 2009