A few days back I mentioned that the Gallup Strengthfinders Strengths Assessment was a great tool for developing leaders and affirming and valuing the God-given talents and strengths that we all possess as God’s creatures made in the image of God. This week I got trained along with those I work with to be able to administer several Strengthfinder tools for the purpose of working with individuals, various relationships, and teams. We all had a great time.
I need to do some prep work, but I hope soon to be good to go to be able to do some individual coaching and consulting work with staff as well as basic team building and even potentially some team crisis work. I aim to be good to go by July.
It’s always encouraging to be affirmed for areas of strength. There are so many of those times where circumstances or disappointments or failures can open the door to doubt, but regardless of our “successes” we all have great things to offer one another and the work that we are a part of.
For those that are familiar with it, here are my strengths from when I took the assessment 5 years ago:
Context, Responsibility, Intellection, Learner, Activator
Here are my strengths from when I took the assessment last week:
Intellection, Context, Strategic, Learner, Achiever
I resonate more with the most recent, but “knowing for certain” what my top 5 are is really not that important. It’s a helpful tool to develop some self-awareness and recognize where I can excel and contribute. But more important, it was and is perhaps most helpful to know the strengths of those I work with because that is more helpful for me as a leader and teammate when it comes to empowering others and affirming who they are and utilizing their best contribution to our collective mission.
If you’ve taken the assessment, what are your strengths? It’s always fascinating to see the many ways some of these strengths come together as part of somebody’s uniqeness.
