An Introduction to StrengthsQuest
Recently I had the pleasure of attending a full-day workshop with fellow staff members on StrengthsQuest, a program that begins with a 30-minute assessment of one's individual talents and then explores how your talents can be harnessed as strengths in an academic setting. Whereas a talent is a natural ability, a strength is that talent tapped into and developed. StrengthsQuest boldly states that you need to focus
less on your weaknesses and
more on developing your talents. Certainly you can't completely neglect making some improvements on your weaknesses especially when it comes to job requirements. But you'll make better use of your time by building on your talent.
I was excited about the workshop for a couple of reasons: it's essentially a program that identifies personality traits, and since I love the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, StrengthsQuest sounded cool; the other reason is I had already taken the StrengthsFinder assessment a couple years ago, so I was somewhat familiar with the various 34 Strengths and my particular Top Five Strengths. The workshop was very interactive, and we spent much of our time in discussion with a partner, a group of four, and in full room activities. I couldn't help but compare StrengthsQuest to the MBTI many times, and I think I still prefer the MBTI overall. But regardless I do feel StrengthsQuest is a very useful tool. It's another lens through which you can view yourself (and others).
The 34 Strengths can be consolidated into four categories: Executing, Influencing, Relationship-Building, and Strategic Thinking. Getting a sense of the distribution of your and co-workers' Strengths across these categories can help you understand how you can work as a team and if your team is missing some useful talents.
As it turns out, three of my Top Five Strengths are in Relationship Building, and two are in Strategic Thinking. In fact, even among my
Top Ten Strengths - seven are in Relationship Building, and three in Strategic Thinking. What that means is you can definitely count on me to consider others' thoughts and feelings in decision making but also to utilize logic to analyze different plans of action. However, when it comes to implementing the plan or persuasively pushing my (or the group's) agenda -- not as much!
(A funny example of that: ten years ago in my first year as a Resident Director, after much group deliberation over an issue in a staff meeting, I told my RAs "if it's okay with you guys, I'd like to make an executive decision." Classic indecision.)
My Top Five Strengths/Talents
So, here are my Top Five Strengths, what they mean, and examples of those strengths (or talents) in my life. I have italicized the definitions as provided from StrengthsQuest. You'll have to forgive me in advance, as I feel like this next section comes across a bit narcissistic. But these are my strengths after all. ;-)
1)
Connectedness: People especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.
I did a lot of research during graduate school on the topic of spiritual development among college students, and that was sparked from a situation my junior year of college when I had a bowel obstruction and would have died without emergency surgery. That experience set in motion a personal search for meaning and purpose. I read the Tao te Ching, fell in love with the idea of synchronicity discussed by Carl Jung, and came to believe that the world was vaguely meant to be as it is. My love for genealogy is partly rooted in the belief that I was meant to be here, for if even a single one of my ancestors did not procreate at the time they did, I would not exist - at least not as I am. I especially love the idea that the moment of conception is a high-stakes game of chance where the odds are overwhelmingly against you to be born; thus, if you're lucky enough to be born, you should consider yourself a chosen one (by who or what, I don't know). Finally, when things in life get difficult, I have faith that it's all part of a cycle, and that eventually things will get better again. These beliefs all help to keep me resilient and motivated. I think the Connectedness theme also helps drive my involvement with sustainability efforts.
Oh, and my favorite song? "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You," by Sting.
2)
Input: People especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
I've always loved books since I was a young child, and today I have quite the library in my apartment. I mostly read non-fiction books - either biographies, history, or politics. Like a batting line-up in baseball, I always have at least a couple books ready for whenever I'm finished with the current book I'm reading. Along with that, I soaked in words as a child, and spelling and grammar became important to me as I grew older. With genealogy, I love the pursuit of my ancestors (or my friends' ancestors - honestly, it doesn't matter!) as I search for birth, marriage, military, census, immigration, academic, and death records to name a few. Having a collection of ancestors' letters during the Civil War, World War I, and World War II is a matter of pride for me. I enjoy trivia games, and my home web page is CNN.com (I crave the news!). And the Input theme definitely lends itself to my desire to work in a registrar's office one day.
3)
Intellection: People especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
As a strong introvert, I appreciate time alone to collect my thoughts, imagine different situations, and consider my feelings. But I also thirst for discussions with others about the news, politics, and philosophy. I've always been this way even in middle school. I recall morbidly theorizing as a 14-year old that if the human population had to be reduced due to overpopulation, which people would be first to go and why? I'm not proud of those ideas, but it is an example of me as an adolescent boy flexing the muscles of his brain. With significant others, I've always needed to be with someone who shared my love for one-on-one philosophical discussions and debate. Also, if there's a major decision for me to make, it's important for people to give me a fair amount of personal time to reflect on it.
4)
Individualization: People especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
I feel as though my obsession with the MBTI is a mark of the Individualization theme. I used the MBTI when I was a student leader in RHA. In graduate school, I was lucky to take a course in the Myers-Briggs. After that, I was able to become qualified to administer the MBTI to groups and organizations - something I love doing to this day. I consider myself pretty observant of others' qualities; I'm not necessarily as good at getting people to work together productively but that perhaps is a talent that just needs molding. In conduct cases at work, I tend to take students' individual stories into consideration for judicial decisions. During my senior year in college, I had written a poem that I read to a group of fellow student leaders at a banquet about the power of the individual. Coinciding with that time, my letter of intent for graduate school outlined my firm belief in individualism.
5)
Adaptability: People especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to "go with the flow." They tend to be "now" people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.
I immediately think of the "Perceiving" type preference from the MBTI when this Adaptability theme comes up. As a Perceiver, I am fairly spontaneous about many things at least in the long term. In the short-term though, I do tend to have thought-out plans and goals. But I feel no need to plan out my nights and weekends, and I'd rather have a day free to myself to do whatever I want rather than be tied down with a commitment. If a plan goes wrong, I don't typically panic and can consider other options fairly quickly. I also believe that planning things out too much can blind you from seeing sudden opportunities that may come your way.
*You can see how I rank for all 34 Strengths below:
Final Thoughts
I'm looking forward to collaborating with others in student affairs at Bridgewater in considering plans to use StrengthsQuest with others at the university. I'm also keen on reading the StrengthsQuest book that we were given at the workshop - it's next on my line-up!
If you're interested in taking the StrengthsFinder assessment, you can go to
http://www.strengthsfinder.com/ and purchase an access code, or you can go to your book store and buy the StrengthsFinder 2.0 book.
The reason for my blog today is to make a plea to you to help me raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of southeastern Massachusetts. The MDA provides support for children with muscular dystrophy and other neurological muscular disorders. Last week, I received a phone call from Barrett's Alehouse asking me to participate in their Bridgewater Lock-Up to raise money for the MDA. On June 22nd, I will be arrested and placed "behind bars for Good." They have set my bail at $1600 - I know it is a stretch to make that, but I'd like to do my best! I'm told if I don't meet bail, I'll still be released for good behavior... so don't worry TOO much.
