My sabbatical has shown me another treasure. There is so much richness in my current network. There are so many people I’ve not taken the time to connect with yet. The more connections I nurture the more synchronicity happens. Synchronicity may be best explained with the following quote:
Did you ever observe to whom the accidents happen? Chance favors only the prepared mind.
Louis Pasteur
I had a deep conversation with Silke on her coaching education experience offered by CTI. Silke Klees works as a coach. I met her thanks to Isa Zöller and the Working Out Loud activities at SAP. Both Silke and Isa offer also Design Your Life workshops.
Silke recommended me to take part in a CliftonStrengths 34 assessment, formerly known as Gallup Strength Finder. This is based on decades of research to assess the talents of people. It focuses on what you naturally do best. The formula is Talent x Investment = Strength.
The assessment is not for free. It costs about 54 Euro. If you also want to do it please opt for a time of the day when you are at your best as the assessment consists of 177 pairs of statements that you have to answer in maximum 20 seconds each. Hence, the assessment can be done in about 40 minutes.
For the money, I’ve received four reports with my results. The reports offer a personalized assessment for each talent area. This is based on the 177 answers that I’ve shared. The reports are really useful as they also suggest measures to leverage the full potential of each talent and some hints on blind spots. Additionally, I’ve gotten the StrengthsFinder 2.0 e-book and access to online courses.
So, what are the outcomes of my assessment?
My signature strengths are as follows:
- Learner
- Relator
- Maximizer
- Responsibility
- Arranger
- Intellection
- Positivity
- Connectedness
- Empathy
- Input
Can you map these strengths with the illustrations in my sketchnote on top?
I’m grateful that Silke has offered me a session to debrief the assessment reports. So, I could benefit to a maximum from her experience as a Certified Strength Coach. Silke especially outlined the qualities of the combination of strengths:
So, I’m not only a continuous learner and avid collector of ideas, but I can deliver in a reliable way based on my arranger and responsibility talents. Most of my talents are in the field of relationship building. For me the quality of relationships is important. As a leader, this helps to forge strong team cohesion and to build trusted networks. Arranger, Empathy, Maximizer tend to amplify the Relator talent.
Another aspect that she highlighted is an essential one: it’s key to find the right environment to work. Imagine if everybody would work in a place where she or he could contribute the best of her or his potential. New work put simply: everyone at the right place to build on her or his strengths. Hence, for me, it’s crucial that I work in an environment that offers free space, autonomy, complexity, and opportunities to connect with inspiring people and to coach people.
Last but not least Silke observed that my top 10 strengths are from all four domains: relationship building, strategic thinking, executing and influencing. I know how to establish strong relations, distil insights from experiments and complex interactions, form teams that deliver outcomes, and contribute to the personal growth of people I work with.
Thank you Silke for inviting me to participate in the CliftonStrengths assessment. This experience has been worth each euro and will serve for my continuous development. Please check Silke’s coaching offering in German.
In one of the next posts I’ll compare the outcomes of the StrengthFinder with the responses that I received to my question 4 of my Season Greetings message: “What is one strength that I should apply more in future?”
I’ll close this post with a cross-check of the strengths with my core values, and really, the values are the foundations for my strengths:
- Learner #personaldevelopment #openness #creativity
- Relator #contributing #connection #kindness
- Maximizer #clarity #personaldevelopment #contributing
- Responsibility #contributing #clarity #gratitude
- Arranger #contributing #creativity #openness
- Intellection #contributing #clarity #openness
- Positivity #kindness #joy #gratitude
- Connectedness #holism #connection #kindness
- Empathy #kindness #connection #openness
- Input #personaldevelopment #contributing #creativity
How are you assessing your talents and strengths?
