Strengths Advocate Training - Gallup University Omaha - Day Three...

Today wrapped up Strengths Advocate training here in Omaha. Today centred on strength coaching and ways to get others (and us) to better understand strengths, to begin to see some tendencies with strengths (although everyone is different, so tendencies should never carry too much weight), and start to think about next steps.

The biggest next step for me is that the training we have had this week is just the beginning - we need to keep the strengths-based conversations going and to have people share their accomplishments and what they have done.One way to do that is through Winner cards, a tangible artifact of a strengths conversation, particularly useful for talking strengths and performance.

took a look at the resources available for strengths and some of teh worshops and sessions that as an advovate I can now deliver to my colleagues - really looking forward to that opportunity.

We reviewed some other ways of looking at strengths keeping in mind that the outcomes need to always be kept in mind. One way to look at strengths is that they relate to:

• Strive
• Think
• Relate

Most of my signature themes are in the Think domain, with some in the other two - another way of looking at thngs. Strengths can also be looked at as how they rekate to time:

• Past
• Present
• Future

Some strengths rely on the past - information, experiences etc., some rely on the here and now, and some are future looking.

Finally strengths can be looked at as either being Initiators or Relators - all of these different ways of looking at strengths may help people take them on board and that is the key - developing a strengths language and culture in your institution that makes sense.

A lot of information over the last three days to take in and distill. My Input and Intellection themes will be working overtime the next few days as I assimilate what I have learned and my Responsibility theme will ensure that I will be posting about it here. I'm also going to go back and talk to the other strengths advocates at my College and start the conversation about developing an advocate network so we can be getting out our institution's message on strengts (my Achiever, Developer, and Contextthemes in action...). Hmmm...