Strengths & Leadership

Domain: Relationship Building

People exceptionally talented in the Includer theme accept others. They show awareness of those who feel left out and make an effort to include them.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Allow for an individual with this Strength to be in charge of outreach and recruitment for your organization
• Challenge them to create an opportunity to engage in different types of cultures and demographics within your organization
• Encourage an individual with this Strength to interact with individuals who are new to the organization

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Accepting of others
• Good at reaching out to others
• Enjoy helping people feel a part of something bigger than themselves

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Stand up for voices that are looked over and not heard
• Have conversations about the importance of inclusion with your peers and organization leaders
• Challenge yourself to interact with new people at each organization meeting

Domain: Relationship Building

People exceptionally talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how different people can work together productively.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Allow for an individual with this Strength to create their own team or committee. This person has an eye for building productive teams based off strengths and talents
• Create a space where questions are encouraged
• Do not treat this individual like a typical person. Make sure to acknowledge and cater to their uniqueness

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• View everyone as distinct, unique individuals
• Strong at joining people together
• Can create a strong bond among team members

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Research people that inspire you. Observe what qualities made them unique and successful.
• Speak to your friends or peers about what makes them unique
• Challenge yourself to think of diversity outside of the realm of sex, gender, ethnicity and help people celebrate that diversity in themselves

Domain: Strategic Thinking

People exceptionally talented in the Input theme have a need to collect and archive. They may accumulate information, ideas, artifacts or even relationships.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Create a space where this individual can showcase their knowledge on certain topics
• Give them projects that revolve around the research of other organizations
• Ask what their areas of expertise are, give them projects that revolve around those. Challenge them to stretch out of their comfort zone.

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Different perspectives due to the various amounts of information they consume
• Strong at organizing information
• Enjoys conversations about ideas they do not know much about

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Make time for reading and researching information that is important to you
• You may never feel like you know enough, so when working on a project or preparing to something, set an achievable goal so will feel prepared

Domain: Strategic Thinking

People exceptionally talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Create a space where an individual with the Intellection Strength can ask questions and pose ideas
• Give space for this person to process information. They enjoy the thinking process.
• Consider doing reflection exercises after a big event or a project

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Loves to study and engage in intellectual conversations
• Absorbs concepts and a quick learner

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Choose to be in an environment that best first your thinking. If you do your best in a quiet environment, find a place that fits that. If you think best in a fast-paced environment, find a place that fits that.
• Surround yourself with people who challenge your thinking
• Take time alone to reflect and ponder

Domain: Strategic Thinking

People exceptionally talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. The process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Allow them to be in a position where they can continuously improve their skills
• Challenge them to establish a program or a service that assists others in learning about the organization or event
• Have meaningful conversations with them on how they think training seminars could be improved

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Values not only the outcome, but also the process of learning
• Analyzes the learning habits of others in order to most effectively help others learn
• The more they are learning, the more they are confident in their abilities

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Reflect on how you best learn.
• Keep track of your learning process through journaling. Go back and observe common themes or ways to improve.
• Enroll in free online classes offered by universities or organizations

Domain: Influencing

People exceptionally talented 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.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Encourage an individual with this Strength to develop a training or presentation for the organization or group
• Allow for them to discover ways to measure the performance and success of the organization

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Likes to excite others about their potential
• Strives for group excellence instead of individual excellence
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Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Explore your definition of success and individuals who have obtained that success. Make it a goal to work towards incorporating those qualities in your daily life
• Be aware of your Strengths and how you can improve them, regardless of obstacles that may come about
• Reflect on how you can utilize this Strength outside of an academic, career, or leadership role

Domain: Relationship Building

People exceptionally talented in the Positivity theme have contagious enthusiasm. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Allow them to lead a team or a committee that is as passionate as they are
• Celebrate small victories with your team. This allows for morale to stay high and energy to remain positive.
• Allow for the individual to express and share their positive attitude

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• See the positive and speak the positive. This will truly motivate the people around you and help build relationships.
• Transfer your positive energy into everything you do
• Observe what's going well in a situation, refine the focus for others to see through the negativity

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• When in a team that is disheartened or hesitant to start a task, utilize your Strength to encourage the team
• Avoid engagement in negative, destructive practices and attitudes
• Be the encouragement that a co-worker needs

Domain: Relationship Building

People exceptionally talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Establish a relationship that is based off a friendship in order to get full cooperation and dedication from an individual with this Strength
• Actively try to work with this individual to make the team you all are part of a community
• Encourage them to talk to different individuals at each event or meeting

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Strong at building small circles with deep relationships
• Comfortable with being very close to others
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Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Attempt to make one new friend at each team meeting
• Always work to connected to your network of friends and peers
• Be honest and open with your friends, peers, advisors, and supervisors

Domain: Executing

People exceptionally talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Instead of encouraging this individual to focus on the process, try allowing them to focus on the outcome
• Allow for them to have independence in their process. Trust that they will keep their promise and follow through for the end result

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Known for their reliability
• If they commit to something, they will follow through
• Trusted and counted on by others

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Challenge yourself to volunteer for a variety of different things
• Celebrate when you accomplish something in order to stay motivated
• Allow yourself to say no

Domain: Executing

People exceptionally talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Create a space for an individual with this Strength to come to you with problems or flaws in the system so they can give feedback and offer solutions that may help this problem
• Allow for them to be in a position where they are a part of important conversations such as restructuring of an organization. They may see things that need to be fixed that others may not observe.
• Individuals with this Strength bring things back to life. They can restore effects on relationships or organizations.

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Will take on the projects that may seem impossible to others
• Identifies situations immediately, and starts figuring out solution
• Finds problems and flaws in things that others may not see

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Make a list of ways you can assist in challenging situations
• Think through ways you think you can improve your skills and talents. Continue to always test yourself and work to improve your skills.
• Give others the chance to solve their own problems. Assist them if needed, but also give them time to work on their problems first.

Domain: Influencing

People exceptionally talented in the Self-Assurance theme feel confident in their ability to take risks and manage their own lives. They have an inner compass that gives them certainty in their decisions.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Look to start a new organization with an individual with this Strength. They will be very sure of their ability to talk to others and if they commit to the organization, they will not back down.
• Do not think of their confidence as arrogance. Their confidence is because they have fully thought of it and are committed.
• Allow them to be in a position where they can be persuasive and speak passionately about the subject at hand

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Confident in their abilities
• Not concerned about judgment of others
• Takes risks, meets challenges, delivers promises

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Do not be afraid to trust your own instincts
• It may be difficult to explain your intuitions to others. Ask them politely to trust your process, whether they understand it or not
• Express to others that they can come to you for direction

Domain: Influencing

People exceptionally talented in the Significance theme want to make a big impact. They are independent and prioritize projects based on how much influence they will have on their organization or people around them.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Allow an individual with this Strength to create their own process for accomplishing a task
• Make expectations clear
• Celebrate small victories with them in order to encourage motivation

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• This individual will bring recognition where it is needed
• Goal is to impact others
• Powerful contributors to projects they are passionate about

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Make a list of goals that you would like to achieve. Put it in a place where you revisit it daily
• Explain to others that you feel most motivated when you are recognized and praised
• Stay focused on your personal goals while also helping others achieve their goals

Domain: Strategic Thinking

People exceptionally talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Allow for them to lead a committee that revolves around action for the organization or group.
• Allow for this individual to be involved with important conversations, so they can assist with future plans or obstacles.
• Ask for their opinion when making big decisions

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Creates multiple ways to accomplish tasks
• Takes a backwards approach to projects. Looks at the desired outcome then plans alternative ways to accomplish these goals.
• Understands the situations and figures out the best alternative paths

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Avoid situations that may lead to confusion.
• Consulting others when creating a strategic plan in order to get a different perspective

Domain: Influencing

People exceptionally talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with someone.

Leading others that have this Strength:

• Networking is their work style. Assign them projects that include outreach and interacting with new people.
• Challenge them to find different strategies of connecting and meeting new people.

Important things that people with this Strength can bring to a leadership role:

• Able to initiate conversation and be persuasive if necessary.
• Can quickly form relationships.
• Strong at networking and connecting in order to bring others together

Utilize this Strength in your leadership:

• Practice effective ways of meetings new people and connecting with them.
• May be seen as insincere or not caring about deeper relationships.
• Build a personal network of individuals. Be sure to check in with these people at least once a month in order to maintain these relationships.