You were born to be at the front of the room telling stories and taking
the lead. Other people watch you and listen to you.
Clifton Strengths
Explorer
Youth with the Strengths Explorer theme of Presence are
naturally born to be at the front of the room. They love to tell stories,
jokes, and get laughter from others. They are what we might see or notice as
natural leaders. Gallup explains, “Maybe there is something important to be
done, and you are the spokesperson who can get the message out to people in a
way that makes them want to be involved. You might someday be a teacher,
politician, speaker, comedian, preacher, or business leader. Whatever you
choose to be, you are likely to have others listening to the works you speak.”
At Freeman schools this last year, I met a young 3rd
grade girl who led with Presence. That day, she wore a bright pink shirt and
had giggles that pervaded all conversation. During the part where we asked the
students to draw their strength, she depicted her Presence with a picture of
herself up on stage with a microphone. She shared with the group, explaining
that she loves to sing and tell jokes. In conversation, she mentioned that everyone
wants to be in her group in class. This young girl commanded attention because
of her attractive personality. People gravitated towards her because she was a
joy to be around. Her Presence, no doubt, makes any classroom, task, or group a
little more fun.
We all know young kids like this, who have contagious joy; however,
they also are the ones who we might label as obnoxious or attention seeking. They
can often, in the classroom especially, be a distraction. As tempting as it may
be to see this as a negative, take caution when labeling young people, because even
small words can stay with them for a lifetime. These labels can squash the raw
talent they have for leadership and stage presence. Instead of being embarrassed
or off-put by this attention seeking, if your mentee is one of the 25.3% of
TeamMates mentees with Presence, choose to recognize it as a strength. Encourage
them to use it in a productive way by suggesting activities such as drama,
cheer, comedy club, or speech. Get a joke book from your local thrift store and
spend your mentoring time telling jokes to one another. Make up a two-person
play and then act it out. Each week, make up a story using a story prompt list
like this
one. As a mentor is it our role to
encourage and build up our mentee. They will have enough negative voices squashing
this talent; your encouragement may be the one thing they hold onto that allow
them to see their unique self not as an embarrassment or something to tame, but
an innate talent that can be grown, developed, and used for their success.
-Tess
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