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Strengths Explorer: Relating

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You like to start friendships and keep them for a long time-maybe even your whole life. You widen the circle of friends for yourself and others.
Clifton Strengths Explorer



Youth with Relating in their top 3 Strengths Explorer themes are people people. They like to be around others and have a knack for building relationships. They easily make new friendships and maintain old friendships. They relate to others in various ways, and can prefer small or large groups of people. Regardless of how they relate, others feel comfortable around them. They not only build solid relationships with their peers, but also with mentors, adults, teachers, and parents. Gallup writes, “Whatever style of relating, people like you and relationships are important to you.”

Because school is a social environment, it may not be the easiest to point out those who have the talent of Relating versus those that are sociable because of the context. No matter the difficulty of identifying the talent, once it is named, one can easily note examples of the strength in action. One such example is a fourth grader I met in Freeman. Like most kids, she gravitated towards sitting next to her friends for our time together. When her strengths were identified, I asked her about her Relating. I asked if she had a best friend, and without a word, she immediately pointed to the girl sitting next to her and said “we’ve been friends since kindergarten.” This young Relating individual knows and understands the value of relationships, and with her Strengths Explorer results, is now able to give language to that unique talent she possesses.

39.7% of our mentees who have taken Strengths Explorer have Relating in their Top 3 strengths. Meaning over a third of our mentees understand the importance and give value to relationships. This strength can be very beneficial in a mentoring relationships, because it is just that- a relationship. To help grow and develop your mentee’s Relating theme, here are some questions to have strengths-based conversations. These questions are taken from our TeamMates’ Strengths and Hope cards.

  • Tell me about two of your friends. How long have you known them?
  • What is a compliment you have given one of your friends recently? Whom could you compliment more in the future?
  • Describe a friend you would like to know better. What are two questions you could ask him or her to know more about what he or she is like?
  • Could you learn more names in a group of class? Tell me about that group? 


-Tess


If you are interested in guest blogging about one of your Top 5 StrengthsFinder themes this school year, please email Tess at tstarman@teammates.org


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