Strength Based Mentoring

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.    CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Christian Warneke. Christian has been a mentor in the Omaha Catholic chapter since fall of 2014. He has been a strengths-based mentor since 2016. His top 5 are Restorative, Positivity, Woo, Individualization, and Includer. Here’s what Restorative looks like for Christian: Four words and funny YouTube videos. Sometimes four words, maybe even fewer, or a quick YouTube video, are all you need to change someone’s day. We’ll get to this later. A favorite quote and life motto, of sorts, I’ve followed for the last decade come from Sir James M. Barrie, the playwright who brought Peter Pan to life. “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves,” he said. This is what Restorative means to me: doing what I can to improve people’s days.

People exceptionally talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership over what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.   CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Christy Scott. Christy Scott is a mentor and the Co-Coordinator of the TeamMates chapter of Waverly-District 145 in Nebraska. Her primary role in the district is as a High School Match teacher. Her top 5 strengths are Responsibility, Harmony, Communication, Relator, and Focus. Here’s what Responsibility looks like for Christy: When I wear my teacher, coach, or coordinator hat, my Responsibility drives me to create a plan, stay organized, and prioritize in order to get “it” done.     When I wear my mom, wife, or friend hat, being responsible makes me reliable and dependable to family and friends.   While I lead with Responsibility, it is usually never alone.   Communication and Focus help me to keep my Responsibility in high gear.  

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.   CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Dawn Stock. Dawn has been the Program Coordinator of TeamMates of Doniphan-Trumbull for the last three years. In addition, she has been mentoring since 2013, seeing her initial mentee through graduation and beyond.     Her top 5 strengths are Relator, Harmony, Responsibility, Adaptability, and Arranger. Here’s what Relator looks like for Dawn: One of the biggest struggles for me is speaking in front of a large group of people. I KNOW I can do it, but the build up makes me want to bolt.  However, if you put me in front of two or three people that are engaged, I thrive.  That’s what a “Relator” means to me.  It’s someone that enjoys the close, personal conversations with people in a one-to-one or small group setting.  It’s about asking questions, hearing

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. CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is JerLene Mosley. This blog, and the entire strengths-based mentoring movement would not be possible without her. JerLene began her journey with TeamMates in 2011 as our Gallup champion. A long-time employee of Gallup, JerLene works with school districts and other organizations to become strengths-based. JerLene is also a large TeamMates champion within Gallup, encouraging others to mentor a youth in the community. She has been mentoring the same mentee since 2012, within OPS and the Gretna chapter. Her top 5 strengths are Individualization, Communication, Activator, Positivity, and Woo. Here’s what Positivity looks like for JerLene: Positivity! Exclamation points! Smiley face emojis! Those are a couple of my favorite ways to punctuate my messages, and they are groov