Strength Based Mentoring

This week I am bringing you an activity that both you and your mentee can use in every match meeting to come. This is an adaptation from the 60-in-60 Document on the Strengths Drop Box which you can find by clicking here . Start by gather a set of index cards and some markers or pencils. Then, take time creating one card for each of your strengths (Top 3 or Top 5). Depict these strengths however you want to by writing and coloring on one side of the index card.  Once you are finished creating your cards, go on to another activity (play a game, do a craft, etc). As you go about another activity during your mentoring time or the next time you meet, be aware of how your strengths are being used. When you notice a strength in yourself or your mentee, hold your card up, explain how the strength is in use, and then make a note on the back of the card.   Keep the cards and use them often when you meet in order to strengths spot each other. This very simple activity wil

In Week 29, Genn and Millie talk about living a life of gratitude. They discuss ho to put this into a regular practice, during both times of consolation and desolation in our lives. They share that recognizing those around us can be a powerful way of expressing gratitude.  Take a listen to this week's episode! You can listen here or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, or Stitcher.  After you have had the chance to listen, here are a few items to take your learning to the next level:  1. Tell us who you are! Find us at the places below and let us know you are listening.  2. Offer  meaningful  recognition to someone in your life in the next week.    For information regarding the topic discussed or for resources mentioned in the podcast, follow us on Instagram @GennandMillie or reach out to Tess at  tstarman@teammates.org

I had the opportunity to meet with a strengths match today and the mentee reminded me about the labels that can often come with our strengths. This mentee, an 8th grader, had the strength of Competing as her #1 strength when she took Strengths Explorer. I asked her to share a time recently when she has used her strengths. She said she had an example but it wasn't a good one. She described gym class earlier that day when she was being a "try-hard", or someone that exerts a lot of effort, especially when it not something that is important. I told her that our strengths are us at all times- at our best and our worst. They are neutral, and in any given situation it is up to us to apply them productively or destructively, positively or negatively. Labels come when someone either does not recognize this character trait as a talent within us, or when what they witness is our strength in the basement. I often hear from mentees about the labels that have been placed upon them

A fun activity we have done with students is Strengths Metaphors. We often have a tendency to limit and confine our strengths to the two-sentence definition of the theme we find on the 34 list. Strengths manifest uniquely in each person based on their other 5 or 2 themes, their age, their background, their life experiences, and so much more. The Strengths Metaphors activity is a great way to break the themes of out of the boxes we put them in. Fill out the worksheet or engage in a conversation using the prompts on the sheet. Pick one of your top 5 or top 3 themes.  Describe what the theme looks like, what color you would associate with it, what it smells like, what it sounds like, and any other sensory descriptors you would add to the selected theme.  Share with your mentee and ask your mentee to share with you. Share with each other why you chose to assign these specific descriptors to the strength.  If you have similar strengths to each other, discuss the differences between

Ally and I were at Norris earlier this week for their first strength day. We were meeting with the younger Strengths Explorer students, helping to facilitate the survey and talk through their results. There was one student who had to come from another building, so he had to wait until all students were done with their surveys so that the Coordinator could walk him back to his class. He finished his survey quickly and his Top 3 were Competing, Achieving, and Confidence. While he was waiting, I saw him messing around, looking a bit bored. He started stacking markers together making a tower, like most kids (and many adults) do. So, I went over to him and asked him if he wanted to do a fun activity. I said, "I wonder if you could make a marker sculpture to depict your strengths." He quickly took on the challenge and we gathered all the markers to one table. He got to work. I didn't make one full lap around the room before he declared, "I'm done". I went over t

Yesterday, Ally and I were in Plattsmouth, NE for their Strengths Day. I kicked off the morning with a training at 7am with 10 mentors. As I walk talking about strengths, I was explaining the Student Success Model from Gallup. Since it was Boss's Day, an example came to me regarding the parallel to the workplace. I talked about the difference between two bosses I have had. One boss, from a previous job I had in college who was very laid back and aloof. He was concerned with his own work and outcomes. My work contributed to that, so every once in a while, I would have interactions that were not that  negative, but also not encouraging. He would say things such as "where are you at with this project, would you be able to get it to me quicker?" Beyond checking in and asking about my work, our interactions did not go very far. I wanted to have further conversations, but it did not seem like he had the time nor the desire to do so. He was not a bad   boss at all, but rather

The activity I wish to share with you all today is one of the TeamMates Strengths Team's favorites! Strengths is more about simply identifying talent; when done well, it reaches the core of who you are. What you love is an activity that guides you there. The activity it simple: it is a set of questions based around the Five Clues to Talent that Don Clifton discussed in the first strengths book, Soar with your Strengths. Here is a link to an article from Gallup that explains these Five Clues for those wishing to learn more. This activity involves mulling over this set of questions:  Who are you?  What do you love?  What do you need?  In the best of all worlds, I would spend more time doing ___________. What is the best form of support you can receive?  At TeamMates we do this activity in true artistic fashion, by asking for participants to somehow depict the answers to these questions. We have had pictures of hammocks, mountain ranges, stick figure families, logisti

Today, we are rewinding to our sixth installment of Genn and Millie .  These recorded conversations are intended to help spark strengths spotting and communication within the mentoring relationship and beyond.  Video #6 came together after we had attended an academy session at Grief’s Journey and learned more about the instrumental and intuitive style of processing grief and transition.  Although our session started out with some ridiculous Allyson Clumsy humor, it became a more serious conversation about self care and taking time to pause in our busy lives.  This is one of our favorites so far, and we hope it leads to meaningful conversations on your end as well.  Questions for Reflection:  What are your moments of joy?  What are your moments of pause? 

Today we are rewinding our  fifth installment of Genn and Millie .  These recorded conversations are intended to help spark strengths spotting and communication within the mentoring relationship and beyond.  The fifth video is designed to start conversations about the balcony and basement moments we experience in using our strengths.  We first practiced sharing our strengths name cards and then had deeper conversation utilizing another fun Gallup resource.  The handout we are using is attached, and can also be found here on the Development Resources section of the Strengths Dropbox. Thanks so much for your feedback on previous videos.  Feel free to share this learning and let us know if you have ideas for upcoming conversations. I would also encourage you to check out the Strengths Mentoring Blog , an d   Gallup Theme Thursday learning videos available.

Today we are rewinding our fourth installment of Genn and Millie .   These recorded conversations are intended to help spark strengths spotting and communication within the mentoring relationship and beyond.  The fourth video is designed to help mentors utilize the strengths theme cards and practice some strengths spotting.  We had another session of strengths conversations utilizing another fun Gallup resource.  Many of you have a set of the Theme Cards, but if you are interested, they can be found at the Gallup store . A few corrections/things we need need to note: I referred to Ed McMahon as Ed Sullivan. I will never forgive myself for this error. I also stand corrected, the song IS actually 867-5309/Jenny, a one-hit wonder by the band Tommy Tutone. Attached is the Orange Slice logo!

Today we are rewinding to the third  installment of our video learning series ,  Genn and Millie .  These recorded conversations are intended to help spark strengths spotting and communication within the mentoring relationship and beyond. The third video is designed to help mentors utilize the strengths to-go cards that TeamMates provides to you as strengths chapters. We did a practice round of these conversations. Through these simple strengths-based conversations, Gallup has proven, you build on hope, well-being, engagement, and success. Take some time to listen and learn with us! 

Today we are rewinding to the  second installment of our video learning series , Genn and Millie .  These recorded conversations are intended to help spark strengths spotting and communication within the mentoring relationship and beyond.  The second installment is designed to help mentors do their post-training homework, looking at the online Gallup resources that accompany strengths learning. Login to your Gallup account. Find and print the report, Signature Theme Report. Highlight words and phrases that resonate with you. Then hand it over to someone close to you and have them highlight words and phrases that resonate with them regarding you.  Which words and phrases resonated with you?  Why did these words and phrases stick out?  If you have done this before, did you highlight different words and phrases?  Did the person you share your report with have similar findings to you?  Did they highlight something that surprised you? 

Here is the first installment of our video learning we launched last year, Genn and Millie .  These recorded conversations are intended to help spark strengths spotting and communication within the mentoring relationship and beyond.  Feel free to share these with your strengths mentors as a way to expand conversations. Our intention is to build questions and dialogue that may help take the strengths learning and awareness one step further. There are so many wonderful resources available for your strengths learning from us, as well as Gallup, and other coaches. Check out the Gallup Theme Thursday learning videos for deep dives into each theme!  

We are so thankful for everyone who contributed as a guest blogger this year. We hope that by taking a look at each of these strengths through an individual’s lens, your eyes were opened to the diverse ways each of these talent themes manifest. I think we can often put strengths in a “box”, saying, Communication looks this way or Strategic looks that way, etc. We get stuck in this rut of talking about the strengths, rather than letting the strengths talk for themselves. This year, by allowing unique perspectives on each of the strengths, we aimed to let the strengths speak- to see how they each show up in unique ways, based on a person’s other themes, life experiences, generation, and more. Despite being at the end of this year’s “A Look at” series, I want to encourage you to continue to allow space in your life for your strengths, and the strengths of those around you, to break out of the box you’ve put them in.   As we head into this new season, here are a few questions to pond

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.    CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Dan Kingkade. Dan has been a TeamMates mentor since 2006, mentoring in both the Omaha Public and the TeamMates+ programs. In addition to being an incredible strengths advocate, Dan also is an expert trainer and has conducted mentor academies on the topics of well-being and humor. His top 5 are Maximizer, Communication, Individualization, Woo, and Self-Assurance. Here’s what Woo looks like for Dan: I have a very clear memory from when I was in 4th grade. I had written a poem about a frog that my teacher thought was worth sharing with other classes in our school.   “Would you like to go and read your poem to the 5th and 6th grade rooms?” And I remember this part very clearly....I said, “yes, that sounds like fun”.   I had abso

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.     CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Marcie Kostrunek. Marcie is the Program Coordinator for the TeamMates chapter of Cozad, Nebraska and has been a strengths champion within the chapter. Her top 5 strengths are Input, Strategic, Responsibility, Developer, and Learner. Here’s what Strategic looks like for Marcie: To me the Strategic strength is approaching a situation and looking at it from many different angles and then coming up with the best possible solution. As a middle school teacher and a busy mom I use my Strategic strength all day long! Teaching middle schoolers involves being on your toes all the time. In our school we have a lot of students that come from poverty and broken homes so I use my Strategic strength to think of ways that we can reach

People exceptionally talented in the Significance theme want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.   CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Teresa Hahn. Teresa’s journey with TeamMates began when she started assisting in the coordination of the program in Johnson-Brock in spring of 2015. That summer, she took on the full role of Program Coordinator. In addition, she has been mentoring since 2016. Her top 5 strengths are Arranger, Developer, Significance, Activator, and Maximizer. Here’s what Significance looks like for Teresa: The first time I took the Gallup Strengths Survey and found out that one of my Top 5 was “Significance” I was a bit taken back and felt sad.   I do not want everyone to think that I want to seem important.   Ally and Tess, the TeamMates trainers who came to school to work with all of our mentors and mentees, assured me that significance means more about helping others to achieve w

People exceptionally talented in the Self-Assurance theme feel confident in their ability to manage their own lives. They possess an inner compass that gives them confidence that their decisions are right.     CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Connie Gildersleeve. Connie is the Program Coordinator for TeamMates of Holt County and has been mentoring since 2014. Connie is also a tremendous strengths advocate, being a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and an Entrepreneur with Connie Lea Creative. Her top 5 are Futuristic, Positivity, Maximizer, Strategic, and Self-Assurance. Here’s what Self-Assurance looks like for Connie: “With my dominant Talent Themes, I get excited & dream up big ideas on a regular basis.   My Self-Assurance doesn’t allow time for doubting IF these things are possible, because my other dominant themes are already trying to MAKE them possible!”   We are all so use to just living our lives the best way we know how and i t's e

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