Strength Based Mentoring

People exceptionally talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests. CliftonStrengths This week, our guest blogger is Sarah Waldman. Sarah has been a mentor in the Omaha Public Schools chapter for 12 years. She has served on our program-wide TeamMates Board, and just this year, she took on the role of Executive Director for our organization. Sarah’s top 5 Strengths are Strategic, Maximizer, Achiever, Competition, and Individualization. Here is what Competition looks like for Sarah: I still remember the day I received the results.  It was about 13 years ago during a leadership program for women at Gallup.  I remember thinking, “Competition . . . really, that’s a strength?”  I was proud of my other top strengths and felt an immediate connection to them – I claimed them.  Competition took a while longer to appreciate. As I think back to my younger...

People exceptionally talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to in first place and revel in contests. Clifton StrengthsFinder People with high Competition innately notice others; they notice other’s performance and gauge themselves based on how they measure up. They work hard and derive great satisfaction from winning. A friend with Competition once game me this illustration. He said that when he goes to the gym, he never goes to a treadmill, elliptical, or another individual machine. Rather, he always tries to attend the same group classes each week. During the class, he can see where his pace matches, exceeds, or falls short of the other gym members. Over time, he can also see how is overall progress compares to the other attendees. Sometimes, those with Competition can get a bad reputation for being just that-competitive. Especially in non-profit circles, where service is so central, competing can seem ...