Strength Based Mentoring

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...

If your mentee leads with the strength of Confidence, you may notice a sense of self-assurance that can be described like this: You believe in yourself and what you can do. This helps you take on challenges because you feel sure you can succeed. Because you are confident, you are able to do things that others may not want to try. Knowing that you are a unique and special person in the world gives you the power to be who you are. You don’t have to be like everybody else, and you don’t have to follow the crowd. Even when you don’t feel it, other people may see you as brave because you will speak up even if no one else will. You are sure enough of your opinions that you will take a stand for them. It is great to believe in what you can do because this belief helps you do more in your life. Students who naturally possess confidence tend to have a sense of certainty in their choices and decisions, as well as a strong understanding of self.  I believe that self-awareness is tr...