Things to do while youre waiting for luck

Things to do while you’re waiting for luck: Develop your Strengths Thomas S. Krieshok University of Kansas tkrieshok@ku. edu

Why Strengths • Social Work’s Strengths Perspective • Psychology’s Positive Psychology

What is Positive Psychology? Positive psychology is the scientific and practical pursuit of optimal human functioning… and it augments psychology’s longstanding focus on weakness and problems.

Positive Psychology on Happiness Not: Unhappiness <=======> Happiness Rather: Happiness as a skill, NOT a unidimensional trait

The path of MOST resistance “you can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough” OR “you cannot be anything you want to be— but you can be a lot more of who you already are”

What’s coming? • Strengths Theory • Clues to Your Strengths • Examining Your Strengths • Nurturing Strengths • What about weaknesses?

Gallup’s Model of Strengths What would happen…if we studied what is RIGHT with people? Which would help you be more successful in life -knowing your weaknesses and attempting to improve your weaknesses, or knowing what your strengths are and attempting to build on your strengths? ” Don Clifton

Enjoying What You Do… What was the best day you’ve had at work/school in the last 3 months. What were you doing? Why did you enjoy it so much?

Enjoying What You Do… On a typical day in this role, what proportion (%) of time is spent doing things you like to do?

Enjoying What You Do…

Gallup’s Q-12 Employee Engagement Measurement #3: At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day? Of the 1, 000 people who strongly disagree with that statement… – not one was emotionally engaged on the job – Dread going to work – Have more negative than positive interactions with their colleagues – Treat customers poorly – Achieve less on a daily basis

Talent • A naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied. • Talents exist naturally within us

Talents are… • 1. Behavior patterns that make you effective. • 2. Thought patterns that make you efficient. • 3. Beliefs that empower you to succeed. • 4. Attitudes that sustain your efforts toward achievement and excellence. • 5. Motivations that propel you to take action and maintain the energy needed to achieve.

Strength • The ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a given activity. • A strength enables and equips you to do certain things very well. • Strengths grow from our natural talents, so while they can be developed, they cannot be acquired.

Skill • The ability to perform specific steps of an activity. Skills are acquired.

Knowledge • Facts and lessons learned in life (school, work)

Strength = Talent X (Skills + Knowledge + Effort) = Talent X Investment

Strengths. Finder Talent Themes • Achiever • Futuristic • Activator • Harmony • Adaptability • Includer • Analytical • Ideation • Arranger • Individualization • Belief • Input • Command • Intellection • Communication • Learner • Competition • Maximizer • Connectedness • Positivity • Consistency • Relator • Context • Responsibility • Deliberative • Restorative • Developer • Self-Assurance • Discipline • Significance • Empathy • Strategic • Focus • Woo

Identifying Your Talents… On the list of 34 Talent Themes… Put a star by your Top 5 and put a question mark by 5 others that you think might be in your Top 10.

• Grouping by a highest Talent Theme Choose one of your top 5 Talent Themes that you most clearly use most days. • Find any others in the room with thatsame Talent Theme. • IF there is more than one of you, talk with each other about what is is like to have lived your life from that strength. • If you are the only one with that. Talent Theme, find others who are also the only one with their talent theme and answer the same question.

Traces of Evidence of Talents • Without even thinking, I automatically… • Passion or yearning. Ever since I can remember… • Rapid learning: Effortless. I just get it. • I’ve felt happiest when… • Exceptional performance • Compliments

A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails. Donna Roberts Take a moment to answer the questions on the next slide. Partner up with someone near you and discuss your answers.

Examining/Sharing Your Strengths • What is the one strength that is most evident when you are working with a passion (or in Flow)? • What behaviors are in line with that strength? • How can you better use that strength in your daily work?

Exercise in Strengths List one thing you did yesterday – As a student – In your personal relationships – In your hobbies. . . that is in line with one of your strengths

4 Domains Executing � Achiever � Arranger � Belief � Consistency � Deliberative � Discipline � Focus � Responsibility � Restorative Influencing � Activator � Command � Communication � Competition � Maximizer � Self-Assurance � Significance � Woo

4 Domains Relationship Building Strategic Thinking � Adaptability • Analytical � Developer • Context � Connectedness • Futuristic � Empathy � Harmony � Includer • Ideation • Input � Individualization • Intellection � Positivity • Learner � Relator • Strategic

From Talents to Strengths… Talent x Investment = Strength Choose one of your talents and brainstorm how you might invest in that talent this year. EXPLAIN your ideas with someone in the group.

Finding and Developing Strengths Undiscovered Developed Discovered Developed meeting people Undiscovered Undeveloped Discovered Undeveloped graphic arts

Managing Weaknesses… • Types of Weaknesses: – Deficiencies – Something you don’t have much of or don’t do well – Over-Reliance - Too much of a “good thing” when you overrely on one particular strength – Our Weaknesses are most often our Strengths out of control Or perhaps more correctly, our Weaknesses are most often one of our Strengths IN CONTROL. . . when the situation calls for us to flexibly or adaptively use a different Strength

Managing Weaknesses… • Tips to Manage Weaknesses: –Deficiencies… • Make Small Improvements • Create Supports • Talent > Weakness • Find Others with Complimentary Talents –Over-Reliance… • Practice Flexibility Buckingham and Clifton, 2001

Theme Dynamics: Working at the Intersection of 2 Strengths X • Being the best where X intersects Y You X Y

Using Talents as a Graduate Student – Which of your talents do you think will be most crucial to success as a graduate student? – Pick one of your talents that you feel you’re not using to its full potential – what can you do to better use it in your studies? – Are there talents you have that might not get used in your work unless you make a conscious effort to use them?

Imagination is more important than knowledge. --Albert Einstein