Investing in the Talents of Your Chapter

Badger Leaders Conference 2019

Today’s Agenda

• An Introduction to StrengthsFinder

Welcome and Initial Thoughts

•What do you perceive to be your greatest strength, both individually and for your chapter board?

•What do you perceive to be your greatest opportunity for growth, both individually and for your chapter board?

StrengthsFinder Goals

• Evaluate Your Own Understanding of What You Do Best

• Recognize the Unique, But Different, Talents of Others Within Your Cohort

• What is StrengthsFinder & Why Are We Using It?

• Investing in Your Strengths

• Maximizing Your Chapter Board

What Is StrengthsFinder?

• It was developed with the premise of studying “what is right with people” (Positive Psychology)

• Rooted in 5 decades of research

• Over 7 million people have taken the online assessment

• It identifies areas where an individual’s greatest potential for building strengths exists. It is a philosophy of using talents as the basis for consistent achievement of excellence (strengths). Individuals are able to gain far more when they expend effort to build on their greatest talents.

Why Did Ryan Make the DC Badgers Do This?

• Everyone has something to contribute!

• Rath & Conchie (2008) point out in Strengths Based Leadership: “Whether you are taking charge in a boardroom, on a construction site, or even in your home, it is likely that you will find yourself leading at some point in your life.” (p.1)

• Drucker (1999) challenged people to consider: “What should my contribution be? Given my strengths, my ways of performing, and my values, how can I make the greatest contribution to what needs to be done?” (p.25).

• StrengthsFinder has proven success: It is used in academic, business, and nonprofit settings

3 Key Findings in Strengths Research

• The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths.

• The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and maximize their team.

• The most effective leaders understand their followers’ needs.

Part I: Investing in Your Strengths

• If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything

34 Themes

Part II: Maximizing Our Board

• The most cohesive and successful teams possess broader groupings of strengths.

How Do Our Strengths Work Together?

• Based on your self reflection, how do your individual ways on contributing align with other Board members’ strengths?

• Does the Board currently utilize individual strengths well? If so, how? If not, how could we?

• Where are we strong as a Board? Where might we run into concerns?

• How do our strengths serve each other on the Board?

• How do our strengths contribute to the greater Chapter?

Wrap-Up

• Final Thoughts