5 Benefits of Strength Coaching
If this is the first time you are hearing about CliftonStrenghts and strength coaching before, that’s ok. Once you go through the coaching process, I promise, it will be something you never forget. Let me start by saying, strengths coaching is very real and if put into practice can feel very tangible.
The practice of strengths coaching is founded on the idea that if we focus on what we are really good at the happier and more fulfilled we will be in life and in our careers. Think about it, there are qualities that you are born with, for example, those things that come effortlessly to us, those things we don’t have to think twice about. If we intentionally put all our energy into building those things up, how much happier could we be? How much more productive could we be? Could we decrease our stress levels and live an overall happier life?
Don Clifton, the former CEO of Gallup dedicated years of research to this question and founded what is now called The CliftonStrengths Assessment. Taking the assessment and reviewing the information on your own is the first step in this process and you can gain knowledgeable information from that first step, but then what?
Why would anyone need a coach if they can take the assessment and read their results on their own? A Gallup Certified Strengths Coach is specifically trained in getting you from the question, “Now what?” to “I know what my next steps are and I am so excited to learn more about my strengths and how to use them to my advantage.” Simply put, a coach is a bridge between being and doing.
5 Benefits to Strengths Coaching:
1. Learn more about who you are at your core.
-When we are on autopilot it is hard to take time on our own to truly understand how we show up in a situation or are portrayed by certain individuals. Sometimes in life, we just go, go and go and never slow down to not only look around us but take some time to look inside ourselves for information and direction. When you take the CliftonStrengths Assessment you receive your top 5 talents. With these talents, we take time to understand how they are currently being used and how those things can help you stand out. Once we identify who we are at our core and understand this very important piece of the puzzle there is nothing we can’t do.
2. Understand how you learn best.
-I know we are all different learners. Some of us are visual learners and need to see demonstrations. Some of us are auditory learners and do best when we hear the instructions or information. And some of us are kinesthetic learners, which means we do best when we have hands-on experience with something. These are just three main types of learners and as individuals, we go so much deeper and complex than this. Our individual thoughts on a daily basis are so unique to the way we learn. When we understand where our natural thought process usually lives we can understand how we are interpreting things. For example, one of the 34 Clifton Themes is context. Those who have high context most likely need information about how things operated in the past to help learn about how things are occurring now or even influence decisions they need to make in the present.
3. Learn how you communicate with professional relationships and personal relationships.
-We have all had a boss, manager, or superior that was less than our favorite person. And you don’t have to love or even like every person you work for or work with but you do have to navigate that relationship as best as possible, which in some situations is more challenging. What if I told you, by understanding your strengths you could have an easier time working with your boss and your coworkers? Well, my friends, when we understand our strengths better and have a better understanding of all 34 strengths we start to pick up on how others around us are using their strengths and in turn, builds empathy and community. It’s pretty cool to watch this in action if I do say so myself.
4. Learn how to improve how you show up for yourself and others.
-One of my favorite parts of the strength coaching process is that we get to uncover what each strength needs to be fueled. And when I say fuel, I mean what does that strength need to keep you engaged, excited, and making progress in your life, regardless of what that means to you. In addition to that, when we know what we need, we also know what we don’t need and need to stay away from. This is a perfect transition into a conversation about boundaries. Establishing boundaries is healthy and most of us need to do a better job of doing so but with the very specific information you have the backing and the reasons behind why you need boundaries which makes putting them in place a breeze and communicating them to others even easier.
5. Learn how to combine your strengths to be as powerful as possible.
-One talent is powerful. Understanding how that talent becomes a strength is even more powerful. Understanding how two strengths work together is the most powerful. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to understand your most powerful self and use that to your advantage on a daily basis to find personal fulfillment and career fulfillment time and time again.
A Gallup Certified Strengths Coach can help you navigate whatever stage of life you are in and help in getting you to where you want to be! When we find career fulfillment all other areas of our life are affected leaving us happier and healthier overall.
Have any questions about assessment details? Read THIS NEXT.