Strengths for Education

By Chad T. Ahern

Most people who've been exposed to Strengths-based efforts more often than not associate it with workplace -- improving team performance, engaging employees, and increasing productivity. Yet, some exciting developments are happening at institutions of higher-education; helping students understand their uniqueness and how it can help them succeed during and after their coursework.

Recently, Gallup has published three excellent pieces that provide some great advice on how to start a strengths movement on your campus, and what such an initiative could mean for your students:

• Vanessa Camilleri's "Roadmap for Implmenting Strengths in Higher Education" parts one and two;
• Jim Collison and Ken Barr's recent Called to Coach webcast on "Creating a Strengths-Based University";
• ...And this oldie but goodie Called to Coach webcast wherein Mark Pogue  details the efforts and research being done at the Clifton Strengths Institute at the University of Nebraska  (where Mark is the Executive Director) to help identify and build-up student leaders and work to  quantify educational and professional outcomes.

It's worth noting here that most schools are using StrengthsFinder's "cousin", StrengthsQuest to help students start their journey. Check out Gallup's StrengthsQuest site for more details.

Getting Started

If you're interested in joining the 600+ other strengths-based higher education institutions and launch your own strengths-based campus, consider these five major principles and actions:

• Start with Why.  Know why you want to establish a strengths-based campus. Gallup has identified this key principle as the leading indicator for the success of a strengths-based initiatives on campuses. StrengthsFinder/StrengthsQuest is not the why, it's simply the how. 
• Identify a Strengths Initiative Committee.  Even if your goal is to slowly introduce it to campus; it will be important to have a variety of voices help determine the "why" and develope a rollout plan.
• Start small. You might start in a single class, make Strengths discovery part of your internship program, or add it to your career services menu. Find a select group of students that are interested and can easily find a place to apply their Strengths learning. It's one thing to give out codes to assessments; it's entirely another to give students a place to learn about, explore, and determine how to deploy their strengths.
•  Secure resources. StrengthsQuest assessments go for $10 each; StrengthsFinder assessments for $15. A cool $5,000 will help you assess a student class of 500 or 333 faculty and staff. Given my background in fundraising, I can't help but wonder which of your donors might be intrigued at helping students approach the 21st workplace with some positive psychology behind them, or assisting your institution's faculty and staff become more effecient and engaging.
• Enlist assistance. While a faculty or staff member (or small group) might be able and willing to invest time to educate themselves on Strengths, one of the best actions you can take is to enlist the help of a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. Certified Strengths Coaches go through a rigorous training and assessment process so they can bring the best strengths information and practices to your campus.

Let me help you launch or support your Strengths-based campus, get in touch. ​