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Strengths Discovery Questions

Strengths Discovery Questions from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.

Workshop (10 Minutes)

Here are 5 question sets. They spell out the word S.I.G.N.S. as in signs you may have a strength.

Strong? – What activities or topics make you feel strong? What are the activities and topics that generate strong positive emotions? World’s Greatest Investor, Warren Buffett says he tap dances to work every morning… What are the activities that make you want to dance?

Intense Interests? What was your favorite subject in school or hobbies outside of school? Indicators include the magazine and book sections you’re drawn to, How you spend your money or discretionary income after the bills are paid, how you spend time after work and what takes up space in your home or garage… other than the basics. What are you always thinking about?

Growth? What areas do you grow or get better quickly? What activities seem to come easy or more effortless?

Needs? What do you “Need” to do. What’s inside, that has to come out?

Success? What areas have you experienced the most success, achievement and results? What kind of problems do you solve?

The Strength Nobody Wants

The Strength Nobody Wants from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.

Workshop (10 Minutes)

List every defeat, disaster and difficulty that you have survived and gone on to overcome. Consider each a WIN and a STRENGTH you can use to ad value.

Strengths Summary I

Strengths Summary I from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.

Workshop (10-15 Minutes)

Pull together a preliminary "Strengths Summary" with brief notes on yourself. Remember your strengths are any internal or external resource that helps you ad value or make a contribution in the marketplace.

My Discovered (Natural) Strengths:

Passions (Intense Interests)


Talents (Innate Abilities)


Personality (Traits and Temperament)


Values (Priorities and Motivations)


Learning Style (Reading, Listening, Discussing, Hands On)


My Developed  (Acquired) Strengths

Skills (Steps and Methods)


Knowledge (General Vocabulary, Professional Terminology, Regulations)


Resources (Tools and Technology I own)


Education (Diplomas, Degrees, Certificates, Certifications)


Experience (Work History, Volunteering, Accomplishments)



My Decision Based Strengths

Character (Integrity, Dependability, Courage)


Attitude (Mindset, Thought Patterns)


Appearance (Clothing, Grooming)


Mission (Goals, Direction, Destination)


Location (Proximity to Work, Nashville Principle, Geography of Success)

Decision Based Strengths

Decision Strengths Overview from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.

Workshop (10 Minutes)

Look at the decision based strengths below:

Character Choices including integrity, honor, morals, ethics, standards of right and wrong. Employers are concerned with dependability, attendance and promptness. They are also concerned with honesty and keeping your commitments. Courage which means the willingness to do something while you’re scared is also a character strength. These all involve choices.

List your Character Strengths:

Mission and Goals including focus, direction and planned destinations. You will attract more people when you have a clear direction and are focused on a specific destination. It may sound noble to walk into a job interview and tell the hiring manager you’re willing to do anything. Being willing to start at the bottom and work up is one thing, but as a rule, managers hire and promote people who know where they’re going!

Describe your Career Direction or Destination:

#3. Attitude, Mindset or Thought-Choice is a powerful strength. Examples included gratitude, humility, optimism, serving, generosity, cooperation and Action-Bias. While in one sense, attitudes are developed over time, in another sense, you can choose anyone of these in any given moment. Every thought you and I hold has 3 results or consequences. 

There is a physical result. Positive thought choices produce positive chemicals like endorphins and serotonin. There is an emotional result that produces positive feelings. And there is the Vibe result that impacts everyone around you. This is why companies will hire for thought choice, mindset or attitude.

List your Positive Thought Choices, Mindsets and Attitudes:

#4. Appearance, Dress or Look is the next strength you can choose immediately. Employers hire and promote candidates and employees who represent their desired brand image. Always manage your appearance. Dress and appearance are very powerful forms of non-verbal communication.

On a scale from 1-10 how affective is your appearance and wardrobe?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

#5. Geography or Location is the last Chosen Strength I’m going to talk about with regard to your career. I often refer to this as the “Nashville Principle”. That means if you want to become a star in Country Music, you need to move to Nashville!  If you’re not yet 18, do what Taylor Swift did and convince your parents to move with you. There is a unique “Geography of Success” that goes with many positions and roles. If you want to be a Broadway performer, you need to move to New York. There is an optimal environment for your career choice. 

List the optimal locations for your Dream Job:

In future sessions we’ll be looking at your discovered or natural strengths, your developed strengths and these decision based strengths individually using indicators or worksheets that will help you with both the job shaping and job search aspects of career development.

Developed Strength Overview

Developed Strengths Overview from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.

Workshop ( 10 Minutes)

#1 Skills are Mastery, Proficiency and Competency with Methods, Steps, Sequences, Tool Use and Technology) Skills are developed through deliberate systematic effort, intentional practice and often supported by training and coaching. You want to focus on developing skills that compliment or build on your natural talent. For instance, one example of a natural talent is rhythm. Complimentary skills might be dance or drums. Another natural talent is 3 Dimensional Visualization. Complimentary skills might include architecture drafting, computer graphics animation, construction trades or automotive repair.

List some of your skills:

#2 Knowledge including General Vocabulary, Professional or Industry Specific Terminology, Rules, Regulations, Laws, Principles, Theories, Information, Facts and Understanding. You want to focus on developing knowledge in areas that compliment or synergize with both your natural talents and the subjects you’re passionate about. If I wanted to become a professional baseball player, I should get at least basically acquainted with the rule book and arm myself with an understanding of sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies.

List some of your knowledge:

#3 Education including reading, attending lectures, classes, coursework, degrees, certifications and certificates. You’ll want to structure your education around gaining talent based skills, passion based knowledge and your education should ideally correlate with your natural Learning Style.

List your education:

#4 Experience including informational interviewing, job shadowing, internships, volunteer projects or other free work and part-time jobs. Try to get experience related to the career you’re passionate about pursuing but, really, your experience strengths include almost any goal oriented work that includes collaboration, taking direction and working harmoniously with other people. That job at McDonalds gave you experience:

Working with the public.

Learning to be responsible.

Showing up on time.

Working under deadlines and adverse conditions

Handling irate customers.

Solving problems

Working as a team member.

Being accountable to a supervisor

Using repeatable systems

Working efficiently

List your experience:

#5 Resources including Tools, Equipment, Technology and Machines. I’m writing and recording this material on a MacBook Pro. I have lighting and backdrops. You will probably need to have a set of tools even if it’s just the right clothes or wardrobe to get the job and transportation to get there.

List your Tools:

Discovery Based Natural Strengths

Discovered Strength Dimensions Overview from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.

Workshop

After watching the video above think about the strength definitions below. As you go through each one, list any strength you think you might claim as your own. In later segments you will have the opportunity to dive deeper into each strength with indicators and assessments.

Contribution (Result, Benefit, Added Value, Difference Maker, Better Service, Deliverables, Increased Profit, Reduced Expenses, Performance, Solving Problems, What You’re Paid For) Contribution is something you give that helps attain an end result.  t’s the positive change that happens when you walk in the room, when you join a business unit, team or organization.

Contributions I've Made:

Passion (Intense Interests, Enthusiasm, Desire, Ambition, Love, Fascinations, Magnificent Obsession, Energy, Excitement, Activities That Make You Feel Strong, Willingness to Sacrifice and Suffer)

Passions I Have:

Values (Priorities, Motivation, Beliefs, Ideals, What’s Important To Me) Company culture is made up of the combined values of individual employees. Many companies are looking closely at candidate values before hiring.  Examples of values include Beauty, Independence, Control, Altruism and Individuality:

Values I Have:

Personality (Temperament, Preferences, Style, Nature, Disposition, Traits, Person)

 Personality is the organization of an individual’s distinct traits and temperament. Many employers give pre-employment personality assessments based on a belief that individuals have traits that will make them more successful. Examples of personality include shy or outgoing, structured or flexible and people focused or task focused.

Personality Traits I Have:

Talents (Natural Ability, Aptitude, Gift, Knack, Flair, Bent, Instinct, Genius, Inclination, Brilliance, Forte, Aptness) Innate ability makes performing and excelling at specific tasks easier.  It also makes developed strengths like skill and knowledge acquisition easier.

Talents include Aptitudes like the ability to Visualize in 3D, Number Facility and  Finger Dexterity.  Talents include Approaches like Thinking, Relating, Influencing and Executing.

Talents I Have:

Learning Style (Perception, Organization, Retention and Response to Instruction Methods, Optimized Pattern of Acquiring and Processing Information) Examples of learning styles include Reading, Listening, Discussion and Doing.

My Learning Style Preferences Are:

Your Signature Strength

Signature Strength from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.

Workshop

Complete the exercise on the video

What's Trying To Get Out?

Workshop

What's inside of you that needs to be expressed?

Is it represented in one or more specific activities?

Is it mental-intellectual, physical, relational....or some combination?

The Truth About You

Workshop

“The Truth About You Video - Your Secret To Success” 

   (23 Minutes)

Growing Up...

There were subjects in school that you were ___________________________.

There were classes where time went by _______________________________.

There were certain situations, certain people, and certain times when you were at 

your ________________. 

Like the young boy in the story, you have something inside of you that is trying to 

get _________.

Marcus Buckingham’s definition of a strength is “an activity that makes you feel 

_____________”.

Myth:  As I grow older, my basic personality and core talents change.

Truth:  Your talents won’t change.  You can make the biggest changes by developing the talents you were born with.  

Myth:  Strengths are simply what I’m good at and weakness are simply what I’m bad at.

Truth:  Your feelings are also an important clue to what your strengths are (Matt Borden Example)

Myth: I will grow most in my areas of weakness.

Truth:  You will grow most and become successful by focusing most of your attention on your strengths.  (Deficit Attention Disorder)

Myth: The best team players do whatever it takes to help their team win

Truth:  You may occasionally need to work in an area of weakness.  But your biggest contributions to a team or employer will come when you contribute your talent and strength.

Awareness & Authenticity

Workshop

How aware are you when it comes to your strengths and weaknesses?

Try to list 4 or 5 of your top strengths.

How authentic or aligned are you with regard to your top strengths?

How many hours a week are dedicated to using these top strengths?

How many hours do you spend using a weakness?

Duck to Water

Workshop

List a time at work, school or in a volunteer opportunity where you felt like a duck in the desert or a fish out of water.

What aptitude did you lack for the task or activities?

Returning To Your Factory Settings

Workshop

1. What activities did you love between the ages of 5 and 14?

2. What activities were you good at?

3. What subjects came easily in or out of school?

4. What were you complimented on?

Write this information down in a workbook or binder.

Strengths In Job Search - An Introduction

Journey to Passion - Uuriintuya Byambatsogt

Uuriintuya Byambatsogt is a headhunter and career management coach, the founder of Global Career Management Consulting. She strives to help people find their professional passion and achieve personal excellence.

Introducing SUCCESSPATH Career Development

The 4 Strengthsfinder Domain Types

The 4 Strengthsfinder Domain Types from Dale Cobb on Vimeo.