The StrengthsFinder 2.0 Experience
Recently, R Builders Founder, Mark Rehberg read StrengthsFinder 2.0 (now called CliftonStrengths), and he shared it with the team as part of the R Builders Book Club. Soon and serendipitiously thereafter he met TyAnn Osborn, one of the first people certified by Gallup as a strengths coach and trainer in Texas.
The team read the book, completed their individual assessments. Then they held a workshop where TyAnn led the company through the in-depth discovery of their strengths–both as individuals and as a group.
Engagement and feedback about the book and the workshop from the team was overwhelmingly positive. “We all found the experience meaningful. Personal growth is professional growth,” Mark says.
Feedback from the Team
“We want to identify our strengths and develop those. The book demonstrated how exponential growth happens in your strengths. Once identified, as a team, the entire team can move forward.” – Cristie
“What I found most impactful from StrengthsFinder 2.0 was a paradigm shift in how I view self-improvement. Rather than trying to improve my weaknesses, and instead focusing on how to best utilize my strengths is an empowering mindset. Building on our strengths is a far more productive and positive method to achieve our goals in life and work. Learning about my abilities was insightful, but it was far more interesting to learn about the strengths within the team. Leveraging the unique strengths of each team member lends itself to creating a happier and more productive work environment while strengthening a mindset of interdependence.” – Shannon
“The book is great. The assessment test is pretty accurate how it organizes your strengths and breaks them down from strongest to areas that are not strengths.” – Nathan
Watch Beyond the Book: A Conversation with Mark Rehberg & TyAnn Osborn
In this video, Mark and TyAnn talk about the impact of researching and sharing strengths within the company. TyAnn explains about the CliftonStrengths assessment which each team member (and prospective team members have) completed. Together, in this ten-minute chat they explore how the experience of strength finding has affected the R Builders company culture.
The Philosophy & History of the Assessment
According to wikipedia: Don Clifton was an American psychologist, educator, author, researcher, and entrepreneur. He founded Selection Research, Inc., which later acquired Gallup Inc., where he became chairman, and developed CliftonStrengths, Gallup’s online psychological assessment. Clifton was recognized with a presidential commendation from the American Psychological Association as “the father of strengths-based psychology and the grandfather of positive psychology.”
From gallup.com: When Clifton returned from World War II — after flying B-24s as a navigator and bombardier, for which he received a Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism during his 25 successful bombing sorties — he felt that he had seen enough of war and wanted to spend the rest of his life doing good for humankind. Clifton started his research at the University of Nebraska Lincoln library. But he was struck that all of the psychology books he could find were about what is wrong with people — he couldn’t find a single one about what might be right with people. This led to an intense interest in studying human development.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The Assessment
The assessment is a series of questions completed quickly, intuitively. When the results are analyzed, they reveal 34 characteristics (highest-to-lowest) that reflect categorical tendencies.
At the StrengthsFinder workshop, results (similar to the example shown here) for the R Builders team were shared and explored. TyAnn expertly led the group through her process for understanding the unique distinctions of these categories and how these strengths interact.
According to the team’s immediate feedback and ongoing observations, what they learned from this experience continues to have relevance in their personal and professional lives.
A Commitment to Learning
For Mark, the Austin residential custom builder‘s commitment to personal and professional development was always a core tenet. However, the implementation of the company book club has been an effective catalyst in helping actualize this goal.
The R Builders Book Club has provided new and ongoing opportunities for connection, creativity, and open communication among the group of R Builders administrative, project managers, finance, and craftsman employees. This has brought lively conversation, as well as thoughtful and meaningful exchanges about topics and concerns beyond daily business interactions.
As TyAnn commented in the video, this kind of commitment to education and growth is an initiative that is especially uncommon in small residential construction companies and custom home builders within the Austin area and beyond. Mark calls the positive impact to the company, “immeasurable.”
To learn more about TyAnn Osborn, visit https://www.tyannosborn.com/
