ypcuSTRONG
Understanding & Playing to your Strengths as a Leader
Jeff Yacup
Assistant Director, Illinois Leadership Center, University of Illinois
M.A.Ed. & B.S. in Psychology/Sociology , Virginia Tech
Positivity, Woo, Adaptability, Communication, Arranger
avid outdoorsman, aging athlete, international man of adventure
loyal sports fan, beer drinker, charismatic educator
that's me
How would you describe yourself?
Who do you want to become?
How will you get there?
What leads to your success?
What's next?
weakness fixing...wrong assumptions
- All behaviors can be learned
- If you try hard enough you can do it!
- If you can dream it, you can achieve it!
- People seen as the best get there the same way
- Weakness fixing leads to success
strengths building...right assumptions
- Some behaviors can be learned. Some are nearly impossible to learn.
- The best in a role deliver the same outcomes but use different behaviors.
- Weakness fixing prevents failure. Strengths building leads to success.
the strengths philosophy
- Spend most of their time working in areas of strengths
- Have learned to delegate or partner with someone to tackle areas of non-strength
- Use their strengths to overcome obstacles
- Invent new ways of capitalizing on their strengths
"One should waste as little effort as possible on improving areas of low competence. It takes far more energy to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it takes to improve from first-rate performance to excellence"
Peter Drucker
resources for discovering your strengths
Self Reflection/Group Reflection
Think back to your best day as a professional...
your best self
What happened?
How did you respond?
What made your performance exceptional?
picture of excellence
five clues to talent
resources for discovering your strengths
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StrengthsQuest™
www.strengthsquest.com
resources for discovering your strengths
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Via Survey of Character Strengths
www.viacharacter.org/Survey/Account/Register