Author: jgray8

Time really does fly when you’re having fun! It is hard to believe we are already in week six of the semester, and throughout these first six weeks, hundreds of students, faculty and staff here at JCCC have completed the Strengths Assessment and now know their own, unique TOP 5 Themes (1 in 278,000 people have the same TOP 5 as you in DIFFERING orders and 1 in 33.3 million people have the same TOP 5 as you in the SAME order).

For many, this newly discovered and individualized information optimistically and positively opens the door to a new realization of, and connection to, intriguing information that can prove beneficial in many areas of our lives.

In my previous post, I alluded to future posts, beginning with this one, honing in on where and how this knowledge can be put into application, from both a student and instructor perspective including areas such as academic success, professional development, and personal enrichment.

One area, which in my opinion encompasses all of these perspectives, would be the increased ability to identify, understand, and appreciate the diversity present on our campus and in our classrooms and labs. From the student angle, Strengths gives us yet one more instrument to learn about ourselves, and, perhaps even more significant, learn about others. From a faculty perspective, learning about the unique qualities and characteristics of students not only helps identify the need of differentiated instruction, varied delivery styles, and a mixture of assessment methods, but can also assist with classroom management, improved communication, and student engagement.

That sounds great, doesn’t it? But where and how can we use this information more specifically?

A majority of our students will be interviewing for employment opportunities, internships, scholarships, and other educational and professional endeavors. Undoubtedly, the chances of them being asked that question, “Tell us about your strengths and weaknesses.” will likely be posed within those interviews. Once students learn about their own unique talents, they’ll be much better prepared to address this topic with a very individualized answer.

Knowing what your Strengths are can also help students with the plethora of options, choices, and decisions they are presented with. For example, when selecting courses, consideration of this information may help direct students in a more appropriate manner. A student with Futuristic as one of their Strengths will prefer courses in which they see a relationship with their long-term goals, while a student with Maximizer may prefer courses that present a challenge and broadened knowledge, but do not necessarily relate to specific goals.

From a faculty perspective, once your students learn about Strengths in general, and, more specifically, about their own, have the students research other places in which Strengths are utilized, perhaps within a career exploration assignment or project. For example, did you know that companies such as Best Buy, Disney, Wells Fargo, Toyota and Coca-Cola use Strengths in Human Resource decisions and assignments? Do you assign students to interview professionals and have them ask what they like most about their jobs, why they love what they do, or what characteristics they have that helps them be successful? There’s a good chance that those answers will contain clues to those individual’s Strengths and their opportunities to use them regularly.

These are just a few ways in which anyone can put the knowledge and understanding of their TOP 5 to use. Look for future posts for more areas of application. Thanks for reading and I encourage any comments and/or questions.

Don’t forget – JCCC STRENGTHS WEEK is October 5^th through 9^th. The week will be full of fun and interesting Strengths-based activities!

Greetings colleagues, students and guests!

My name is Jason Gray and I am an Associate Professor from JCCC’s award-winning Hospitality Management Department, and, more poignantly, an avid lover and advocate for Strengths™! What I love and appreciate most about Strengths™ is that it is uniquely personal and in my opinion, accurate. So accurate, in fact, that it’s almost scary! Something else I really like about Strengths™ is how applicable and timeless the information and resources have proven to be.

Before I go any further, please allow me to give you my “TOP 5”: Individualization, Communication, Discipline, Positivity, Relator. In the event you’re not quite sure what I mean by “TOP 5”, I’ll be sharing more on that as we progress.

As a member of the JCCC Strengths Advisory Council (SAC), I’ve recently been afforded an opportunity to assist with reinvigorating our Strengths™ blog. My goal in doing so is to address the subject of Strengths® from different, albeit valid, perspectives in hopes of increasing relative meaning making with as many different audiences as possible, including students, educators and student affairs personnel, and then from that of a general everyday approach as well.

I see so much value in Strengths™ from each of these aforementioned unique perspectives. It has been nearly four years since I first completed the Strengths™ assessment and I still regularly have epiphanies that connect to all aspects of my life, personally and professionally, and in past, present and future context.

I hope, via this blog, to help other faculty discover and/or enhance their approach to and utilization of Strengths™ in their classrooms, labs, clubs and any other interactions with students they may have. It is also a hope of mine to show and illustrate to students the value of the information from a personal, an academic, and a professional perspective. I have been incorporating Strengths™ in my classroom for six semesters. I’d be lying to you if I said that every student and faculty member who has been introduced to Strengths™ have fallen in love with it as much as I have, or that everyone whole heartedly buys into the program. So to be clear and honest, much like everything that’s out there related to personality and/or aptitude related assessments (Myers Briggs, Holland Inventory, etc.) there are some people who just don’t buy in as much as others, and that’s ok. However, my experiences tell me that substantially more times than not, the information that Strengths™ provides really knocks the socks off the individual!

So what exactly is Strengths™ and what is this “TOP 5” that I’ve mentioned? Well, Strengths™, also known as StrengthsQuest™, is a program which is centered on positive psychology developed by Dr. Donald Clifton and current administered through Gallup®. You can access more in-depth information at http://www.strengthsquest.com/content/141728/index.aspx or if you peruse this blog site, you’re bound to find more details. In short, for starters, Strengths™ begins with the individual taking an online assessment. Upon completion of this assessment, the individual will have access to their own, individually-unique “TOP 5” strengths (also referred to as talents and/or themes) and an extensive amount of supporting material. Here’s where one really can identify the uniqueness of Strengths™.

Strengths™ utilizes a vocabulary or vernacular unlike any similar assessment out there, and it’s within this vocabulary and its understanding that the true development of application and meaning making begins to occur. Remember, Clifton is all about “POSITIVITY” here. So he basically has created an assessment that identifies and thereafter focuses on only the most positive attributes of the respective individual.

The individual who completes the assessment really has to give the assessment and results a chance here. You have to really dissect the information. Often times, those who dismiss the program have either not given the assessment the true honesty and attention that is necessary, or have not fully investigated, read and/or understood the assessment’s results. Here’s a prime example:

As you may recall from above, the first of my “TOP 5” is Individualization. If I hadn’t fully read and investigated this, I quite easily may have dismissed it, and perhaps the entire program, for an unjust assertion of inaccuracy. When I first saw Individualization I didn’t interpret the meaning of this talent the way Strengths™ intends. I took this to mean that I was someone who is all about me and my own individuality and/or someone who is more concerned with me alone, if that makes sense. On the contrary; according to Strengths™ (Gallup®), it means that I am someone who is “…intrigued with the unique qualities of each person…” someone who has “…a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.” After giving it a chance and some attention, this started to make a lot of sense. In fact, if you were to dissect my life, my career, my successes and failures, my likes and dislikes, it would make perfect sense to you too.

This seemingly inconsequential anecdote actually proved vital in my understanding of my own unique Strengths™, as well as the program as a whole. It led to further investigation. As a result, I began to quickly identify when and where these “TOP 5” Strengths™ truly resonated throughout my life, both personally and professionally.

So now, as I still continue to learn more and more about the program and the 34 areas of talent, I try to illustrate and help students learn and discover as well. The beautiful part of it is that it’s all positive and it’s all individually unique. In fact, according to Gallup®, “1 in 278,000 people have your top 5 strengths in DIFFERING orders and 1 in 33.3 million people have your top 5 strengths in the SAME order”. That’s unique! And, this is something that you can take or leave – your choice. But I sure hope you TAKE!

As this blog develops, it is my intention to include in each post, material that I think both educators and students will find helpful and/or beneficial. I hope this has whetted your appetite for Strengths™. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about the program and/or find out how you can take the assessment to get started, please contact or visit the JCCC Career Development Center – careerdevelopment@jccc.edu or 913-469-3870, JCCC Student Center building, 252.