Resources
Gallup has created a resource center to support your efforts in building a strengths-based school or campus.
The resources give you an overview of strengths-based development and StrengthsQuest. They also provide help in getting started with StrengthsQuest, suggested curriculum and activities, articles on how others are using StrengthsQuest, and research to support your efforts in creating a strengths-based culture.
In addition to these resources, Gallup offers:
- professional development events to support your learning and development. To learn more, visit the Events and Training page.
- answers to frequently asked questions about strengths and StrengthsQuest.
All 34 Themes Full Description
Provides full descriptions of all 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder themes
StrengthsQuest User Guide
This user guide will help those new to StrengthsQuest get started using the website. It will also help them understand and access the many features on the StrengthsQuest site.
Theme Quick Reference Card
A two-page summary of the short definitions of Clifton StrengthsFinder Themes
StrengthsQuest Admin Reporting Guide
Fully implement StrengthsQuest on your campus by managing the online codes you purchase for your institution.
StrengthsQuest Guide Book
An introduction to strengths-based development.
StrengthsQuest Implementation Guide
Learn about current and future StrengthsQuest programs.
Barrier Labels
Barrier Labels handout
Building Strengths
Building Strengths handout
Career Activities
Quick activities to help students communicate their strengths in interviews, resumes, and conversations
Five Clues to Talent
Five Clues to Talent handout
Getting the Most out of Your Clifton StrengthsFinder Report
Handout on Getting the Most out of Your Clifton StrengthsFinder Report
My Strengths and How I Use Them
Handout on My Strengths and How I Use Them
Picture of Excellence
Picture of Excellence handout
Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunt handout
Strengths Development Framework
This document provides an overview of the Strengths Development Framework, along with facilitation notesand handouts.
Talents and Performance
Talents and Performance handout
Theme Dynamics
Theme Dynamics handout
Your Role and Your Signature Themes
Handout on Your Role and Your Signature Themes
StrengthsQuest Activity Workbook
Activities are designed for use in programs, classes, or sessions.
60 in 60: Creating Moments That Matter
Sixty strengths teaching and learning strategies that provide opportunities for you and your students to use strengths every day and create "moments that matter" around strengths in the classroom.
Debunking Strengths Myth #1
Does adopting a strengths-based approach mean you can ignore your weaknesses? No, says an expert in strengths management. He explains why in this, the first of several articles that will debunk commonly accepted myths about people's talents and strengths and how they are applied at work and in life.
Debunking Strengths Myth #2
Building a strengths-based organization seems like it would be simple. The concept is so intuitive, the thinking goes, that embedding strengths in a company's DNA should be almost effortless. But this is one of the biggest myths about strengths management -- and, for that matter, about managing transformational change.
Debunking Strengths Myth #3
When it comes to first impressions about employees' talents, you should trust -- but verify -- them. A good way for managers to do this is to ask probing questions of each individual member of their team.
Debunking Strengths Myth #4
Many of us buy into the myth that talent and motivation are totally separate things. A strengths-based approach, however, debunks this. Simply put, your talents are your motivations; they're usually inseparable. A strengths expert explains.
Developing Students to Be Their Best
Putting Students First: How Colleges Develop Students Purposefully
Driving Engagement by Focusing on Strengths
Too many managers focus on fixing people's weaknesses -- or worse, they simply ignore employees altogether. This doesn't boost performance. But Gallup has found that if your manager focuses on your strengths, your chances of being actively disengaged at work are only 1 in 100.
Finding Your Leadership Strengths
Research shows that effective leaders must possess a high level of self-awareness. But too many leaders are blind to their own personalities -- they simply don't know their own strengths and weaknesses, say the authors of Strengths Based Leadership.
Fulfilling the Promise: Strengths at Community and Technical Colleges
An overview of best practices in strengths development
Major Developments in Positive Psychology
A study of what is right and positive about people and how educators can promote college student development.
Managing Your Weaknesses
We are constantly forced to cope with our own weaknesses. Moving into a different job, taking on a challenging project, getting promoted into management -- situations like these usually require us to confront our own "areas for improvement" -- or those of the people we supervise.
Positive Psychology and Higher Education
This is a valuable resource for educators who grapple with enhancing the knowledge, talent, and contributions of their students while engaging students from freshman year to graduation. Positive Psychology promotes human strengths and the conditions that lead people to function optimally.
Probing the Dark Side of Employees' Strengths
Is there a "dark side" to strengths? In this article, a strengths expert probes these vexing questions and, using real-life examples, offers surprising (and reassuring) answers.
Strengths Success Story: Using Focus and Maximizer
A human resources executive employed these talent themes to keep engagement on his team high while cutting costs and headcount. Managers can learn a lot from him about leveraging their own strengths, particularly in a brutal economic environment.
Strengths: A Global Language
As businesses compete in an increasingly globalized economy, their operations are expanding to the farthest reaches of the planet. How can an executive make sure everyone is figuratively "speaking the same language"?
The Genius and Beauty of Strengths
Learn the genius Edward "Chip" Anderson, Ph.D. (coauthor of StrenghthQuest) saw in each of the themes of talent identified by the Clifton StrengthsFinder.
The Innovation Equation
A recent Gallup study of the U.S. workforce reveals this simple yet powerful formula: strengths development + engagement = innovation. Learn more about this national study and how its findings can be applied to your company.
The Legacy of Edward "Chip" Anderson, Ph.D.
The legacy of StrengthsQuest coauthor and teacher Edward "Chip" Anderson
The Strengths of Leadership
We all have natural talents, but the greatest leaders are unusually aware of theirs. They know what they're good at, and they don't try to make themselves well-rounded or like some other leader, say the authors of Strengths Based Leadership.
Warren Buffett and You
I am really no different from any of you." Warren Buffett, with his usual down-home style and slightly disheveled appearance, is talking to a roomful of students at the University of Nebraska.
Why Partners Need Complementary Strengths
The best partnerships happen when you join forces with someone who has strengths that complement yours, say the authors of Power of 2. You accomplish together what could not be done separately.
What Makes a Great Leadership Team?
One of the core principles of strengths management is that people don't need to be well-rounded to succeed. It helps, however, if teams are well-rounded, say the authors of Strengths Based Leadership.
Education
Gallup Education Practice website
Strengths Insights Newsletter
A free, monthly newsletter for StrengthsQuest users.
Clifton StrengthsFinder Technical Report
This is a valuable resource for researchers interested in in-depth statistical information and an overview of the research underpinning the development and validation of the Clifton StrengthsFinder.
Strengths-Based Development in Practice
This document explores decades of strengths research and theory and reviews strengths-based developmental interventions and the relationships between strengths-based development and employee engagement, hope, subjective wellbeing, and confidence.
Technical Report on the Clifton StrengthsFinder With College Students
Report on the reliability, validity, and use of the Clifton StrengthsFinder instrument
Education
Gallup Education Practice website
Strengths Insights Newsletter
A free, monthly newsletter for StrengthsQuest users.
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