Blog

May 18 2018

Why StrengthsFinder? [The Best Developmental Tool for Your Teenager]

(This article was written by Jasmine, our Education Consultant at Kingmaker Leadership. She believes that the greatest gift in leadership is to be able to mentor the next generations of like-minded people, to develop them to their greatest potential. She do so by seeing the strengths of them, and coach them on ways they could best leverage on their strengths to achieve personal excellence.)

This week I had a chance to have a short conversation over lunch with our Senior Education Consultant Shawn, and as we were discussing how to further reach out to youths in Singapore, the fundamental question of “Why StrengthsFinder?” popped into my head, and I’m very grateful to hear insights from Shawn, a veteran in the education and enrichment industry. As strengths consultants in StrengthsTransform, we constantly have to ask ourselves how to better enrich lives from young, an opportunity that we ourselves might have missed back in our schooling days.

A Little Bit About Our Strengths Consultant

why strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform strengths consultant schools programme shawn

Shawn is a Strengths Consultant for schools with Kingmaker Leadership Institute. He has close to 10 years of experience consulting with Schools on the full range of student-development programmes. In the past 5 years, he works specially with schools to design strengths-based programmes for Leadership Development, Personal Mastery, Esteem and Social Emotion Development, Education and Career Guidance and Time Out Programme.

Shawn Top 5 Talent Themes are Developer | Harmony | Empathy | Individualisation | Adaptability

Q: Why StrengthsFinder?

A: One of the most common learning outcomes that many school teachers have when planning for enrichment programmes has always been getting students to be more self-aware and to help them find out their strengths and weaknesses.

Students generally learn more about themselves after going through a programme, but I realised that a lot of students are not good at accurately evaluating themselves, they don’t know what they don’t know, and they assume that everyone is just as good.

StrengthsFinder is the best profiling tool I know of that accurately assesses a person’s talent.

I personally experienced the usefulness of the StrengthsFinder Profile when I went down to various schools to conduct the profiling for the students.

After the 177 questions profiling (yes, very long and arduous process, but I guarantee you that gaining awareness of what you can contribute uniquely and discovering your strengths in a worthy journey), students are excited over their Top 5 Strengths.

When we share with them what their Top 5 StrengthsFinder Talent Themes mean and how they show up in their lives, some students were amazed by just how well the talent themes describe them (just like “fortune telling”). I especially love the moments when students’ eyes lit up and the connection we form when students think that

why strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform schools leadership workshop CHIJ katong convent

“Hey this person understands me.”

Many times, when teachers saw that happening, they will tell me,

“Wow, you have only just seen the students and its seems like you know them in person already.”

That is no magic nor fortune telling. It is exactly the accuracy of this profiling tool and its insight report documenting great and deep understanding of the different talent themes.

And all it takes is 30-45mins of profiling, tapping on over 50 years of validated research and design of StrengthsFinder. (click HERE to read through Gallup’s Technical Report)

Q: So, what got you started on bringing StrengthsFinder to Schools?

A: When I first started out in the training industry, I was passionate in programmes that helps student build confidence, improve self-esteem, develop their leadership capabilities and achieve personal effectiveness.

why strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform schools leadership project management anderson jc I can relate to the challenges youth faced as I went through them before. As a youth, I would observe people around me and model after my friends who were “cool” and have the charming “X-factor” (aka the popular kid in school). There were upsides and downsides to this approach as it shapes my character and personality, but the underlying feeling is always that you are at most “second best” or not as good as others.

When I was introduced to StrengthsFinder and coached by Mr Tan Hee Guan, Gallup Certified Coach, my immediate thought was how great it can be to bring these to students today, so they can learn to be the “best version” of who they can be.

With the advancement of media and technology, video games that are constantly fighting for their attention, a strengths-based approach gives me a glimpse of how to engage and prepare them for the real world.

It takes a village to raise a child.

Apart from bringing StrengthsFinder to students, we also conduct Strengths Programme to Parents and Educators. I believe the it is on all of us to lead our youths to realize their fullest potential. I believe that gaining insights to what motivate youths rather than focusing on their weaknesses could help educators and even parents connect to the youths better and be one step closer to engaging them positively.

Q: What’s Next for StrengthsFinder?

A: We have trained in 6 different Countries, 40 Schools and over 10,000 students and educators and I look forward to having more schools onboard with us to StrengthsTransform our youths. I am very privileged to be working with a team of passionate and dedicated coaches (yes, the people in orange). We will continue to innovate and design high quality and engaging experiential strengths-based programmes for the future leaders of our generation.

End Note

After this short and casual conversation with Shawn, I reflected back into my schooling days. I too was lost and unconfident in what I could do. Just like Shawn, I constantly thought that just by mimicking the kids that people usually hang out with, I could well fit in. I was quiet, I enjoyed intellectual discussions (intellection) and I like to read widely and deeply (learner and input) (these aren’t really the traits you would associated with a popular kid right?). Yet, these are what made me unique, these are my natural way of thinking, feeling and behaving. If only I was aware of who I am, I could have embrace my uniqueness and even further developed my talents, rather than hiding behind who I was.

Being unique is beautiful. Knowing it early increases the chance and opportunity that you will achieve campus excellence and beyond.

Start Today!

why strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform school campus excellence workshop dunman high

May 11 2018

Strengths-Based Parenting: 5 Effective Ways Mum Built the Family

(This article was written by Zhi Hui, our intern at Kingmaker!

Her StrengthsFinder® talent themes of Empathy, Developer, Restorative, Individualization and Relator define her a genuine and effective people person who intuitively sees diversity and potential in people of every walk. Zhi Hui is also passionate about Social Science, especially in areas pertaining to people management, personal growth and leadership development.

Here is her article, written from the fresh perspective of a young person empowered by StrengthsFinder. She shares snippets from her family life, through the Top 5 Talent Themes of her mum!)

This Mother’s Day, I would like to dedicate an article to my #1 supporter, #1 friend and most importantly, my #1 drinking partner (yes, my mum and I bond over Baileys!).

In this article, I write about how my mum’s talent themes manifest in her parenting and show up in her life as a uniquely wonderful individual as well. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about some snippets from our family life, and think about what talent themes show up in YOUR mum’s life as well!

Here are my mum’s top 5 talent themes:

Dealing with Difficult Children Like Us: Mum’s Strategic Talent Theme

Parenting is an uphill task, and dealing with the “strawberry generation” like us doesn’t make it any easier. My mum is a no-curfews-given, go-buy-whatever-you-want, go-experience-drinking-in-a-bar kind of mum. She strongly believes that behind this autonomy, we learn how to take charge of our lives a little better, and mature a little faster. I guess this is a desired outcome many parents want to achieve, only that my mum does things a little differently from the rest.

Back in the day, whenever we made a trip to the toy store, my mum would buy us almost every toy we set our eyes on. If you think we ended up having too many toys for our own good, it was actually the converse. Instead of being deprived, which an old adage describes as “deprivation (being) the best motivation”, our mum gave us much autonomy as children. We ended up being de-sensitised to the idea of buying toys, and would only get things that we really needed.

I guess that’s my mum’s special strategy behind the autonomy she has given us. Special perspective you might say, yet it was certainly pretty effective in dealing with us.

Achiever Talent in Mum: Hayday Specialist

How does my mum’s Achiever talent theme show? A tiger mum? 100 marks-and-she’ll-praise-you kind of parent? You’re wrong!

She is a Hayday Specialist, currently standing at #1 on her Facebook friend list and a whopping level 165!!! One time she made my brothers and I download the app so that she could get some tomatoes.

not the real ones, but the virtual ones.

To her disappointment, we did not download the game because we found the game a little pointless. Oops. Jokes aside, she takes a lot of pride when she completes her personal checklist for the day at work. If need be, she will dedicate some time on Saturday mornings to check off the last item on her checklist. Every morning, she reaches her office at 7am just so she can get more things done (and free Wi-Fi for Hayday too).

Weekend Happenings: My Arranger Mum

Weekends are jam-packed for our family. Each day, we get quite a lot of things done, all thanks to our conductor mum who never fails to make sure our schedules are in place. If I were to give you a rough feel of our schedules, we have around 4 tuition classes and 4 enrichment classes in total per day on weekends. To complicate things further, some of these programme timings are staggered, which makes it even more difficult to coordinate and ensure everyone is at the right place at the right time.

My mum makes use of her iPad to jot down every single activity my brothers and I have each day. Sometimes our schedules change last minute but somehow, things turn out smooth and fine. Our whereabouts are accounted for, and our meals and transport taken care of. What I really look forward to is family dinner at night. Despite our busy schedules, we all make it a point to gather for dinner as a family. As hectic our days can get, my mum ensures there is always time for family.

Discipline Talent, Family Habits: Eating and Sleeping

Despite the autonomy my mum gives my brothers and I, she is pretty strict on two things in particular: food and sleep. That is when her Discipline talent theme comes in handy. Every other day, we are expected to go home for dinner, unless we have a valid reason not to do so. She creates a dinner routine for our family, where we share about our day’s happenings while having dinner together. Every day, we are expected to be in bed by 10pm and wake up the next day by 6am.

Effectively, we get 8 hours of sleep each day. Unfinished homework? We are not allowed to burn the midnight oil. You can wake up at 5am the next day, but by 10pm, strictly all lights out.

“Popular Kid”: Mum’s Woo Talent!

My mum can strike a conversation with almost anybody she sees, especially with other parents waiting outside the tuition centre for their own children. Initiating conversations and breaking the ice is something my mum can so naturally do. It is definitely not an exaggeration when I say that my mum is closer to parents than my brothers are to their friends. That is the power of her Woo talent theme. My brothers and I like to joke about how my mum is a “popular kid”, but just a little older, maybe a “popular auntie”.

(Click here to find out who else in our team has woo!)

End Note

Don’t get me wrong, I wrote this article not so much to boast about what an awesome mum I have.

which is a true fact, but not the main point of all this!

What I want to really bring across is that one talent theme can manifest in many different ways in different people’s lives. It’s really up to us to appreciate the wonderful blend of how these talent themes manifest and shape individual lives and real families – and, for all of us embrace these talents and our family members wholeheartedly!

Now that I’ve shared about my mum and her talent themes – talent themes of hers that have shaped our family culture and values in real and wonderful ways – what about you? Which of the 34 talent themes in Clifton StrengthsFinder do YOU see in YOUR mum? I’m sure your mum is awesome and talented in amazing ways too!

Happy Mother’s Day to all mummies out there!

Apr 27 2018

Studying using StrengthsFinder Themes [How I eventually did it!]

(This article was written by Gladys, our intern at Kingmaker! Her StrengthsFinder® talent themes makes her a Hands-on, People-Centric Bicultural Practitioner who values challenges and provocative thinking. She is passionate about learning the diversity of cultures.)

Everyone wonders, are there certain talent themes that make-up a good student? If there are, what are they?

For those strong in the Gallup StrengthsFinder Language (if you are new to this, fret not! We got you covered: click HERE to read thoroughly the descriptions of all 34 StrengthsFinder Talent Themes), you might know that modern day education might favor some talent themes over the others. For example, based on a first look, you would probably think that a student with Achiever | Focus | Competition | Input | Strategic talent themes would perform much better academically than a student with Relator | Woo | Positivity | Activator | Harmony, wouldn’t you? Well, at least I would.

Here, I’m going to share about my own experience, as a student, and how my supposed “straight-A-student talent themes” helped me in my school life.

Below are my dominant StrengthsFinder talent themes:

For those of you who are really “busy” and therefore unable to analyse/read through one by one, here’s a quick breakdown for you!

StrengthsFinder Themes & Campus Excellence

First, I have what many people would think of as the typical research cluster in my top 5, (Learner, Intellection, and Input). This means that I’m good at internalizing and digesting content-heavy subjects, such as General Paper, History, Geography, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics etc. (basically almost all the academic subjects.)

Secondly, I am talented in Achiever, Responsibility, Connectedness and Arranger, which means that I’m not only a fast, reliable and efficient worker; I can manage many things, complete a lot in one day, and just more productive in general.

Looking at my talent themes, I’m a smart student. OR AM I REALLY?

Here’s the answer – Not really. Add many big red crosses to that as well.

“But why is it so? Don’t you have many talent themes that help you study effectively?”

Look, the reality is that it plays out differently in everyone’s life, and my priorities towards campus excellence is more than just academic.

As an Achiever and a Learner, I was constantly involved in a variety of commitments. In just my college years alone, I had 3 Co-Curricular Activities: International Strategic Affairs Council, touch rugby, and Mass Communications Society. Additional to that, I also participated in many competitions, including Chinese Debate (I am bicultural!) Video Competitions, Economic Innovation Competitions, Youth-For-Causes and had piano lessons too. Oh yeah, I am also actively involved in church activities too. Additionally, I even tried to run for my CCA’s president role despite my many commitments. Basically, I wanted to be as engaged in my campus life as possible – trying to learn many things and trying to keep myself busy.

Certainly, many of my teachers were concerned with my grades and many told me to cut down on my commitments, but I felt that I was able to manage them, and with good reason. My Arranger talent theme meant that juggling several things at the same time was natural to me, I was handling things well and my life wasn’t falling apart. I was passing most of my subjects, and I was able to produce quality contributions to all of my commitments.

Eventually though, I did manage to settle down and study nearing A levels. Still, studying was not as effective as I wanted it to be. Why?

Well, my Intellection talent theme was the root cause. Imagine this: you’re studying Biology faithfully and stressing about A levels when suddenly you think:

“What’s the reason why I’m studying this?”
“How does knowing this affect me in my life?”
“How does this relate to other insights that I’ve gained in this subject?”

BAM! Welcome to the intellection zone. It didn’t matter even if you adjust your environment, or change the subject you were studying, because you were pulled away by your own deep thoughts.

The StrengthsFinder Formula to Campus Success

Basically, I’m saying that having a certain combination of StrengthsFinder Talent Themes does not determine your destiny in academic excellence, it is how you actively invest and utilize your strengths that makes you a better student.

As this is the month of examinations, for all you students, don’t get discouraged or disheartened, thinking that without certain talent themes, you can’t get your As or be effective in school. Similarly, for the students who have talent themes that might effectively aid your studying process , don’t be complacent (WORKING HARD STILL PAYS OFF). Study smarter and harder!

Parents, if you’re reading this, just know that there is no one formula for straight As. Be involved in your child’s academic journey, and encourage them to constantly invest in their what they are naturally good at!

Apr 23 2018

Behind-the-scenes of a StrengthsFinder Camp

(This article was written by Zhi Hui, our intern at Kingmaker! Her StrengthsFinder® talent themes (Empathy | Developer | Restorative | Individualization | Relator) makes her an Authentic People Centric Empowerer who sees the value of Diversity and Potential in Humankind. She is passionate in Social Sciences, in particular areas pertaining to people management, personal development, and leadership.)

I always had camps as a student, be it Secondary School adventure camps or Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) ones. However, I never did think about what goes behind the planning and execution of such activities, much less be part of a team which specialises in creating such a great learning experience for the students.

Ever since my internship in Kingmaker, I have had the opportunity to be involved in the planning, preparation and execution of the 4-days Bartley Secondary School Camp, which uses the StrengthsFinder profiling tool to guide graduating students in their post-secondary school journey. The “peak period” was what they called it, and I am fortunate to have been in such a great team which made this camp possible. Here’s how it went.

Planning a Strengths-based Camp

In our company, the quality of our products is our priority. We constantly seek to update our curriculum and improve the design of our experiential games to ensure that our students take away insights from our programmes, and take active steps to achieve their goals. I was involved in the constant refinement of content:

Is this content worth learning and meets the learning objectives of the programme?
Are there engaging ways (ie. Games) for the students to learn and for us to get our point across?
Most important of all, will the students have learn and fun?

These are the questions which we constantly ask ourselves throughout the course of our planning process.

Preparing a Strengths-based Camp

I always took the collaterals I received during my camps for granted. From the worksheets to the game logistics, we had to prepare them by hand and make sure all students got what they needed during the camp. From the filing to the stapling, folding and packing, all these were done by a small yet dynamic team which sped up this preparation process tremendously. To make things more complicated, every set of collaterals received by the students are customised specific to their signature talent themes.

That being said, it was extremely rewarding to see how the students on the receiving end found these resources useful for their learning.

Executing a Strengths-based Camp

During the camp, I was involved as an operation consultant to ensure the smooth flow of the station movement. From ensuring the timing of the camp was on track to the logistic preparation that was needed for each segment of the day, I had to ensure that all procedures were adhered to. A seemingly simple activity required tons of preparation work and checks to ensure everything was all set and ready for the students.

Besides lending a hand in the background operational work, I had the opportunity to coach students who are not so much younger than I am, on making post-secondary choices using their strengths. Initially, I got really worried when this task was being assigned to me. Nevertheless, I seized this opportunity to recall my past experiences as a coachee, in allowing the students to gain clarity regarding the choices they make in the future.

The coaching sessions were more difficult than I thought they would be. The beautiful thing about coaching is that the students learn from you, but you get to learn even more, from both the students and this whole experience. Some of the students I coached were more certain of what they wanted compared to others, but what they had in common was the desire to make use of this coaching session to gain insight regarding their choices.

Throughout the coaching experience, the sense of fulfilment comes from the spark of revelation the students experienced, and the fact that the students start to open up and get really comfortable with you.

Coaching aside, being part of the mass games as game facilitators was an integral part of my experience at Bartley Camp. It seems like the “people in orange” work in isolation, but the truth behind it is that it takes a whole lot of effort to ensure that everyone in the team is clear of what is expected for the execution to be flawless. Looking at how actively the students participated in the games made me really proud of being part of something so much greater than myself.

In conclusion…

All in all, my experience in Bartley Camp was one that was filled with self-discovery – for myself and that of others. As exhausting as this experience can get for the team, I am more than grateful to have had colleagues who supported me, taught me and led me on this learning journey.

Apr 04 2018

#CoachHG Collection 15: Power Of Clustering (Self-Assurance, Significance & Communication) – StrengthsFinder Singapore

My earlier articles introduce CliftonStrengths talent themes independently:

Activator/ Analytical / Belief / Competition / Developer / Empathy / Futuristic / Harmony / Ideation / Positivity / Relator / Strategic

I then proceed to show how talent themes actually pair-up naturally:

I shall attempt to showcase the ‘greater uniqueness’ of individuals through the Power of Clustering; when 3 talent themes blend naturally with one another. 3 of my Dominant themes (in my Top 10) are Self-Assurance, Significance & Communication.

StrengthsFinder Singapore StrengthsTransform Self-Assurance Genius — People with strong Self-Assurance talents can lead the way. Because they deeply trust their own instincts, they can forge ahead confidently, even on risky paths. They can instill confidence in others and show initiative in the midst of turbulence and uncertainty.

StrengthsFinder Singapore StrengthsTransform Significance Genius — People with strong Significance talents want to be very important in others’ eyes. They seems to be willing to die for a cause in order to impact communities, transform culture or leaving behind a legacy.

StrengthsFinder Singapore StrengthsTransform Communication Genius — People with strong Communication talents bring attention and focus to important messages. They can find words for not only their own thoughts and feelings, but for those of others. This gives them the ability to reach out and connect with others in meaningful ways.

As a child: When I was 11 years old, I was pretty upset that my Maths teacher was so poor in her teaching. I thought: “If I were to stand up to teach now, I will do a much better job and the whole class will surely understand my lesson.” My Self-Assurance talent was beaming with confidence and my Significance talent wanted to gain admiration for my ability to impact the whole class. From then on, I taught many of my classmates Maths using Communication talent and I also frequently declared to others that “one day, I will be a great Maths teacher”. I was eventually awarded a scholarship to study and teach Maths.

As a teenager: When I was 16 years old, most people were intensely preparing for their ‘O’ Level examination. I thought: “Before I graduate from my secondary school, I will plan and run a cohort camp with a few of my classmates.” My Self-Assurance talent is not affected by the fear of not having enough time to prepare for exam and my Significance talent wanted to leave a legacy of a student-initiated large scale event. I then use my Communication talent to convince a group of classmates to join me.

As a new teacher: When I was 25 years old, I was tasked by my Maths HOD to run the yearly Maths-competition for the students. I thought: “Why are we doing the traditional way of Quiz & Buzzer?” My Significance talent wanted to pioneer the first ever Experiential Maths Competition in the school field that integrated Maths problem solving and Tele-match with props. My Self-Assurance talent instills confidence in others in the midst of their uncertainty of success. I then used my Communication talent to convince my HOD for approval and briefed all the teachers on the execution plan.

StrengthsFinder Singapore - Shape Values.jpg

As an entrepreneur: When I was 41 years old, I was asking myself regarding the purpose of my next lap. I concluded that I need to speak to the multitudes in the school hall in order to shape the values of the 21st century learners. My Significance talent has created a high calling. For the following 4 years, I indeed spoke to the tens of thousands students with conceptual clarity & social connectivity using my Communication talent. My Self-Assurance talent frequently ‘shocked’ the teachers with my high level of confidence when addressing the whole school that was new to me.

Conclusion:

A cord of 3 talent themes can create amazing things; excellent performance and a sense of purposefulness to boost self-esteem. Can you find your cord and how your 3 talent themes manifest together to strengthen one another?