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Strengths Discovery

Jul 16 2018

Internship in Kingmaker [Applying my StrengthsFinder Talent Themes]

(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.)

Hi all! If you haven’t read the subtitles, I’m Gladys and I have been working at Kingmaker as an intern for the past 7 months. I’m writing this article as a reflection of my journey nearing the end of my 8-month internship, and I hope to share my growth with all of you!

Let me start from how I got this job.

Interning in a Strengths-based Company

Nearing the end of my A levels, I was determined to find an internship for myself in order to better prepare myself for not just the workforce, but also to learn more about mass communications, my university course. While sourcing for an internship, I chanced upon Kingmaker’s recruitment poster, which stated “suitable for mass communications and psychology”.

Both mass communications and psychology were in my field of interest, and obviously, being the action-oriented person that I am, I went for it.

Thinking back about it now, it was truly a hilarious experience; the director of the company contacted me for interview the very next day, but because I went for it so brazenly, I only started reading up on Kingmaker on my way for the interview, and I’m pretty sure that my lack of knowledge and understanding was extremely apparent during the interview.

Despite that, I was notified that I was selected to be an intern for Kingmaker. I was overjoyed; afterall, I did fulfil my goal of finding an internship aligned to my potential university courses.

The first day I entered the company, I was ushered urgently to join in a team meeting, and MY GOODNESS, it was INTENSE. The Kingmaker team were having their yearly discussion and review of their performance in the year, and everyone was fiercely contributing to how the team could improve, voicing out the gaps that need to be filled.

Despite the fact that it was LITERALLY my first time there, my colleagues and the directors were all very open and intentional in including me in the conversation; explaining the situation to me and even asking me for my input.

Until today, their warm welcome still holds true so shoutout to KM for such a tight family!

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform intership strengths workshop program

Using my StrengthsFinder Talent Themes

I entered Kingmaker during their “down” period, basically the best time to develop and refine training curricula. As such, my first assignments were to translate collaterals from english to chinese, for a corporate workshop in chinese. Even though the job was a bit tedious, it was a good runway for me to get a better understanding of the company as well as the StrengthsFinder language. And my Input Talent was greatly satisfied – knowing all 34 talent themes during this! Other than the translation work, the bosses made sure I had the opportunity to understudy not just different modules, but also the different styles of training from different trainers.

Thanks to the mass exposure, the learning curve for me as a trainer became less steep. Before I joined Kingmaker, I had no public speaking exposure at all; in Secondary one, I would even blush when the teacher asked me to answer questions in class. Fast forward to today, I had trained classes at different levels, and even spoken in front of cohorts. While I’m still not a natural at public speaking and would still struggle at impromptu speeches, I became much more comfortable standing in front of a crowd, and I am proud of my own development, and I must thank Kingmaker for giving me this opportunity.

Besides training, I also did back-end work, including operational administration and curriculum development.

What do I mean by operational administration? For all the workshops that are conducted, logistics are needed, be it speakers, markers or worksheets. Operational administration simply means that I have to pack and prepare these logistics. While on the surface it might seem like the mundane job that has absolutely no takeaway, it was during the preparing of logistics that I learnt valuable lessons of being detailed and responsible for my projects and logistics. I was also allowed to apply my Restorative Talent, to come up with new and more efficient ways to organize and pack the handouts.

It was also then that I spent long hours talking to my colleagues, bonding and learning to get to know them as individuals (the Individualisation in me is happy!)

Just for fun, here’s a crash course of your trainers in real life:

Strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform internship kingmaker strengths workshop program

During my time at Kingmaker, I learnt how to interact with different people, not just as colleagues, but also as friends. Over the course of 8 months, I managed to forge genuine friendships as many of my “senior colleagues” gave me life advices on different things, such as university, finances and even relationship matters.

My bosses, Yeang Cherng and Hee Guan, they taught me a variety of skills, and exposed me to life beyond the education system that I was so used to. They taught me how to manage something that I wasn’t used to having– free time. As a JC kid, I never had free time and was constantly racing to finish as much of my never ending pile of practice papers as possible. Coming into Kingmaker, however, I was introduced to the concept of having your own identity and hobbies, be it volleyball, dance, or even simply just watching dramas.

Besides the invaluable life lessons that I was bestowed upon, I also learnt many things in terms of skills (Yay to Learner!)

For example, as previously mentioned, I was involved in curriculum development. That meant that I was given the liberty to conduct my own research and produce classroom content that were used to teach students.

I am very lucky to have the directors of the company to train and coach me personally. They taught me how my choice of words could affect perceptions, and how to choose the most suitable words. They taught me how to organise my content such that information were in bite-size pieces which people could digest. They taught me how to make content interesting, such that I could still retain attention even while delivering content-heavy modules.

Some of the modules that I had worked on include Study Skills with Strengths, Harnessing Media Multi-tasking for Maximum Academic Productivity, Intellectual Property and many more.

One of my personal favorites is Multiple Intelligence. We were to plan classroom activities to help students learn about their multiple intelligence experientially, and we came up with various activities for the differing Multiple Intelligences. The reason why it was so memorable was because I saw my hard work being used and implemented in the classrooms, and seeing the students enjoying the activities gave me a sense of achievement that could not be replaced by anything else in the world.

As an intern, I would be the supposedly lowliest life-form in many other companies. However, in KM, I was given so much opportunity to grow and develop myself. The entire company, be it the directors or my senior colleagues, were concerned over my well-being and growth as an individual. The Strengths-based culture of the KM family really helped me to harness on my talents, and grow and develop as a person.

“The traffic light has 3 different colours–green, yellow, and red. Everyone knows what the red and green are for, but many people often neglect the yellow. While the yellow seemingly does nothing, it is actually the key to ensuring the “go” becoming a “stop” smoothly.”

—Loh Wen Wei, Life’s Greatest Lesson 1, 2018

Strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform internship strengths trainers workshop program

As I continue to transit from teenage-hood to adulthood, I will remember my Kingmaker experience as the runway and guiding light that gave me direction in the face of a confusing intersection of life.

Thank you Kingmaker, for being the best yellow light I can ever ask for.

Written by editor · Categorized: Strengths Discovery, StrengthsTransformed!

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!)

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform strengths-based parenting mothers day programme

 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:

  1. Strategic
  2. Achiever
  3. Arranger
  4. Discipline
  5. Woo

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

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform strengths-based parenting programme workshop 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.strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform strengths-based parenting programme achiever

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

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform strengths-based parenting programme arrangerWeekends 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!

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform strengths-based parenting programme woo

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!

 

 

Written by editor · Categorized: Strengths Discovery, StrengthsTransformed!

Apr 27 2018

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

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform school programmes workshop intern kingmaker studying using strengthsfinder

(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:

  1. Restorative
  2. Learner
  3. Intellection
  4. Empathy
  5. Input
  6. Connectedness
  7. Consistency
  8. Includer
  9. Arranger
  10. Individualisation
  11. Achiever
  12. Responsibility

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.

StrengthsFinder Singapore StrengthsTransform Communication workshop programmes studying using strengthsfinderAs 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:

StrengthsFinder Singapore StrengthsTransform Intellection

  • “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!

Written by editor · Categorized: Strengths Discovery, StrengthsTransformed!

Aug 07 2017

#CoachHG Collection 4: CliftonStrengths Findings In Gender (Introduction)

Last night, I was at a small group gathering and the ice-breaker prompt given was “The husband is the Head (of the household) and the wife is the neck”. Who makes what decisions in our families? The first few couples shared typical viewpoints like, “Being a husband, I am the disciplinarian and my wife is the more caring type…” or “I help to nurture the children but my husband is the more logical type”. When it came to the last couple to share, they were the total opposite: My wife is great with figures (numbers) and I am super friendly with children!

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform coaching gender courtship marriage partnership

This is my stand:

  • I will not stereotype mothers to be nurturing and fathers to be logical.
  • From a Strengths perspective, collected data show a much higher percentage of women who have ‘nurturing’ traits and men who have ‘logical’ traits.

From the database of more than 11 million people, there are 5 talent themes that have the greatest differential between men and women in their Signature Themes!

  • Women far exceed men in having Empathy and Developer in their Signature themes; a powerful combination to nurture others.
  • The number of men with Analytical, Ideation and Competition in their Signature themes far exceeds the number of women with these themes in their Signature themes.

In the next 5 posts, get ready for the unveiling for the next 5 talent themes!

READ MORE HERE!

Written by editor · Categorized: Strengths Discovery

Jul 28 2017

#CoachHG Collection 3: “Harmony”

The BEAUTY of Harmony talent theme

StrengthsFinder Singapore StrengthsTransform Harmony Genius

A person with Harmony talent feels unease with tension & conflict because he believes that tension is unnecessary & not helpful. This motivation of seeking consensus & agreement empowers him to look for common ground to mediate & reduce conflict.Often, those in conflict are absolutely blind as to how to resolve their conflict because their differences seem insurmountable. But the person with Harmony talent can spot the platform of consensus to bridge the gap of differences. He is indeed the glue that holds relationships together, and gets along with people to get things done.The

BREAKTHROUGH for Harmony talent theme

Often people with Harmony talent are unable to experience its beauty because they are caught by ‘the fear of authority’. They need a breakthrough.Do you find yourself in this situation: Living out the beauty of Harmony talent with your subordinates; yet when you are a ‘junior’ in another team, you find yourself unable to speak out to guide this team to a platform of consensus?

  • You may be a manager who excels in your Harmony talent with your own team but is fearful to speak out in the directors’ meeting.
  • You may be a student leader who mediates excellently for the student body, but fears that fellow student leaders will reject you if you suggest the middle ground.

Why are the above challenges common?

It has to do with how the Harmony talent operates. It seeks to maximise the ‘peace quotient’ and minimise the ‘tension quotient’. It captures input from as many parties and weighs carefully the following before suggesting ‘the best option’:

  • Which option will result in the greatest accumulative peace quotient for all involved?
  • Which option will result in many involved having high peace quotient?
  • Which option will result in the least accumulative tension quotient for all involved?
  • Which option will result in many involved having low tension quotient?

However, regardless of which option, there is bound to be someone who will likely still experience low peace quotient or high tension quotient. Furthermore, if this person has higher authority in the organisation than the person of Harmony, this is where the Harmony talent will freeze and hide if the person fears people in authority.How to EXPERIENCE a BREAKTHROUGH?

The following may be useful considerations for you, when you find yourself trapped in the above-described scenarios:

  • Authority given is responsibility taken.
    • You superior needs to be responsible for his resources (including your Harmony talent) under his authority.
    • Not utilising your Harmony talent is to withhold the resources that your superior has been entrusted with.
  • Think: “What would happen if I don’t intervene?”
    • You become more effective when you use Harmony talent outwardly instead of focusing on how you feel (conflict is never a nice feeling).
  • Decide to contribute your Harmony talent to your organisation
    • Envision yourself utilising your Harmony talent in the most contributive way.
    • How does it look like? What is the difference between the ‘most contributive way’ and your present state? What are some small steps you can take towards being more contributive?
  • When you are emotionally overwhelmed, zoom out of the situation and allow your rational mind to have clarity over the matter.
  • Utilise your Harmony talent in humility and with great confidence

strengthsfinder singapore strengthstransform harmony talent theme

I have coached numerous people whose Harmony talent was ‘stuck’ at Basement level. I hope the above will bring your Harmony talent towards the Balcony – a place where you operate with great confidence and in humility to bring everyone to the common ground with great willingness on their parts.

READ MORE HERE!

Written by editor · Categorized: Strengths Consultation, Strengths Description, Strengths Discovery

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