It is hard to believe that I started my 18th year in the Teaching and Learning Department at ESU 10 on July 1st. Educational initiatives have changed over the years. One theme that has stayed consistent in the Teaching and Learning Department is utilizing our strengths to work collaboratively to support our schools.
Every member of the Teaching and Learning Department has taken the Gallup CliftonStrengths’ assessment to uncover their “top five” strengths. Within the Clifton Strengths there are four themes: Executing, Influencing, Relationship Building, and Strategic Thinking.
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Executing themes help you make things happen.
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Influencing themes help you take charge, speak up, and make sure others are heard.
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Relationship Building themes help you build strong relationships that hold a team together.
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Strategic Thinking themes help you absorb and analyze information that informs better decisions.
Within the T&L Team’s top five strengths, we have 27 Executing, 3 Influencing, 22 Relationship Building, and 18 Strategic Thinking Themes. We utilize this information when deciding roles and responsibilities within our team. Our team spends time during department meetings investigating the characteristics of our own strengths and discussing similarities and differences with other team members.
I recently read two additional books from Gallup, It’s The Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach and Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter. At our August department meeting, our team will be looking at our strengths through the lenses of our career, social, financial, physical, and community wellbeing.
I want to thank Callie Kalb, Teaching and Learning Office Associate, for creating a bulletin board showcasing the team’s strengths. You can find this display in the hallway by our offices. As you can see, the T&L Team is in full bloom, using our strengths to make a difference for ESU 10 and our schools.