The Daily Input

[Jay Killough]

Greetings from Omaha, Nebraska! Welcome everyone to the 2008 Building a Strengths-Based Campus Conference! Get excited as the next few days are going to be maximized with great input, relationship building and sharing of best practices. Be sure to visit this forum for the latest updates on conference sessions, pictures, and quotes from colleagues. Your next update will be coming soon...stay tuned!

Oh by the way, Krista Volske with the Gallup Organization is expecting. She doesn’t know if it’s a boy or a girl or not, but I did assure her it would be one or the other. Be sure to congratulate her.

[Jay Killough]

Do you ever have those moments where you are in the presence of greatness and you don’t even know it? This afternoon I was sitting in a workroom typing up some notes. There were others in the room chit-chatting about this and that, but I really was not paying attention. I would hear bits and pieces of stories, but I didn’t want to appear as if I was eaves-dropping. So, as I poked my head up to eaves-drop, (hey, I said I didn’t want to APPEAR as if I was eaves-dropping, I didn’t say I didn’t do it) I was introduced to Idahlynn Karre Ph.D. Focused on my task at hand, I said, “you have a pretty name,” and went back to my business. Idahlynn soon left the room as I turned to Melissa Hinrichs and asked the dumb question, “Who is the Keynote Speaker at this year’s conference?” Melissa turned to me and said, “Jay, that was her.” Oops, feeling as if I’ve missed an opportunity to interview our keynote, I quickly throw journalism out the door as a career. Au contraire, Idahlynn came back into the room where I was able to redeem myself and ask for the interview. If you haven’t met Idahlynn, I strongly urge that you do. When I asked Idahlynn to tell me about herself, humbly, she answered with “I’m delighted to be here.” Idahlynn resides in Denver, Colorado on a small farm, but also has a place in Toronto, Canada. Everybody sing! “O Canada! Our home and native land…” Sorry, back to the interview. Idahlynn first got started with StrengthsQuest with Now Discover Your Strengths. I’ve heard that her copy looks as if it’s been machined washed, rode hard and put up wet. Ask her about it. Since Idahlynn loves her books, I’ll give you one guess what her favorite strength is in her top 5. Give up? That’s right, she’s an input. As she describes, she’s got “sticky notes on the brain.” All of us inputs can relate. For you newcomers to StrengthsQuest, Idahlynn’s advice is to “Wallow in your strengths until you learn them.” It’s going to be a great conference.

[Jim Johnson]

I have been to hundreds of conference sessions in my professional career - I am sitting in one of the best ever presentations for the potential of life change -- thank you Laurie Schreiner, Michelle Louis, and Shane Lopez. I am totally fired up. Thank you StrengthsQuest Gallup, Thank you APU.

[Jay Killough]

Geographers have dubbed Kansas the “Pancake” state. Why? Kansas’ topography is so flat, the geographers stated, “the state is flat as a pancake.” I’ve never been to Hillsboro, Kansas, but by the shear name of the city, I first question the ability of the geographers and secondly question if they’ve ever been to the “boro of hills.” We are lucky to have 4 Tabor College students with us this week from Hillsboro, Kansas. Julie, Input, Steven, Developer, Bri, Communication and Ric, Includer sat down and joined me for an interview. These 4 talented students are presenting twice at this years conference. There first presentation is “One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Individualized Assignments.” I asked for more information and Bri communicated, “Instead of a professor assigning a standard uniform project for all students, the professor allows each student to pick their own PR project based on their strengths.” Bri was able to advertise, promote, market and carry out a concert at Tabor for students to relax before finals. Their presentation sounds excellent and I strongly encourage people to attend.

[Jay Killough]

"The ante has been raised." Shane Lopez Ph.D. throws down the gauntlet regarding Strengths Research. We all have great programming, but sometimes lack the research behind it. Contact Shane if you have questions about how to conduct Strengths research on your campus and he'll be happy to assist you.

[Jay Killough]

Breakout Sessions!
With a heavyweight showcase of presentations at this year's conference, it will be hard to hit each and every one. Reply to this posting to share your favorite presentations along with contact info of the presenter so others can learn more.

[Shane Lopez]

Here are the slides on the strengths infrastructure...

[Christy Khan]

If anyone has any notes that further explain this PowerPoint, please post them for those of us who are not able to attend the conference. Thanks!

[Jay Killough]

Faculty; it’s your turn. After visiting with Laurie Schreiner Ph.D., Professor and Chair at Azusa Pacific University, she posed the question, “How can faculty connect with their own strengths, as well as, become more engaged with the strengths movement?” Faculty, please post your ideas and opinions here. Thank you!

[Sheila MacCrimmon]

Here at NSCC we actually began using the Strengthsfinder with staff and faculty, not students. Each of us took the assessment, worked within our departments using Appreciative Inquiry to get a foundational understanding, and then Judy Williams and I facilitated a campus-wide PD day to further anchor the learning within the campus community. Other campuses of our college around the province are doing likewise. NSCC has moved to Strengths-based Employee Success Plans (performance feedback), which is literally transforming the lives of some of our staff as they are encouraged to play to their strengths.

Our next step is to use the tool with incoming students. Several initiatives are happening around that. By doing the tool first ourselves and beginning to use the language and way of 'thinking in strengths' I think we're much more prepared to work with the learners as they discover/uncover their talents.

[Jay Killough]

StrengthsQuest Grants: Does anyone know of any? If not, reply to this post to show support for creating some? Ron Gaschler's presentation on Funding your StrengthsQuest program posed this question. Please reply. Thank you.

[Heidi Richards]

I have not personally heard of any StrengthsQuest-specific funding, but would be interested in developing ideas and/or possibilities around the topic.

I would also like to pose a request. During the StrengthsQuest 2008 conference, I noticed a lack of mentorship in my own Strengths development journey during the past year. Some great conversations took place around this topic during the "Cafe" near the end of the conference, and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in brainstorming a possible Strengths Mentorship program for Staff and Faculty? I was thinking about the possibility of connecting individuals across University/State lines to one another...developing mentoring and encouraging relationships around the development of our own, personal themes. My "ah ha" moment this week came from my realization that, though I have spent some great moments aiding students and staff in their development this year, I haven't been able to spend as much time with a more "experienced" SQ mentor for myself. What do you think?

[Melissa Boyd-Colvin]

Heidi,

I love this idea! I would be happy to talk with you more. As we heard at the confernece over and over, the best way to be able to teach strengths is to truly know them yourself. I've actually used Strengths in connection to some work by Ian Chisolm on Coaching effectively. Please let me know if you want to talk more.

Melissa Boyd, URI
401-874-5282