As the head of Human Resources for our company, I have a vision for our employees. It comes down to five words. We want to be:

• Person-centric
• Performance-minded
• Strengths-based
• Engagement-focused
• Self-aware

Here’s what I mean.

In Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Truth About Employee Engagement, he writes about the three causes of job misery.

Job Misery

One of them is anonymity—the sense that at work, you are unknown as a person. What a sad thing! Being unknown at work makes...

Life is a process of becoming more aware of yourself and others. As you do, you become more effective at life and work. As you pay attention to those around you, you notice different types of people.

Understanding things like what drives them, how they communicate, how they contribute, what they need, and what can be their downfall, will help you as you relate to them.

Everyone is different, and we can’t pigeonhole anyone into one category. But we can use our understanding as a starting...

I came across the speech I wrote as a senior in high school. That was 1995 and I was 17. Popular were the “Things I Learned…” books, so in 1995 I wrote the 95 things I’ve learned so far. Here they are in original form, that is, unedited. I still agree with most of them, although I would love to rewrite a few.

When I was assigned to write a speech about my experiences thus far, I immediately felt overwhelmed. How could I possibly include every moment that has been...

Sometimes connections between ideas come when you’re not expecting them, even in front of a room of people. Recently I was leading an introductory strengths workshop for a team. While explaining the concept of talent, I shared Gallup's definition of talent:

Talent by Gallup

“Talent is naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied.”

Each of us is naturally good at certain things, and these things fall into one of three...

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).

What does it mean to be filled by God? It begins with hunger.

I've been praying before, and suddenly, everything disappeared. All that mattered was what he said, what he promised. All that mattered was what he did, what he was doing. All that mattered was God.

I was at once like the dark, barren world before it was made, still formless and empty and void. Then slowly and surely...

Most of us don’t enjoy giving feedback to people. That’s because there are three challenges to overcome. First, you may not have developed basic feedback skills. Second, you see the world a certain way. Third, the other person sees the world their way. That’s three big challenges that can create a mess. But you can overcome these challenges through a simple and clean feedback formula that makes use of your strengths.

All you must remember is S.O.A.P. (I told you it was...

During Thanksgiving in the United States, we make time to think about what we're thankful for. After working with hundreds of people on their strengths, I'm grateful for the different ways that people are talented.

Some bring focus and determination, some bring flexibility and adaptation, some bring clarity and direction, some bring optimism and hope. The world is fascinating because of the 34 strengths given to us.

By "34 strengths," we're referring to the 34 CliftonStrengths® of talent....

Does this sound like you?

You sit down to pray but soon you’re thinking about the movie from the night before. And what snarky Facebook status to post.

You catch your mind wandering, so you return to prayer, but then you notice the door trim is peeling and oh, when was this door knob changed?

You coach yourself to fight the good fight, but this Facebook status is so brilliant, you grab your smartphone and post it. You just have to. Then you try to find your way back to prayer.

But...

As a strengths trainer and coach, I help folks to understand their talented behaviors so they can make the most of them. It’s exciting to see people come alive to their talents and apply them to relationships, work, and life.

For example, I’ve seen people start to give themselves permission for taking time to think because thinking is what they’re good at. I’ve seen people embrace their decisiveness because that’s their power. I’ve seen people foster their...

Previously I wrote about talent development. I love helping folks find their talents—and then growing them into strengths. I mean, I really love it. However, now that I’ve worked in the realm of strengths for a few years, I’ve identified a missing piece.

Talents can tell you what you’re good at, but they can’t tell you where they’re taking you. That’s the business of motivation. When it comes to self-awareness, it’s better to work on both. I...