Last week I was accepted into the first ever Leadership Mentor Program here at Oswego. I got an email about the program and applied immediately. I never turn down an opportunity to build myself as a person and a leader so I jumped on this Opportunity immediately. Our first step was to take the Clifton Strengths Finder at www.strengthsquest.com. My top 5 signature themes were 1.Competition 2.Relator 3.Strategic 4.Achiever 5.Focus.
These are the definitions for my signature theme that the Clifton Strengths Finder provided.
Competition: Talents are valuable because through them you will influence and even push people in your group to achieve more than other groups. You bring energy to a group and can energize others to move to higher levels of excellence.
Relator: Talents are valuable to organizations, groups, and individuals because they foster interpersonal relationships that lead to productivity.
Strategic: Talents are available because they enable you to quickly reach goals be seeing the pros and cons of various alternatives. You carefully consider the whole picture and then generate the most effect set of actions or routes to take.
Achiever: Talents are valuable because they help you to remain motivated to reach your goals. You will not rest until you reach your most highly desired goals, but they must be your goals.
Focus: Is valuable because it enables you to form very close, supportive relationships in which you help and encourage others.
We had to complete the assessment before the program on Friday. I walked in on Friday and it was a very interesting couple of hours in the Auditorium. We listened to some inspirational stories and speeches before we did some ice breaker activities. The first thing we did was walk around the room and speak to 5 different people who had the same qualities as you and then 5 people who had different qualities from you. It was very interesting to see how and why people with the same signature theme (competition, focus, etc) can have a completely different idea and viewpoint on how their theme relates to them. It’s amazing how two people can see the same word and have completely different stories to tell. These different viewpoints are a perfect example of how diversity is becoming more and more important in business and everyday activities.
We did some more activities before we met our mentors and got to know our mentee groups. I am in a group full of accounting majors and I believe I am the only human resource management major in the program. How unique!
It’s the start to a beautiful beginning and I cannot wait until we meet again. I believe it was about 39 students who were there. I expected more people to be there but I guess the program will grow with time. I encourage you all to join.
Very interesting, when I was at Oswego, as an Orientation Leader, I took the Strength Quest Survey; Something I will never forget, I still remember my 5 top strengths they are as followed:
1. Achiever
2. Futuristic
3. Strategic
4. Focus
5. Competition
I think this program is certainly essential in terms of recognizing what your strengths are and how you can apply them to your life. I am very proud of your hard work and how active you are on the campus, keep up the good work!