Webcast Details
- Gallup Called to Coach Webcast Series
- Season 2, Episode 9
- Learn how a strengths coach is bringing her expertise to the world of collegiate sports, and how focusing on strengths is helping individuals and teams excel.
On a recent Called to Coach, we spoke with Dr. Angela Robles, founder of Forza Institute. Angela has developed her coaching practice to specialize in building sport teams around each individual's strengths.
Growing up in a sports-oriented family and having played sports at a high level herself, Angela's athletic experience helped her realize the power strengths could have within sport teams. Although she was constantly competing in sports, Angela doesn't have the Competition theme in her Top 5. She became aware that it wasn't the competition that drove her love for sports, it was the team environment and camaraderie that she was hooked on, which was ignited by her Woo theme.
Five years ago, Angela started Forza Institute, where she works with collegiate sport programs to help them build teams around strengths.
A Practical Use of Strengths in Sports
Angela discussed a story in which an exceptionally strong hitter on a softball team started to struggle when she came up to bat. Two of her Top 5 strengths were Activator and Strategic, which were conflicting with each other. The Activator in her wanted to just get on base, but her Strategic thinking caused her mind to race about all the ways she could do so.
After coming up with a game plan, Angela advised this individual to let her Strategic theme devise a strategy while she was in the on-deck circle, so her Activator theme could execute on that strategy when she was up to bat.
Angela shared another story about a player who suffered an injury that sidelined her. She got down on herself because she thought she couldn't play a part in the team's success. It turns out that she had the Command theme in her Top 5. She soon took on a new, vocal role as a leader and motivator. Even though she couldn't physically contribute to wins and losses on the field, she once again became a big part of the team.
To learn more about Angela and her coaching experience, watch the full video above.
Angela Robles' Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Includer, Woo, Positivity, Belief and Empathy.
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