How to Have a Strengths Conversation With a Friend

Below are audio and video plus a transcript of the conversation, including time stamps.

How can you naturally weave strengths into the conversations you have with friends and family members? How can merely asking, "How are you?" launch you into a conversation that will be a gift to that person? How can you improve your listening skills as you converse? And what if you don't know their strengths? Gallup Senior Workplace Consultant and Executive Coach Cathy DeWeese gives you practical tips you can use in conversations that will deepen your relationships with those you know well and care about.

Why are you ... friends with a person? What is it about that person? ... There's something there. And so when you think about adding the strengths component to it, it's a natural accelerant to the relationship-building.

Cathy DeWeese 4:50

When you start a conversation with your friends, ... "Hey, how's it going? How are you?" Ignore nothing. Your friend is in your life for a reason. "How are you?" And really stop and listen.

Cathy DeWeese, 8:51

Let's not take the people closest to us for granted. There's always something to learn, even about somebody you've known your whole life.

Cathy DeWeese, 19:14

Jim Collison 0:00
I am Jim Collison, and welcome to the CliftonStrengths Podcast. On this podcast, we'll be covering topics such as wellbeing, teamwork, professional development and more. Now enjoy this episode. This episode was previously recorded on LinkedIn Live.

Meet Our Guest on This Episode

Jim Collison 0:17
Cathy, let's get to know you a little bit. And you're my friend, which is awesome, by the way. Thanks for coming out today. Tell us a little bit about what you do at Gallup.

Cathy DeWeese 0:26
You bet. Jim, thanks for having me. I was getting ready this morning, and I was thinking, "This is gonna be so fun!" I'm talking to my friend about friends and strengths. So what better way to start a Monday after a holiday? How about that? Let's see. I'm in the office today. I work out of Omaha, that's our corporate office. And I am proud to say, you guys, I've been at Gallup for 30 years. And I've been doing coaching a long time -- over 20 years. So I primarily coach coaches, and I coach leaders and executives. And I spend a lot of time in either teaching coaching or working with coaches or coaching other people. So I feel really blessed that I get to spend my time doing something I love to do. So welcome everyone, wherever you're calling in from or listening in from!

Jim Collison 1:11
Sounds like a pretty great role. Do you have a friend in, like a best friend at work in what you do for Gallup? In other words, someone that you can spend time with who does a job similar to yours that you would consider a friend?

Cathy DeWeese 1:24
That is a great question. Yes, I have several, actually, that I think of right now. As soon as you, as soon as you asked, said that question, I thought to myself, there was like 5 little faces that popped up into my, into my brain. So yes. And that is, that is, I think another, that's a really, that's a really powerful thing to be able to share what you do every day, also your passion and your mission, with people who you can call a friend. Because it's different than an acquaintance. So --

How Are Strengths Conversations Different Among Friends?

Jim Collison 1:51
We have folks checking in; they're letting us know where they're listening from, which is awesome. Also put your Top 5 in chat. We'd love to see that as well. We'll be showing those on screen as we go forward. And then we kind of have a question of What, with your friends, which of your Top 5 -- or a couple -- do you lean into in your friendships? Cathy for, for you and those friends that you have at work that do the same job as you, What do you think the value of that, of, or what -- let me ask you this: What do those strengths conversations look like because you're friends? You know, so as you're having those conversations, is there, is it at any different level because you're already, you know, you're already friends?

Cathy DeWeese 2:31
Jim, what were we talking about preshow? You and I are friends, and we were talking about how we spent our weekend, our nice holiday weekend. And so it is natural, isn't it? It just comes out. It's just, and, and the other thing is, is that you and I share some similar strengths. And that's what we were kind of bopping back and forth. Because you were kind of sharing your story. And I thought, "I have Arranger-Maximizer too, but you have higher Activator." So it's just kind of a natural -- it's like breathing, right? We appreciate each other. We like each other. I think I lost your question. But I was just thinking, you know, as a friend, I think we just, it just kind of comes out naturally, doesn't it?

Cathy DeWeese 3:09
And, you know, it's interesting, because you and I work at Gallup, so we have our CliftonStrengths. Or if you've taken the assessment, you'll have the assessment. But my hunch is, like most of us, if you read your friend's assessment, and you read their report, those, there's not many surprises there. Because if they're your friend, you know that person. You like that person. You love them in your life in some way, shape or form. And so you've seen those behavior patterns coming out throughout your relationship with them. And so maybe you didn't have the exact name or maybe, maybe you didn't have them all and, you know, nobody's a mind reader; you can't. But my hunch is that there were probably several on their, in their Top 5, their Top 10 that you looked at that and you thought, "You betcha. And that's why we're friends," or "That's what I need from you." Or, "I see it every day, every time we talk" -- something like that. I mean, these are our natural patterns; they're just coming out.

Jim Collison 3:59
As I get an opportunity to work with college students around strengths, we often talk about that, you know, strengths is a framework to help people -- and I think help teams -- it's an, it becomes an accelerant for teamwork. In other words, when we know, when we know everybody's Top 5 and we're thinking about them often, we're able to do more faster that way. We're able to do more work, right, that we're able to do more things, because we don't have to spend a bunch of time figuring each other out. How does that, what do you think -- does that look any different with friendships? In other words, you know, if I'm just hanging out with my friends on the weekend or out by the lake, does that change anything? Or is there anything different about that if I know their strengths?

The Power of Knowing Your Friends' Strengths

Cathy DeWeese 4:41
I think you, you go deeper faster, just like you would in a coaching session or just like you would anywhere. And you know what else it is? You know, when you think about, Why are, why are you, why are we friends with a person? What is it about that person? What is it that's conscious or unconscious -- something that's at the, at the surface or below the surface that you just get drawn to that person for? There's something there. And so when you think about adding the strengths component to it, it's a natural accelerant to the relationship-building. But it's, it, I think it's a deepening agent. I think it helps you -- and I also think it's an, like almost an appreciation agent. Like, it allows you to really put a name to something.

Cathy DeWeese 5:21
I think about my best friend, and she does happen to lead with Woo. She's a connector. She happens to be my cousin; I grew up with her. So we grew up our whole lives together. But I don't have very high Woo, but I have high Relator. And if I think about our relationship over the years -- went to the same high school, went to the same, you know, college and things like that -- she's a connector. She's more of that kind of more of that, "Let's get out and broaden our network." And then together, you know, we would, we would, you know, throw some pretty good parties. We would have some pretty good dinners. We would do things like that, because together, we kind of partnered together. But, you know, I didn't always know her strengths. And yet, when I read her StrengthsFinder report, I thought to myself, "Of course! Like, of course that's you!" I mean, that's just, that's some of the things that I love about her and that I've always appreciated about her and is probably, makes us a good partnership in a lot of things. So I think it's an a deep, a deepening agent as well, an appreciation agent.

Cathy DeWeese 6:17
So I think it also, when you think about, like you said, hanging out the lake or just, you know, hanging out at dinner or whatever, it allows you to, you know, one of the, one of the values of CliftonStrengths is, "Assume positive intent." It's one of our guiding principles; it's a value. And so when you think about, we naturally do things like that with our friends anyway, right? That's why they're our friends. We don't get on the defensive; we don't assume that they're attacking us if they have a question or anything like that. So if we think about assuming positive intent, from the strengths perspective, it deepens that, doesn't it? It makes us go into that, looking at that behavior pattern, going, "Oh!" Like, like, I had my reaction with my friend: "Of course that's you!" You know, or if we think, if we are on the receiving end of some of their behaviors, it's like assuming that positive intent; it's like, "Oh, I love that about you. And of course, that's where that's coming from." So, yeah.

A Good Question for a Friend Is a Gift

Jim Collison 7:09
That's so great. My daughter, you'd think it'd be me, but in our house, my daughter forced everybody in the family to take CliftonStrengths. She wanted to know everybody's Top 5, and what his family but friends, right? I mean, they're just, they're, they're friends on purpose. And so we spend, it's funny, we spend a lot of times thinking about it and talking about it. We help -- at Gallup, we help a lot of managers with questions, when they're thinking about going from boss to coach. We have, you know, we have some questions we give them. Well, in friendships, let's think about, Cathy, let's think about some great opening questions that friends can ask one another. What are some things that we could, what are some go-to questions that we could use, do you think, that may open up the conversations? Not just watercooler conversations, but something that's strengths-related?

Cathy DeWeese 7:54
Yeah. And you know, I always think about a question -- let's think about a question. If you think about, I'm a coach. So a coach uses questions. It's a tool, it's a technique, but I think about it as a gift. If I ask a good question, that's a gift to my client. So I think about that in the same way as a friendship. A good question with my friend could be a gift to my friend. And what can that gift give them? It's almost like you can think about it's like, what gifts can I give my friends today? So ask a good question.

Cathy DeWeese 8:24
So, you know, one of the things I think about -- and I learned this from a mentor coach a long time ago -- but it's a question that many of us probably just kind of take for granted. It's just kind of a throwaway. But, How are you? OK, how many times have you asked somebody that? You might even walk, you know, be walking by them and, "How are you?" And you just kind of walk by. Think about what you're asking: "How are you?" And when you start a conversation with your friends, most of us probably start our conversations like that, right, over a text or an email: "Hey, how's it going? How are you?" Ignore nothing. Your friend is in your life for a reason. "How are you?" And really stop and listen. Ignore nothing -- ignore, don't ignore their tone, don't ignore their emotions, don't ignore their words, don't ignore that pause with a sigh. It doesn't have to be a negative; it could be a positive. But ignore nothing.

Truly Hearing a Friend: 3 Levels of Listening

Cathy DeWeese 9:18
And, you know, one of the things, Jim, that we think about -- and this is probably something I bet all of you have, in some way, shape or form heard this before. But in coaching, we talk about the 3 levels of listening. And if you've used it, I think some people have used it in many different ways. I work with educators. I work with all kinds of folks who have heard like about the 3 levels of listening. But if we think about the How are you? And then you really stop and listen, that first level is really about listening. It's kind of our focus. It's like internal. It's like the, the, the, the talker's focus or the, you know, the listener's focus. So it's internal listening; the focus is on me. So, "How are you?" I can ask that just as a flyaway and be like, "Oh, OK," and then I have something I really want to say. So I don't really listen to what they said. Right? It's like, "Oh, yeah. OK, that's great. But here, let me, here's what I need, here's what I need your help with."

Cathy DeWeese 10:11
But now if you get into Level 2, that's more the listener's attention is fully on the speaker. So if you think about that, it's that listening to understand. It's true focus on the other person. How -- what a gift is that! -- of true focus on another person. And you don't have to be face to face.

Jim Collison 10:30
Is there, when we think about this actually listening for understanding, as opposed to listening for response, are there any tricks? I, for some of us, our attention spans are a little short. And, and any advice on that, as far as -- give me some advice on How, how can I change from listening from response to listening for understanding? Are there things I could be doing or tricks I could be doing to kind of help me with that?

Cathy DeWeese 10:58
I think it's about a quick little reminder of, Why am I talking to this person? Why are they in front of me? Or a quick reminder of, how about just remember what you like about them? I think it's just about values, too. It's just about -- maybe the, maybe the whole question is about being in presence with another person -- mindfulness. We all can be distracted. You know, I was thinking about these levels of listening the level -- by the way, the third level is that listener is completely aware of all the cues and the stimulus that's involved. So it's really that tuned-in, attentive, empathetic -- I call it holistic. It's focused on the holistic. I think it's all, I think it's all, using all your senses.

Cathy DeWeese 11:36
But to your point about staying, you know, we're all, we all bounce between those 3 levels throughout. And so the trick is, is to catch yourself when you're at Level 1, and to give yourself that trick or that prompt of that mental prompt to say -- whatever it could be; well, Jim, for you, it could be a word; it could just be "focus." For another person, it could be a physical. It could be, take a deep breath. For another person, it could just be remember something about that person that you like. But it's really about staying in presence. You know, it's something that we can practice.

Cathy DeWeese 12:04
You talked about your family being friends. Think about how many of us are in the kitchen, maybe tonight, making dinner. I don't know, maybe you're warming up leftovers; I don't know what you're doing! But you're in the kitchen, and you've got one of your family members walks in. And you're stirring something, and they say, "Hey, Mom, you know what happened to me at school today?" I've got a choice in that moment. I can continue to stir or put something in the microwave or do whatever I was doing on the counter. Or what can I do? I can stop. And I can take a moment and be fully present -- for just a moment. "Hey, Mom, this is what happened to me at school today." Or my husband walks in the door. Does he say, "Hi"? Does he, does he take a deep breath? Does he take off his coat? Stay present, just for a moment, and just observe. Get out of your own head; stay present with that other person, just for a moment. We like these people. We love these people. Let's not forget it!

Jim Collison 13:07
Allegedly, allegedly.

Cathy DeWeese 13:09
Allegedly. So how about we show it?

Conversations With Friends Who Don't Know Their Strengths

Jim Collison 13:13
Cathy, it's a great, it's a great conversation, in the sense that -- and I need those reminders. I almost need to invoke some Maximizer or something inside of me to slow down for a second and say, "Hey, wait a minute! Maybe there's more to this." We do want to take some questions from those listening in chat. And if you do me a favor, put a "Q" in front of that, so we could see those. George has been asking, a little bit earlier in the conversation, How about friends who don't know CliftonStrengths? So Cathy, as we think about say, say you've got your best friend; they've never taken CliftonStrengths. What kind of things can you do to still have strengths-based conversations?

Cathy DeWeese 13:47
George, "How are you?" is not a strengths-based conversation. You know, it's, it's a caring question. But if you care about the person, you value them. Here's another question: What's going well for you today? Now, by the way, these are, this is not a script. Some of the questions that I'm giving you, it's not an order of, you know, it's not a script. So it is, it's more of just thinking about, you know, weaving these in. "What's going well for you today?" We don't have to know their strengths to have them share a success with us or tell us about something that went well. We don't have to.

Cathy DeWeese 14:20
And let's, again, we just want to keep it simple, right? If they have their CliftonStrengths, I think it's a little weird to kind of always just talk strengths or kind of, you know, kind of, you know, kind of use the strengths-spotting words and that kind of stuff. So just be natural; these are your friends. But if you can weave in a question in your conversation with that person of, "What's going well for you? What went well for you today?" Or "What, what worked in that situation?" or "What went well in that situation?" or whatever. Get them to name a success. "We're never as strong as when we have our successes clearly in mind." Thank you, Dr. Clifton! That is something we don't have to have the CliftonStrengths Top 10 to kind of keep top-of-mind.

Cathy DeWeese 15:02
You know, and another, and another question might be, so as a follow-up to, "What's going well?" -- now this is kind of a strengths question, George, I guess, but it's -- you can get them to name, you know, "How did your strengths play a role in that?" "Which one, you know, how did you want to use that more? How did it get in your way?" Sometimes we, if you just look at the behaviors of your friends and just describe that behavior -- She's kind. He's compassionate. He's dependable. He always picks up the phone when I call. Think about what you notice in that person: He's funny. She asks good questions. She's a good listener. I don't have to know a person's CliftonStrengths results to be able to describe their characteristics and the behaviors that I appreciate about them. I don't know, does that help? What do you think, Jim?

Jim Collison 16:02
Yeah, I think, you know, in our book, Strengths Based Parenting, there's a chapter on strengths spotting. And it's really designed for adults to be spotting these strengths in children pre them able to answer these questions. But I think the question among friends, I love yours: What was successful for you today? Or What went well for you today? I love those questions. I love the follow-up of why. You know, like, they say, "Oh, I did blah, blah, blah, or this or this" -- to follow up with, Why or why was that important? Or Why was it, you know, why was it successful?

Cathy DeWeese 16:39
How was it or what?

Jim Collison 16:41
Yeah, something to dig in a little bit, to start saying, "OK, let's deconstruct that success" and figure out -- and, and, by the way, this doesn't have to, this, you can use this question if you know your strengths as well. So, George, I think this works either way. But you can begin to get this, get to the motivations or get to the success factors or get to that, and ask some real questions. I don't know anybody who doesn't necessarily like to talk about, to, about themselves in that way. You know, if you start opening it up, they'll, they'll say -- generally -- they'll say more and more about that. And you can have this great conversation. I think from that, you can, you can start to de-, you know, you, well, you can start to construct then some ideas of, "Oh, well you might be good at this." or "You may be, there's maybe some things that you can use here." And so, let that conversation, you know, you talked about these 3 levels. I think the understanding part can go so deep in figuring out what they're saying and why they're saying it and what's in those conversations. So, Cathy, that's kind of what I, that's kind of what I think of. Marina reminds me that she says, I love the 5 clues to talent, when I don't know someone's CliftonStrengths. Right? And this ability to -- I can't rattle those -- can you rattle those off the top of your head?

Cathy DeWeese 18:04
Yeah, yearning. OK, so help us Hello. I should have those memorize. Yearning. Flow. Hello, somebody'll hit it. Come on, guys. What you're naturally, well like what you're naturally drawn to; what comes easy. What you learn quickly.

Jim Collison 18:18
You're right.

Cathy DeWeese 18:21
Hello.

Jim Collison 18:22
Well, we I put you on the spot.

Cathy DeWeese 18:23
It's not a quiz.

Always Something to Learn, Appreciate About Friends, Family

Jim Collison 18:24
It's, yeah, I put you on the spot. It's this, it's that intention, though, of what in us is, is working right? I told you, this weekend, I had a super productive weekend, in the preshow; you and I were talking. And, and you, you allowed me to tell you what the weekend was like. Like you asked a question of, Well, in fact, you came in -- I was telling Reilly about it, and you jumped in. And you said, "Well, wait a minute! I want to hear about it." So, like, so you allowed me to say that -- sometimes we jump into the middle of these conversations, you're like, "Oh, well, that wasn't for me. I just want to tell, I just want to tell my stories." Right. And so there's some opportunity to kind of listen to especially when you sense the significance in it, right? And some, and the words, kind of in the words you're saying.

Cathy DeWeese 19:12
You know what it is, Jim? It's like, let's not take the people closest to us for granted. There's always something to learn, even about somebody you've known your whole life or that you've been married to for 25 years. There's always something to learn. There's always something to appreciate. So maybe that's one of our hints to ourself is, How do I not take this person for granted? And especially now if we kind of tie it to strengths. Thank you; I knew our friends would hit us with the other, with the other clues to talent. Thank you so much! But if you think about not taking someone for granted. You know, sometimes, here's a little, I've been thinking about writing a blog on this. So maybe you guys have just given me the, I don't know, impetus to do it. But what's the antidote to the poison?

The Antidote to Relational Poison

Cathy DeWeese 19:30
So if you think about personal relationships, it can be any kind of personal relationship. It could be a friendship, a spouse, a love relationship, any kind of relationship. You think about sometimes there's, there's poison. And poison typically is not a big dose that you dunk and, you know, that you, and now you're done. Typically, poison in these relationships is a drip, drip, drip. And what's the poison? It's when, when we don't assume positive intent; when we don't assume, when we don't try to continue to learn and like and learn more about this person. When we let those little things that bug us about the people that we know the most get under our skin and start to kind of poison the way we look at that person.

Cathy DeWeese 20:41
And so if we think about, What's the antidote? Think of one thing that you like about them. Think about one thing that you appreciate about them. If you know their strengths, sometimes you just name the strength in, in your head. It's an antidote. And, you know, we've all heard the -- maybe we haven't, but -- there's, there's that research that talks about for every negative, it takes five positives to kind of just counteract it and neutralize it. I think naming strengths, I think it's an accelerant. I think it helps to neutralize the, the poison a little faster. And again, George, I'm thinking back. Even if your friends haven't taken CliftonStrengths, "She is so fun to be around." "He is a great cook." We don't have to -- just neutralize that poison. Think of something that you appreciate, that you like, that you admire, that you value.

Jim Collison 21:30
I think, Cathy, you know, you're hitting it right on the head here with this. The -- oftentimes, if we're trying to discover something about somebody in a conversation, if we're asking a, the "Why?" question. And then we're, we're listening, because we want to spot a theme, we want to spot something in them, we listen a lot more carefully. Like we, cause we're trying to do something with that. And so I actually I think, you know, whether you know it or not, I think there's some opportunities in friendships to ask these questions, and then listen for the answers so that you can spot it. Maybe that's, I'm answering my own question of --

Cathy DeWeese 22:08
I think you are.

Additional Insights on Strengths Conversations

Jim Collison 22:08
How do I do this? When I don't -- like, well, I want to discover things. I love that. That's why I love interviewing people, as I love listening to their answers and digging these things out. And so I think sometimes and, it's funny, I don't, I don't interview people like I do when we're doing it this way; just as friends. Maybe I ought to start, maybe I ought to start doing it more. What about -- in the relationship that we have, like, I've always, I've always found that the, this idea of service or serving others is important in this. And I think sometimes we kind of just think, "OK, I'm just gonna sit there and listen." What are, how else could we, how else could we engage in a conversation with our friends around strengths? When they've identified something, what else could we do?

Cathy DeWeese 22:54
Hmm. I think asking some good questions. I think making some observations. I think also affirming. How many times have we, again, maybe it goes back to the idea about taking folks for granted? Or not shining the light on them, right? Shining the light on something. So I think we, in a friendship, there's, I would hope that there's trust, right? That's one of the foundational principles of a good friendship. And you think about trust, you think about respect, you think about admiration -- when's the last time we've maybe said out loud to that person something that we admire about them, respect about them, appreciate about them? It doesn't take anything to do that.

Cathy DeWeese 23:36
And you know, when you think about, you know, boss to coach, it's one of the, it's a foundational principle about individualizing, you know, managers individualizing to their employees. It's never a better opportunity in a friendship. You know this person. There's a depth of emotion and relatability and, as I've already said, trust and respect and friendship. So, take a minute, just take a minute. You know what it is, Jim? It's really, I think I'm going back to that word "mindfulness." And I think I'm also going back to the word "intentionality." Just be intentional. Take one moment before you answer their text or get on the phone with them, and just be intentional.

Cathy DeWeese 24:14
Here's a bonus question: How can I help? How can I help? When's the last time we've asked our friends that? For some of you probably an hour ago. Maybe for some of us, not as often as we should. How can I help? That allows, what does that allow the person to do? It allows them to think about you through that lens of strengths or through that lens of respect and value. But it also is you're putting yourself out there and that little element of vulnerability. How can I help? And so, you know, what strengths does your friend need from you? And it's that intentional application in the service of someone that we care about. How about that?

Jim Collison 25:01
Yeah, I think that's a really good question that we don't deploy enough, but you shouldn't do every time. Right?

Cathy DeWeese 25:09
Because then you can get into -- yeah.

Jim Collison 25:10
Well, I mean, it, that, it's like, I think we need to save it for those early moments -- again, being at that third level of listening, really, when you're fully present and fully mindful, and whatever that means, but you know it when you're there. And, and then, an opportunity arises. And it's like, cause I've had, I mean, I've had that happen where, where people have asked me, "Can I help?" And then I'd say, "Yes," they didn't really mean --

Cathy DeWeese 25:42
Really help.

Jim Collison 25:42
Actually help.

Cathy DeWeese 25:43
What about this question: What support do you need? That's not just me; that's not, How can I help? Just what do they need? They get to name it. They get to name it. Maybe there's one. What support do you need?

Jim Collison 25:58
Eduardo says, Reflect back on what you heard a friend say and ask, "Is there something I missed?" Right? I would think of that often in terms of maybe a miscommunication in there. But, but maybe like, Hey, as you're, as we're -- anything else, you know, that --

Cathy DeWeese 26:15
What else is important for me to know?

Jim Collison 26:17
Yeah, I say this as an interview question all the time when I'm interviewing people: "Was there anything that I -- any question I should have asked that I didn't?" Right? Just, and again, that doesn't always work in the context of a friendship. But you kind of, maybe there's an opportunity to ask, "Is there, is there anything that I should know?" Anything else I should know in, in light of this? You know, or, yeah, Is there anything else I should know? I think that's a great, I mean, again, this gives us the opportunity to really dig in. Cathy, I also think not every conversation necessarily needs to be a deep dive in deploying, right? There's sometimes we just need --

Cathy DeWeese 26:55
That would be so weird, wouldn't it? That's, that's artificial. That's what I was just thinking about. I was like, this is just natural. If we all just really stop and take a step back and just think to ourselves, let's not make this too complicated. Let's find ways to strengths spot; ask a few good questions; practice deeper listening; find a way to appreciate. It's not always going to be in the same conversation. But it's just kind of these little things to be more intentional about in our friendships. It makes it better, doesn't it? It's a gift that we can give to our friends.

Jim Collison 27:28
We started with this conversation or this question, when we first started. I want to end with it with you and me personally. What, when you are with friends, of your Top 5 -- you can bring in others if you want -- what do you think you use most often in your friendships, strengthswise?

Cathy DeWeese 27:46
That's such a great question. I think it's probably a combination of -- if I think about how I spent my, my holiday week, weekend, it was Individualization, Maximizer and Achiever. It was appreciating the differences around me. And we were doing things together. And we were having fun. But we were do -- we had a few things we were doing, whether it was our dinner, you know, at home on Thursday. I hosted a bunch of people. We got together on Friday. I mean, there were all these little things that we were doing, but with my friends and family, I think that's what I was employing.

A Call to Action

Cathy DeWeese 28:29
Hey, you guys, before we run out of time, I have one more. There's something I read today. And so I do have pretty high Connectedness. I'm just going to throw that out there. And I always feel like when I read one of my devotionals, there's maybe a message for us. So here's the thing I read this morning, and I shared this with Jim precall, preshow. So our lives change when our habits change. When our, I sometimes will say when our thinking changes, we change our behaviors. Our lives change when our habits change. So I've got a call to action to each one of you. Think of one friend right now, OK. Get that person in your head. Commit right now to reaching out to them by the end of the day. Ask one of the questions we covered today; come up with one of your own. I've been watching the chat. Some of you have got brilliant questions. Find a way to celebrate something about your friend today.

Jim Collison 29:23
Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of the CliftonStrengths Podcast. Make sure you like and subscribe wherever you listen, so you never miss an episode. And if you're really enjoying this podcast, please leave a review. This helps us promote strengths globally.

Cathy DeWeese's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Individualization, Arranger, Maximizer, Input and Relator.