CliftonStrengths® Podcast Season 2 Launch: Developing Your Leadership Skills

Gallup Called to Coach Webcast Series -- Season 11, Episode 1.

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

Gallup's recently released CliftonStrengths^® for Leaders Report joins the CliftonStrengths for Managers and CliftonStrengths for Sales Reports as another tool for coaches, leaders, organizations and individuals to use as they seek to maximize the impact of their -- and others' -- unique talents and strengths. In this launch party for Season 2 of The CliftonStrengths Podcast, Jim Collison and Dr. Jaclynn Robinson introduce you to the Leaders Report; help you understand some key differences between it and the Managers and Sales Reports; and tell you how the 34 future episodes of Season 2 can benefit you -- because everyone leads something. Join us and savor the possibilities for your coaching, your leading, your organization and your life.

We could think of [the] Leader [Report] as process. ... We could think of the Manager Report as a way of helping you with people or project management. And we could think about the Sales Report as products and consumers.

Jaclynn Robinson, 4:43

We'll start the session with the theme definition. We'll chat a little bit about the power of this theme in a leadership role. ... And then we'll spend a little bit of time of thinking about How could this theme lead others?

Jim Collison, 13:50

Jim Collison 0:01
I am Jim Collison, and this is The CliftonStrengths Podcast, Season 2, recorded on November 1, 2022.

Jim Collison 0:22
In this CliftonStrengths Podcast series, we'll look at the CliftonStrengths for Leadership Report one theme at a time, and today is the launch party. If you're listening live, we'd love to have you join us in our chat room, or you can email us your questions if you're listening to the podcast or after the fact. Send that email: coaching@gallup.com. Dr. Jaclynn Robinson is our host today. She works as a Gallup Learning and Development Consultant and then joined me for Season 1 of The CliftonStrengths Podcast as we looked at Wellbeing at Work for each theme. And Jaclynn, great to have you, and welcome back!

Jaclynn Robinson 0:52
Thank you. This is gonna be fun.

Jim Collison 0:55
Yeah, very excited about launching this season, really kind of based on the CliftonStrengths for Leadership Report, which is launching today. We're spending some time in live with a big, a big audience, if you're listening to this from a podcast perspective, but excited for that. We've got some other launch initiatives going. If you're listening to this in the CliftonStrengths channel, those are already gone. But we want to welcome you to come out. And really our intent, I think, Jaclynn, is to say, Hey, we're going to be recording these live -- again, with live people joining us. But then we want you to subscribe to The CliftonStrengths Podcast to make sure you're getting the ones that are up to date and kind of in the order -- well, some kind of order. But we'll be launching those on January 1, 2023. So if you're, if you're listening to this as a podcast, or live, you should head over to your favorite podcast app and subscribe to the CliftonStrengths Podcast. Just search "CliftonStrengths" and subscribe wherever you listen, to make sure you never miss an episode.

Introducing the CliftonStrengths for Leaders Report

Jim Collison 1:58
Jaclynn, as we think about this new Leadership Report, both you and I are on the outside now. You had some insight to the Wellbeing at Work book because you contributed a lot to that book. Neither you or I has spent a lot of time contributing to the Leadership Report; Therese has done that, and she'll be joining us for these future episodes on Called to Coach. But what are your -- it just, we've seen it, we've had access to it for a couple days. We've been looking at it. Give me some initial thoughts, as you think about your initial reactions to the report.

Jaclynn Robinson 2:34
I think it's going to be so great! And I like that the structure still carries, like it, if anyone's seen the Sales Report, it has some of that structure, but from a leadership perspective. So you're going to see what, you know, how you would shine as a leader. We also think about it as sometimes you just have to think about processes or integrating systems. And so you might not be a leader, but you're a manager, and you still have to think about processes and systems. This kind of gets you in that perspective. And then there's going to be those helps and hindrances, just like with the Sales Report. So I like how seamless it is. And I like how workable it is. You can just take it and mold it for yourself and what you're going through in your own life. And yeah, I think it's great!

Jim Collison 3:23
Yeah. You mentioned -- in that, you mentioned there are two other reports we have: CliftonStrengths for Managers, CliftonStrengths for Sales. And, and I think the No. 1 question I've gotten a lot of time, and, which is really going to be the emphasis of the season, I think, in a lot of ways, is, How do the three reports work together? Right? How do they, what do I do with these? I have these, if I have, if I'm working with an executive, do I just get them the Leadership Report? If I'm working with a salesperson, do they just get the Sales Report? If I'm working with a manager, do they just get the Manager Report? And I think we hope to answer that question is, How do they all work together? And when, when might you use one or use the other? Or How does that work? Like, I'm pretty excited about thinking through the season of like, Hey, these are tools -- well, we'll say maybe one's a hammer, and one's a screwdriver, and the other's a wrench. Right? And how and when do we use them when it is -- when's it appropriate? Would you add anything to that, as we think about putting these, these three reports or talking about them together?

Jaclynn Robinson 4:34
Yes. I like the way that, you know, just in prior conversations we've had, you really kind of talk through it as well. And so I think, as we look at these three reports, we could think of Leader as process. In a sense, we could think of the Manager Report as a way of helping you with people or project management. And we could think about the Sales Report as products and consumers. And so you can have all of these reports -- I always think more is better. But that's probably all the psychologists too; we like a lot of assessments for people to really pull back the, the onion layers. That's kind of what this is, because your talent themes are all going to be showcasing themselves in all three of those reports. And it's just going to be projected in a different way, based on whatever that task at hand or responsibility or relationship is.

Jaclynn Robinson 5:24
So that's something we're excited about, because we'll, we will help you really kind of decipher how to use all three of those at the end; you'll have to stay tuned at the end of each of our talent themes that we go through this series, because we really want to show you what that theme dynamic of reports can look like. So that will come after we really dive into the Leadership Report and what, how you can think about using each theme from a leadership perspective.

Comparing, Contrasting the Leaders, Managers, Sales Reports

Jim Collison 5:54
Yeah, we want to give you a tool. I hope you heard that. And if you didn't, I want you to, I want you to write this down. Because what Jaclynn just said is, like, really important: Your customers, your clients, those you coach, or maybe even you yourself, as you're listening to this, are thinking, Well, when, when would I use the Leadership Report? When would I use the Manager Report? When would I use the Sales? So, and Jaclynn just gave you a clue, right? The Manager Report leans a little bit, it's kind of project focused, like, in a lot of ways, right -- "project" is the key on that. Like, we think of managing, I mean, people in the context of projects and systems. Again, these all bleed into each other a lot. But if you're just trying to kind of simplify this in your mind, right, Manager, it's more project focused; the Leadership Report will be people focused, right? And Sales Report is project focused, right? Remember those three P's, right: project, people and product. It's, I have to, Jaclynn, I have to bring these down for me to a level where I can remember, right? You know, I can kind of say, because people ask me all the time, "What's the difference?" Right?

Jim Collison 7:00
That's just, that's kind of one way we've, we've thought about looking at this. We've also, when we look at Manager, I, the other question I get: What's the difference between the Manager Report and the Leadership Report? One looks at today. Right? The Manager kind of looks at today -- What's happening right now? The other looks at planning for tomorrow. Right? Plan, one's planning for today; the Leadership Report, planning for tomorrow. It kind of gives you that tactical look right? The Manager's tactical: Today, what are we doing today? The Leadership is future forward: What, what's, what's ahead? Right. And Sales is a practical report, right? We all have things -- I think we all, even you and I sell something, right? We, even though we're doing these webcasts, we're selling these reports, right? It's our job to, it's our job to promote them, to influence others. So those are some, those are some other ways. Does that, does that, for you, does that bring any other, any other things out?

Jaclynn Robinson 7:59
I just thought of something earlier, and then it -- Oh, it came back!, I was like it, it flew the coop; it's out. Bird's out of the cage. It, and it also reminds me, even outside of the workplace, you have these same types of roles. So you might be the leader of your own life. And as you're thinking about your own future, and what that could look like, and systems and processes that you even want to have in place as an individual. How is that report helping you start to visualize and strategize what that could look like? You might be the manager of your family or the manager of your household or the manager of your pets. Or even your, you know, external family members; it might not be your nuclear family, but you've got aunts or uncles or siblings or what -- I suppose that would be nuclear -- but, you know, there, you know, there might be other folks that you're managing. You might be the manager of your community. So you can also think about these reports, not just from that workforce perspective, although we'll be talking about that, but also from just that personal perspective.

Jim Collison 9:07
Yeah. So you mentioned personal --

Jaclynn Robinson 9:09
So that's why it came to mind for me.

Jim Collison 9:10
Yeah, no, that's great. That's great. And you mentioned personal, right. And we, in Season 5 of Theme Thursday, we really launched this concept of "me versus we." As we think about strengths themes, and as we begin to use them and understand them, like, they become powerful inside of us from a me perspective. And then the next level is really, Can we use those strengths to help others? We spent a lot of time in Season 6 and Season 1. And I asked this question: How can you use these in the support of others? If you remember Season 1; if you don't, go back and listen to it. I asked that question for every single theme, in support of others. So the me and the we, right, of our own. Well, when we think of the reports in this, that Leadership Report, available today, is really kind of the me in leadership, right. It's got a lot of questions, it helps me focus on me. It has questions to help us focus on others. But there's a lot -- I was reading through my report this morning, as we got access to it. And there's a lot of things for me to think about as a leader, right? Where the Manager Report is the we in this context; it thinks about others. How am I managing processes or people in, or projects in this? The we of this -- How are we doing this together?

Jim Collison 10:24
And then, Jody Van Osdel, who is really the genius behind this; she listens to every single one of these, so she'll get to hear this.

Jaclynn Robinson 10:32
The Oz behind the curtain.

Jim Collison 10:33
I -- totally. I chatted with her this morning a little bit about this. When we think about the Sales Report, that's the them. And that was such a -- all of a sudden, like, just blew my mind, right, as we think -- sales is really about our client, right? It's about those who we are -- and I'm gonna say this word -- serving, right? And a sales role is a serving role. Right? How can I sell you the best thing for you, like, that you need? It's not because I want to, it's not always because the monetary exchange, right? We're trying to help people with better things for them, right. It's about the client. I love that. Let me repeat that again: Leadership is about me. Manager is about we. Sales is about them -- that client focus side of that. Little different paradigm, Jaclynn, then the me and we, as we were talking about in the context of ourselves through the last couple seasons, but I don't know. What do you think of that? What does that inspire for you?

Jaclynn Robinson 11:32
I really, I really like that. And even if we're taking, if we're just looking at it from the, from a self perspective, it just makes so much sense. You go, Oh, yeah, as a leader, it's about me. Especially if you're thinking about yourself from an individual perspective. From an organizational perspective, I think there probably will still be some of that we, because it's How do I want to lead us as a group? But it helps, I think it just helps get people in the mindset of ooh, OK, I see where we're going with this. And if I were using all three of these reports for myself, it just resonates. Leadership -- me, what do I see for myself for the future? How is that going to impact those around me? So we're going back to that we piece. And then who was it that I need to influence? Who are those folks that I want to make sure I'm influencing and serving?

Jim Collison 12:27
Yeah. Lisa -- and Lisa is practicing some influence right now out there -- she would change that and say, We, me and you. I like that as well.

Jaclynn Robinson 12:38
I like that too. It sounds even more inclusive of like, come one.

Jim Collison 12:44
Yeah, I like it. I like it. I'm gonna, I'll jot that down; may change that permanently to it. Again, thinking, these are, and listen, you take, you take what you want from it.

Jaclynn Robinson 12:55
Yep. This is really just kind of helping everyone ideate and start to recognize the different ways we can use these --

Jim Collison 13:04
Yeah, and use it in the context that, that works for you, right. Help your customer, your client, your individual, you -- help you. I'm hoping that if you're a Certified Coach, either embedded or individual, if you're a strengths champion in an organization, or you're brand new to CliftonStrengths, like, we make these for you, right. And so I hope you're digging in and making it your own and, and really using it in a way that is most beneficial to you.

The Structure of Season 2 Podcasts

Jim Collison 13:35
OK, so spent a little time talking about how we're seeing these three reports in tandem. This is important, because of the way we're going to wrap the podcast here. We'll save that here for just a second, but how we're going to wrap these, each one of these theme sessions. But like always, we'll start the session with the theme definition. We'll chat a little bit about the power of this theme in a leadership role. So we'll get very, very specific to the report there. And then we'll spend a little bit of time of thinking about How could this theme lead others? And Jaclynn, as you think about, you're gonna, you're gonna blow that out. What kind of things do you think you'll cover, as we think about this theme and leading others? We're not going to read the report, obviously. So, what are we going to think about? What kind of things?

Jaclynn Robinson 14:19
So some items that I've been considering that I want to make sure we hit on: How can you inspire and influence others? How can these themes -- how can your leadership style hinder those that you lead? I want to get into, from a leadership perspective, How can we use the Manager Report? From a leadership perspective, How can we use the Sales Report? So we can start to, again, go back into those theme report dynamics, as we'll call it. So those are just some, some ways we want to start to really expose you all to the Leadership Report, but also continue to incorporate the Manager and Sales Report, because you might already be using that with some of your clients. And they might say, Well, what is this? Is this something I should have? What is this Leadership Report? So it's really a way of, of increasing the comfort level with everyone of how to use truly all three of these reports. But we'll spend a great bucket of our time under that Leadership Report this season.

Jim Collison 15:20
Yeah. And I think, I've asked you to kind of create some original content that we're going to spend some time thinking. And it'll kind of be theme dynamic-esque in that sense, right? As we think about as a leader, the question I'll ask you at the end -- As a leader -- thinking, now we're coming at this from a leadership perspective -- How could I use the CliftonStrengths for Managers Report with the Leadership Report for greater success? And so we'll be thinking about, in the context of that theme, how can the two reports together help me? And then we'll wrap it up by saying, As a leader, how can I use my CliftonStrengths for Sales Report with the Leadership Report for greater success? So a little thinking about how we put those two together. Certainly not exhaustive; certainly not. Right, just our thoughts on --

Jaclynn Robinson 16:08
Kind of a quick, quick, quick sentence or two just to help you all think through it.

Deciding Which Report to Use First With Individuals

Jim Collison 16:13
Yeah, kind of a quick hit. And kind of, well, Marina asks this question: How would you decide what report to start with for different roles and people? And this is like, I don't know if we can get -- I mean, we're gonna give you a lot of advice on this, but you know the individual better than anybody. And so what we're hoping is that we open it up and expose you to what's there. And then as you understand and get to know this individual you're working with, what is the best? In some cases, it may be that they start with the Leadership Report, right? And then they move on to Manager and Sales. In some cases, you may just start with Sales, right? Start with the Sales Report. Move, and then it just kind of depends on their situation. What do you find most helpful?

Jim Collison 17:01
I do know this, Jaclynn: You can't take people places you've never been before. So if you haven't spent time in your own Manager Report, your own Leadership Report, your own Sales Report, I think now's the time. Like, now's the time to probably get those. They're available on site. If you haven't purchased them yet, they're available for you out there. For our Certified Coaches, you can use your discount code to purchase those. That's a question we get. We're gonna spend some more time on the practical end of the Leadership Report. We're going to spend a bunch more time here. And by the time, if you're listening to this as a podcast, by the time you get here, we're gonna have a whole bunch of podcasts around leadership for you. So if you're kind of wondering, in fact, Jaclynn's going to be on one of them as well. Jeremy Pietrocini is coming back and is going to spend some time -- I haven't podcasted with him in forever -- which is great.

Jaclynn Robinson 17:53
And it's so fun working with him.

Jim Collison 17:55
Yeah, he's pretty, he is an amazing guy and is gonna have some, you know, spends a lot of time in executive leadership forums. Robert Gabsa, who has done a ton of work with us in Hologic.

Jaclynn Robinson 18:06
Another Q10 right there! "Best friend at work," for those that are curious what Q10 is. You're one too! You know my Relator circle; it's, it's there.

Jim Collison 18:19
For a second, I thought I got voted off the island!

Jaclynn Robinson 18:21
You're like, "What? Did I get shafted?" Great, great group of folks coming up.

Jim Collison 18:27
Yeah, so we'll have some pretty, some pretty great resources ahead outside of this, including the launch calls, which are happening today and tomorrow. Those will all be available for you. Again, if you're listening to them in the podcast, we should have those available for you in either Called to Coach, LinkedIn Live or in The CliftonStrengths Podcast channels, and make those available. I'm pretty excited about that last part of the podcast, of spending some time mixing it up a little bit. And you just having some great content that I get to bounce my thoughts off as well. Jaclynn, Would you add anything, before we wrap this here, would you add anything else to the, to the conversation?

Jaclynn Robinson 19:08
I'm just, I'm excited that it's coming up. I'm glad we're going to mix and match because you all might have heard this too, just coaching other folks, but they are really curious. What's the value of adding in the Leadership Report? How is that different than the Sales or Manager Report? Hey, is that something that I should have? And so hopefully this will help you just respond to those questions. And as you're coaching them, if they haven't started with any of the three reports, and they're curious which one to use, hopefully going through the show with us this season will help you help them start to sort through what might be most meaningful. You know, are they looking at a way to focus on influencing other individuals, again, personal or professional? Are they looking at a way of, you know, really managing projects or people? Are they looking at what does the future hold? What's the kind of vision I want to create for my team, even if they're a manager, or my, my organization? So you could really just help them kind of piece that out and work through it. But I'm really excited for it, so we can create that, create that clarity for you.

Jim Collison 20:13
Yeah. I'm excited because I get to hang out with you again every week or every other week, however it, however it works out. And I'm excited because it, this is the best part of my week.

Jaclynn Robinson 20:24
And our friends. I know! Hanging out with you and all of our friends, everyone that joins live, you all just make it so, so fun and engaging. Your commentary, it just feels like one big community. And of course, we love all the listeners.

Jim Collison 20:41
Yeah, right on. OK, tactically, I'm going to use the tactical end of here, which is the leadership part of it. I'm gonna use my, my tactical work on this. So one, if you're listening to this, regardless of when you're listening to it, if you want to join us for the live episodes, we'll be recording those between today and I'm gonna say the first week of April of 2023. Those are available, head out to gallup.eventbrite.com (B-R-I-T-E). Follow us there, and you can sign up for those episodes as I post them. We're usually a month or two out on those. So I think I'm up to December right now; it's November 1 today. So if you want to join the live episodes, and it's not already past those dates, that's very possible. You could do it that way. If you want to go back and catch Season 2 as we post them, we'll start posting those January -- the first week of January of 2023, we'll be posting Season 2 in its edited form by theme. Go out, just don't, just do this now, because you'll forget. Head out, on your podcast app -- if you don't have one, both Android and iPhone& have a native one; you can use those. Search "CliftonStrengths" and make sure you follow or subscribe; whatever tech terminology they use. Follow or subscribe the CliftonStrengths channel on those podcasts, on this podcast app, and you'll get those delivered automatically to you. You can listen to them as we publish them. Or -- I should say and/or if you're a fan of YouTube, we have a live channel on YouTube: Gallup Webcasts Live, if you want to subscribe to that channel. You'll get all of these immediately, including all the Called to Coach that we create. Everything we do live gets posted there in its raw form. If you ever want to see me mess up on the pre- or the postshow, you could do that as well. Or go to YouTube and search "CliftonStrengths." And you can follow them as we post them there. So lots of opportunities,

Jim Collison 22:31
Jim, people always say, "Jim, why is there so many ways to do it?" Because everybody wants to do it a little bit different. So I create custom ways for everybody to make sure you can subscribe to this content. Jaclynn, thanks for partnering with me. I'm super excited. I know we overuse that term, but I am super excited about Season 2 for this, for this CliftonStrengths Podcast. And I have to say a big thanks to Reilly Wiley, who kind of puts this all together behind the scenes for us. And, and Reilly, so thanks for your help with this. So from here on out, these will not appear in the Called to Coach channel; they'll be over in The CliftonStrengths Podcast channel; make sure you get subscribed to them. Jaclynn, thank you for taking the time today to be a part of this. Always great to be with you, and great to have you. I'll remind everyone to take full advantage of all the resources we do have available now on Gallup Access. You want to head out to gallup.com/cliftonstrengths and sign in there. Stay up to date with all the webcasts: gallup.eventbrite.com. Join us on any social platform just by searching "CliftonStrengths," and we're just about everywhere, if you want to do -- just about; not everywhere, but just about everywhere.

Jaclynn Robinson 23:41
We're not on TikTok, I don't think, yet.

Jim Collison 23:44
Not yet, but we may be getting close.

Jaclynn Robinson 23:47
Reilly's, Reilly's in business for that, I know.

Jim Collison 23:49
We might be getting close. A reminder, if you enjoyed this, please share it. You know, it's a great opportunity to share this with others and join us too for the recording or for the podcast of that. And so don't, don't, don't hesitate on sharing it. We want to thank you for joining us today. If you're listening live, we'll do a little bit of postshow. With that, we'll say, Goodbye, everybody.

Jaclynn Robinson's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Achiever, Strategic, Maximizer, Positivity and Relator.

Gallup^®, CliftonStrengths^® and each of the 34 CliftonStrengths theme names are trademarks of Gallup. Copyright © 1993-1998, 2000 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.