Strengths, Team Dynamics, and the Hidden Side of High Performance

Speaker A: Uh, bring out the talent. Bring out the talent.

Speaker B: Bring out the talent.

Speaker C: Welcome to Bring out the Talent, a podcast featuring learning and development experts discussing innovative approaches and industry insights. Tune in to hear our talent help develop yours. Now here are your hosts, TTA CEO and president Maria Melfa and talent manager Jocelyn Allen.

Speaker A: Jocelyn, this theme song really just hits me to that beat. Some days it's, it's kind of cool, but like today it's just. Just hitting.

Speaker D: I agree.

Speaker A: I think it should be a refresh, but I'm like, you know what? I. I really like this.

Speaker D: It's. It is a bop, as the kids used to say. And, uh, today I agree because I usually just do kind of like a top half moment. Like I was wheeling and dealing in the chair today, so I feel you.

Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. It kind of goes with our Flavor Flav conversation. In the beginning. We're just.

Speaker D: We're bringing everything together.

Speaker A: We're bringing everything back. Yep. Okay, well, bear with us, audience. Today, little slap happy. And we actually had a nice little bridal. Not bridal. It wasn't bridal. Oh, my God.

Speaker D: Babies.

Speaker A: Yes. Two baby shower.

Speaker D: Yeah, A double baby shower.

Speaker A: Double baby baby shower at lunch. That was very nice. It was okay, so. Yes. And I can't even blame it on the cupcakes because I didn't have one yet, but. Okay, so let's get started. We're so excited for our guest today, Chris Susi. So what Chris will be talking about is a topic that I have a lot of interest in. Our whole company, I believe, has a lot of interest in it, but every team is made up of people who think differently, communicate differently, solve problems differently, and contribute in very different ways. Yet in many workplaces, there is still an unspoken expectation that everyone should operate the same way. That is why strengths based development has become such an important conversation for organizations and leaders. Gallup research has consistently found that employees who have the opportunity to use their strengths every day are significantly more engaged, more productive, and more likely to thrive at work. Understanding how people naturally work, collaborate, respond under pressure, and contribute to a team can completely change the way teams communicate, partner with each other, and work together. Today's conversation explores how Clifton's strengths can help individuals and teams better understand working styles, improve collaboration, and recognize both the advantages and and potential blind spots that can come with our greatest strengths. We're joined by Chris Soucy, as I mentioned, a, uh, certified cliftonstrength trainer who recently facilitated a in person workshop for us just a few months ago, which was absolutely phenomenal. This Conversation that came out of that session sparked so much reflection around the communication, contribution styles and team dynamics that we wanted to continue the discussion here on, bring out the talent and share our insights with our audience as well. So, as I mentioned, we did have you here, Chris. It was absolutely phenomenal. I think it was our third CliftonStrengths session, and we were so excited to have it. So welcome, Chris.

Speaker B: Thank you. It's wonderful to be here.

Speaker A: So excited to have you.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So, as we mentioned, again, you were here, and what we did is the first few sessions we've had on CliftonStrengths, we did a lot of focus on individual strengths. Not that we didn't do it this time, but we did focus on how we work together. Our individual strengths work together within teams. So we did a lot of, like, breakout sessions. It was pretty cool. And one thing that stood out in our workshop was the idea that strengths are just not personality traits that directly influence how people contribute to a team. It's like, how do the strengths shape the way people work, communicate, and solve problems differently? I know you've done a lot of work on this. You've worked a lot for the Harvard University, and we love. And you're very knowledgeable in this subject. So tell us more.

Speaker B: So, yeah, I mean, many when we think about strengths, we're thinking about how people have learned to be successful, how they have, over the years, begun to be able to figure out, well, this is how I get ahead in life. This is how I contribute best. And without knowing it, we have developed our talents, our areas of interest, our personality type, to become effective in how we produce outcomes. And the Gallup definition of strengths is truly just can we consistently produce positive outcomes based on sets of actions and behaviors and strengths? Finder and Clifton Strands has allowed us to classify those and create a framework around those, which, when we bring into the workplace, allows us to have some clarity around the same language and the same framework and how we are able to talk, uh, to each other about performance in a way that doesn't ascribe it to just fate or choice. It's really, truly our programming.

Speaker D: I love that you said that. It's more based on kind of innate qualities. What has happened so far that kind of like it makes your test results or your assessments results. Identify these as you. Your strengths. And leaning into those things. I also. What is also always stuck with me is that they're called strengths for a reason, that none of these are necessarily weaknesses. It's just how. How it's weighted within the scale of you and I and I. It resonates so resoundedly for me for that reason, because I think I've always said this on the podcast, that the moment that we can bridge the gap between like who you are at home and who you are at work, I think it works out better for everybody because it's just the reality of mentality is that you can only be who you are. So this, check this at the door. I agree there's a level of professionalism you bring every day, but like the not you version never made sense. So I, I love CliftonStrengths for that reason. So, uh, talking about how each person can make their own distinct, like best contribution to the team based on these things, why is it so important for organizations to understand this model of contribution styles rather than expecting everybody to operate in the same way? And going back to how the assessment evaluates that, what is this telling you about your top five and your total 34 that organizations really need to understand better?

Speaker B: We are creatures are habit, so human beings kind of follow along blithely unobservant most of the time. And when we do step back or have an additional lens to look through, which is what CliftonStrents provides, it allows us to categorize well, how do I show up at my best? What is my authentic self view on, how I contribute, when I should speak up, how I make decisions? So all of those factors are evaluated through, through the 244 questions that you answer as part of the Clifton strengths assessment. And it sounds like that is a lot of questions to answer in a short period of time. But it's a very quick choice. They're almost autopilot decisions that we make, which is why strengths become our autopilot default mechanism. It's how we truly just are authentically operating in the world. And so when people are beginning to understand their own self and they're able to share that with organizations, it becomes seamless. That line between my work self and my home self, my public self or my private self begins to narrow and narrow as we become one version of ourselves. And we're able to adjust as needed based on the setting that we're in, because we have control and mastery over how we bring our best self to work. And so for organizations to recognize that there is a process and there is an outcome to be achieved, but each person will approach the process in their own style, their own preferred style. So person with numerous executing strengths, which are the strengths focused on getting things done and personal ownership of accomplishing things, that person will take on most of the work by themselves. They'll really want to be the individual contributor that carries projects forward. Whereas someone with strategic thinking, they might not be the one to take the process and speed through it. They might want to further refine the process or develop the process or think about how does this, how do we operationalize this so that other people can best do it. So everyone's approaching the same work but in different ways. And that is our authentic, best self that we're bringing into the table.

Speaker A: So, Chris, a major theme from the workshop was learning how to leverage our strengths intentionally and trying to understand what separates someone who simply knows their strengths versus somebody who is using them effectively in the workplace. Can you talk a little bit more about that?

Speaker B: Of course. I think that this, uh, self awareness is the root of leadership. Being able to kind of know thyself and figure out, well, how do I operate, what are my tendencies, what do I tend to trip over, when am I most successful? And that knowledge is somewhat generic. Right? We begin to kind of say, well, at all workplaces I bring this, or all settings, I bring this. And someone who's truly leveraging their strengths within an organization has figured out how do my strengths work with the organization and not only with the organization culture, but the people in the organization and the clients that we have attracted. And it becomes more than just, I know my top five to a degree of a, uh, uh, of appreciation for them is that here's the value I add, here's when I can do the best for our team's function. And then finally the idea of application. How do I put this to work? And so beyond just knowing your own strengths, it becomes how do I integrate them into the whole? And I think that that is truly the act of leveraging. One struts is that strengths are reflected within our environment and within the situations we operate in. And by being able to be aware of that and how that might change how we're being interpreted as we use our strengths, or how we have the intensity of them or the right place for them, the right sequencing of them, all of that is dependent on the team as well as the environment we're in. And just blindly saying, well, I'm good with people to know that you have a lot of people relationship building strengths is one thing, but being able to say, here's how I'm good with people and have other people be able to appreciate that and support that and use that knowledge and deploy it within an organization, within a suite of workplace responsibilities, Allows us to truly bring our best self into the workplace.

Speaker A: It was such an eye opening exercise as I mentioned in the beginning, that we did some breakout sessions per team and it was so interesting just having everybody. I mean there's a lot of questions that we answered and a lot of reflections and a lot of discussions. We chose different members of our team and different members outside our team to share and to reflect and just talk about like, what did you not realize about your like top strengths? Because we looked at like what each strength means and the different areas which these strengths could reflect in like in the workplace. And personally I just, I absolutely love that and I think I mentioned to you that it's again it's something that we've, we've done several times in the workplace. I keep the list, the spreadsheet of everybody's strengths on my desk and I sometimes like, oh, it's interesting. That person is a learner. And I think I've told you that there's four other learners that have. I have a learner. Like, I think it's my third in the top five. And there are the four other learners. Like we tend to get into like some deep strategy conversations. And I even, even realize that and I'm like, okay, well that's interesting. Why like learners want to get into strategy conversations? Because strategy I think is like in the middle. Strategy is actually Jocelyn's like number one. But, but it's like we're always just craving to like learn more and get information. And then like it's, it's funny because in our management team we realize that not one of us had discipline and our top like 10, not one of us. And it's funny and we're like, no wonder why, like we're no wonder why we're misfits. Now I know we should not be using that word in the at ah, the enclifted strength. But, but it was kind of funny to realize that. So then we realized that we only have one person in our entire company that has discipline, like in the top three and that's we in our like IT department. So we've laughed with. We and said know what, we gotta invite you to every single meeting. You gotta keep us on track.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker A: But with that said, we have a lot of us have responsibility which will help like not be like disciplined, uh, or achiever. So it's just, it is so cool to really look at this and I know I've even mentioned to you and you do a lot of work not only with incredible universities and corporations but you do a lot of work with families that. I had both of my kids take the test. My son actually had to do it for college a couple times. My. My daughter did not. And I had her do it when she was 16 years old. And. And it just. It made her just feel like, oh, my God, I do have strengths. This is amazing. Like, she felt, like, the smile on her face afterwards because she was kind of feeling lost on what to do in her life. And she saw, like, analytical and strategic, like, in her top five. And it just made her feel, like, so happy. So when we see this again with employees, that we can focus on our strengths and realize that, okay, maybe Susie is not very disciplined, but Susie certainly wants to achieve and do well, and Susie's very responsible. So I. So what we did after you left is a month later, we did a reinforcement training. So we. We had. We broke down into different groups again. Okay. And we reviewed the last page, because I think there was one page that we didn't finish in the workshop or you left, uh, us some things to do. Yes, there was another really good, interesting session for us to take a look at. But that said, I know I'm kind of going on and on, but. But I just. I really love it. And I think, like, out of all the things I've learned in learning and development and the 32 and a half years that I've been in this business, this is, like, one of the, like, top things that I really love. And I feel it's underutilized. And companies, schools, and personal life.

Speaker B: Agreed.

Speaker A: So can you explain more on that then?

Speaker B: I think that you hit on a number of. You hit on a number of key concepts there. I mean, I think one is that this is going to make you feel good about yourself and have some confidence in the knowledge that this is how I add value. This is how people. I should volunteer my best self as opposed to just thinking, well, a good employee just keeps their head down and they do their work that's requested of them and never should complain about things that might be a struggle, but instead they should manage that weakness or grow into the role. And those are possibilities. But I think if we naturally look how people are wired and how they are gifted and then build the opportunities around those strengths, the struggle goes away. Right. The kind of. The gap in performance goes away because people are able to naturally fill into the space that's allowed for them to succeed, that they're able to really leverage. These are the things that I do best, and I have a framework for Them and I have a name around them, and I have a description to give to people.

Speaker E: And.

Speaker B: And it's more than just saying that someone has or doesn't have discipline. It's the other factors that allow them to show up as disciplined. Right. So each of the talent themes, the 34 talent themes that are strengths, are just a collection of actions and behaviors that are related, but yet there's so much overlap. And as you hit on that, the link between responsibility and discipline is very close. And the difference between these different talents of being able to problem solve, am I doing the solving, am I taking the action, or am I thinking? And using my strategic thinking themes to be able to ponder all the different possibilities and choose the one that works best for the situation? Or how do I, if it's not my decision to make, how do I communicate the possibilities to someone else, a stakeholder that will benefit and ultimately be the person who makes the call on which direction we follow. All of those are different aspects of strengths. And we need to be able to understand that I may not be the one who is going to put the solution to work or put the. The kind of the drive to be the disciplined person who carries it forward and hits all the check marks in the boxes, but I'm going to use my achiever strength to make sure as a group we're moving forward.

Speaker D: I loved. Another part of the session that I, that I really loved was the. And, uh, forgive me, I forget what they're called, but essentially, like, here's what happens when it's too much of your strength. Here's what happens when you do too little. The basement, right? Is that. That the basement. Okay. Loved that. Because one of my top five is positivity. And that one really, like, honed in for me because I honest, uh, to goodness, I, I would bet to say that everybody probably knows that about me. Like, I. I love making feel people feel welcome. I love bringing a positive spin to things. I'm the one who will joke with somebody right away just to bring a smile to their face. So, like, that is me in a nutshell. But then I was looking at things because I. People would always joke about being, well, just don't make it toxic, Jocelyn, you know, and all this kind of stuff. And I was like, what does that even mean? And like, therein lies the problem. That what I recognized about it was like, the too much of a good thing, like, turns it into something inauthentic. Right. Versus that, like, positivity isn't bad. There's no such thing as too much. But does it feel real if that's. If you're at 100% like all the time. Right. That was really eye opening for me because as somebody who values that about myself, I do want to make sure that I'm always bringing it to the table. But how is that received so that the explanation of the basement side of your strengths? I'd love to talk a little bit more about that and see if people like it just as much as I do. So can you explain a little bit more about what basement behaviors are and what makes those so important for leaders to recognize too?

Speaker B: Yeah, it's really the shadow side of how we operate. It's kind of the unseen, unaware, kind of closed off piece of that we don't recognize in ourselves. Because we've used that positivity so well in other settings. Whatever strength is, we've learned to use it to achieve outcomes. We've used it consistently to be a, uh, hallmark of who we are. And yet in certain settings, in certain ways, that can be perceived or misconstrued by others who see it, the word used as inauthentic. And we're being our authentic self by having positivity. It's your number two strength. You can't shut that off any more than you can shut off your left handed versus right handed. These things are just our nature, if you will. But yet being able to see that, uh, this is an area that I as well as others can have some awareness of and help me view how I'm contributing versus how I am intending to be contributing or intending to be perceived. Now it's very interesting, Gallup has changed their language around this a couple different times from balconies and basements thinking in building off of the concept that all the world is a stage. So if you think of going to the theater and uh, we're all actors on our own mind, in our own stage, and someone on the balcony, they can see the whole play, the whole performance being unfolded. They can see people waiting in the wings. Well, what comes next? What just went offstage? What is the orchestra building towards? They're really attuned to each part of the performance. When you're in a balcony position, you're in control of the intensity of the strength, the deployment of the strength. Uh, how does it kind of affect others? You can see the audience growing bored or tittering with anticipation, or, uh, how are people reacting. When you're in the basement, you're not just in the orchestra pit, you're kind of below the stage. So you do the same thing that you've always done, except you have no understanding of, well, is this the right time for this? How are people receiving it? Is this is the context shared that I might be too much of what someone deems as appropriate in, uh, that setting. And there's really not much worse that you can do professionally than to blindly be yourself in a way that turns off a really negatively as interpreted by others. Now Gallup's language has changed from balconies and basements to help versus hinder or mature versus Raw. But it's all the same ideas. This other version of our strengths that we as leaders certainly need to develop in ourselves. But also I think the investment and strengths within organizations and within teams is how do I help others see this without limiting or shutting down their tendency to, to be their best self.

Speaker D: Yes. And that's another great point because it is an area that, I mean, even just me, again with the positivity reference, when I went back to somebody who I had on my team, who I had a, uh, very, very recent conversation with in the same area, and I was like, look at what this about this strength.

Speaker A: And like.

Speaker D: And he was just like, yeah, like that, that, that. That's it. Right. Because he, he's a great partner to me and was just like, I understand where you're coming from, but like, I want people to, to also understand where you're coming from. Right. And that's about how you deliver these things. And so, I mean, that's one side. I was very lucky to have somebody in the room with me who was going through the same assessment and somebody who I'm so collaborative with that he can come to me and say, hey, this is what I'm kind of seeing. And then we get to a point where we're talking about it in a group coaching and training environment, and I can go back and share that. And then we coll. Right. Not everybody necessarily has that kind of environment around them. That's also. That's being represented from the top down in such a manner. So knowing that your workshop also identifies gaps Right. In these talent profiles and where do you need support? Where could you be encouraging how, how are you helping? Or how. How is strengths helping teams with collaboration becoming more effective instead of expecting everyone to just excel at every single thing?

Speaker B: Right. Uh, the idea of all people can rise to the occasion, given enough motivation to do it, that they can all kind of overcome deficiencies or gaps or whatever it might be, is truly a fallacy. We can only improve so much in so Many areas. And the Gallup mindset from the very beginning, when they began to develop precursors to cliftonstrends, was that the ROI for individuals is to focus in on what they do best and contribute and give opportunity and allow that to shine forth, to minimize the negatives, uh, and to point out weaknesses and to focus on fixing things is a lot more energy and effort that you forget all the, uh, positives you bring to the equation because you're so focused on staying out of trouble or staying under the radar. And nowadays we don't want people to hide their true self. We don't want people to struggle silently. We want them to contribute in a way that allows them to feel seen right and to, to be their, their, their authentic self. And I think that organizations are seeing the value of collaboration as we're making do with less and that we need to understand that every person is, is vulnerable in certain aspects of how they perform, how they're wired. And yet that isn't the be all and end all is that I'd rather have honest and open conversations about where I might stumble, where I might miss something that is important to the final outcome. And I would want my team to be able to help me with that because some of them are much better than I ever could be in certain aspects of performance, of getting things done. I was thinking about where do we see best in class or world class? And I think about the Olympics. And when you think about kind of the, the uh, performance of Summer Olympics, which is coming up pretty soon for us, is that we think about the, the individual events versus the decathlon, which includes 10 separate events. And I was looking up some performance statistics and there's a 10 to 20% difference between individual world record holders and the best someone has ever done in the decathlon. So an individual decathlon long jumper can jump 30ft, right? They're the personal world best in the Olympics. In a decathlon where you have to be good at many different things, the best that we've seen is about 24ft. So that's a good enough difference. It's almost a 20% difference in performance. Now would I want someone to be the best they can be, or would I want them to be well rounded? And I think the truth is, is that I'd rather have people focus in on what they do best and be able to work around the gaps for the most part. I'm not going to make someone who is otherwise talented in many different areas pull away or veer away from what they do best. And instead get into. Well, here's what I think our team needs. Well, I can find someone else on the team that's able to do that.

Speaker D: Well, I would even argue sometimes that like honing into your strengths in such a way and again, understanding them kind of the outcome is a little bit more well rounded. Groundedness. Yeah, no, right. Like, I mean, not even necessarily like your example. Very clear, very relevant. Love that between the Olympics, the decathlon, the single event, makes so much sense. My idea is that the long jumper who only does that is probably still very capable of running a decathlon even if they don't win. Right. So it's the difference between the decathlon winner who always wins because that's what they do. They're never gonna really probably be able to get anywhere close to even place or like contend for a single long jump. But what a long jumper be decent at a decathlon, like probably. So I'm just thinking about that where I would say, does that hone in change things?

Speaker B: When we think about how teams work best together, it is, it has to move beyond just the individual and what they can do because each person is going to approach all aspects of the working environment in their own personal style, in their own way. And when we care too much about this one person and whether or not they're fitting in, whether they're doing it the way that we all should be doing it, that forces them to step outside of their own place of confidence, their own sense of charity, their own sense of well being, and try to be something they're not. Whereas I don't need individuals to be well rounded because the team itself will be well rounded.

Speaker A: So for a company that's listening to this podcast right now, what would you tell them?

Speaker B: Well, I think it becomes your. It comes down to individual versus group. Are we looking to isolate and put a focus towards fixing an individual's weakness or an area that they are less than? Or do we want to focus on the team output, the team process,

Speaker C: the

Speaker B: culture that we've created, the kind of the workplace investment and engagement levels we have. Because if you focus on engagement and culture, performance will come along. Right? You can't separate those two out together. I mean, you can have performance with people feeling disengaged. You can have people that do the job because they're motivated for different reasons, whether it be a financial focus or the fear of losing one's benefit and job and meaning in life. Whereas someone who feels safe within an environment and has a sense of psychological safety, they've developed a belief in that the organization cares about them, the organization is investing in them. And so they will just often go above uh, and beyond to levels that they naturally will be better at versus feeling well, I'm only going to work to my limits. I'm only going to work to what is part of my job description. And organizations don't function well when we allow individuals to run, run rampant over the needs of the group. And it's not just organizations, it's any institution, any family. Right. Any kind of grouping of people that if we let people, if we let people focus on the individual and their, their kind of needs, it's a disservice to what the group needs and how the group can benefit by working together on different, on mutually shared goals and objectives.

Speaker D: I love uh, when you compare it to other things like outside of, of professional workspaces. I mean, I know we're here on a professional development podcast. Again, going back to the idea of like being a human when you can connect it to real life things and if things are applicable in more than one situation. I mean, when you said not just work teams like any organization, families, right? How many people raise your hand out there, started thinking, well, like yeah, my husband, my wife, my kid, right? Like you immediately identify it to your everyday versus something else. And so I, I just love when it's why I'm obsessed with this kind of stuff because when you can connect those dots, it just makes it more real and more understood of uh, why it's helpful and how much you don't really know about yourself and your capabilities. Like we're, I mean we learn every day and I feel like especially later in life you learn so much about what, what, what you can do.

Speaker B: Yeah, uh, we, we, we tend to see development and growth as something that occurs up through college age, right? So something that occurs in magnificent strides through kind of young adulthood, into adulthood and then we're done, right? We're kind of put a stamp in it. Maybe we'll go get a certification, maybe an advanced degree, but we don't have to pay attention to our own development anymore any longer. And to an extent families like that as well. Once I have kids, I can kind of, I'm the boss, right? Or uh, once I'm married, I'm going to fall into my gender role or my kind of agreed upon role. And that really is a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. The idea that how can we keep getting better at being human? Is what it amounts to. And I think that our strengths allow us to have a Shared language and a shared dialogue and some shared meaning between individuals, whether they be part of a family or strangers or part of a work team or social grouping. It allows us to kind uh, of be able to speak to each other without finding fault with each person's contributions. Allows us to kind of see where we add value and where we sometimes are, uh, getting in either our own way or another's way. But having that conversation, that allows us to not feel that we are the one and only answer that we can look elsewhere for people to help do the heavy lifting when needed. I mean, it's how all societies have evolved, is to kind of eat from each their best and to each what they need.

Speaker A: Drop the mic.

Speaker D: Quite literally, yes, I'd say, I mean, you heard it here first. It's mindset. It's thinking beyond the individual, and it's getting started identifying where do your strengths lie and where can you lean in. I love this content, Chris, and it's such a great way to kind of seal the episode is that this, this really does take change and it takes a new way of thinking to understand what you're getting out of this assessment.

Speaker B: Yeah. And it hits everyone where they live. So if you're a manager, you begin to view things, you begin to see your own strengths, but also begin to speak to and give better, higher quality feedback or coaching because you're no longer just focused on the negative, you're able to really help engage with the person to use more of their better self, their strengths. You're able to kind of elevate them in a way that truly shows beyond the fact that they get a paycheck, they're there to contribute. And I think that that is one of the ways that humans have really forgotten how to value each other. And we look at the best car or the best zip code or the best what have you. But we're only great when we're surrounded by other people and contributing to their greatness as well. And strengths reinforces that for the individual and it reinforces it for the team and it reinforces it for the partnership over and over every day and over and over again.

Speaker D: Love it, Chris. Amazing content and topic. It's so much fun to discuss this and see in how many ways it can be leveraged and leaned into. We do have another part of the episode, though, that we're gonna move on to now that also is a lot of fun and about asking many a question. So that is the TTA 10.

Speaker C: It's the TTA 1010 final questions for our Guest.

Speaker D: All right, Chris. So we have 10 questions from the TTA 10. They're more, let's call them like pop culture, rapid fire type of questions, meant to bring a little bit more flavor into the episode. So you will have 90 seconds put on the clock. Uh, the goal is to answer as quickly as possible and to get through them all with. There's no right or wrong answers, but there's definitely good and bad ones. Right. So we want you to think of the first thing that comes to your head and shout it out. And David at the end will have your time all figured out and celebrate you for your achievements. Okay, David?

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker D: Uh, 90 seconds, please.

Speaker C: 90 seconds on the TTA 10 clock begins now.

Speaker D: What is your go to food order when someone else is picking up the tab?

Speaker B: Has to be steak.

Speaker D: What show are you currently watching that you're slightly embarrassed to admit you love?

Speaker B: Oh, that's a good one. I would say the Diplomat on Netflix.

Speaker D: What's the last concert you went to?

Speaker B: Glen Hansard in New York.

Speaker D: What's a movie that you can quote from start to finish?

Speaker B: The Fifth Element.

Speaker D: Oh, good one. Favorite decade for music now. Okay. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Speaker B: I'm a night owl.

Speaker D: Got a boy. What's a skill you've always wanted to learn, but you haven't learned it yet?

Speaker B: I'm getting better at gardening, but I keep telling things.

Speaker D: Are you the make a plan kind of person or. We'll figure it out when we get there.

Speaker B: I am. Absolutely. We'll figure it out. Adaptability is my number five.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker D: What's the most spontaneous thing you've ever done other than just figuring it out

Speaker B: when you get there? Just being willing to go along with whatever happens? I mean, I. Every day is an adventure.

Speaker D: Awesome. And last one. What's something on your bucket list that people would not expect to be on there?

Speaker B: Oh, I would guess drive a really fast sports car on a safe track.

Speaker D: Okay. Good one, Chris.

Speaker A: I love it.

Speaker D: These were great answers, David.

Speaker A: That was 10.

Speaker D: Give us the verdict, please. Oh, geez.

Speaker A: Please.

Speaker C: TTA 10 clock says 1 minute 15 seconds. Well below the threshold of 90 seconds, Chris is a winner, and as such, we shall salute him with musical, uh, number. I think it speaks for itself. Hit it, guys.

Speaker E: Well, we came from Suffolk with a social mind Figuring out what makes people shine Harvard called and they handed him the keys. Teach our leaders how to lead with these new managers foundations to building better teams like only Chris can do. Not about fixing what you think is wrong. It's finding what You've had all along. Hey, lay your strings today, Chris.

Speaker A: I love this one.

Speaker E: Dig a little deeper inside Find that talent you don't have to hide. From the boardroom to the forest trails Chris believes that everybody sals call certified in spr. Turning ordinary teams into workplace stars Relater input intellection to adaptability gets him through. He'll help you find that perfect role Bring a little purpose to your soul not your hearts. With his girls in tow Thinking about the places people grow hey play do you m force is leading the way. You don't have to be somebody else. The greatest gift is just being yourself. Raise your hands and sing. Everybody's got their special thing Chris. So she's got the message loud and clear. Your best you is already here.

Speaker C: Yeah, there it is.

Speaker E: That was amazing.

Speaker A: Awesome.

Speaker B: Well, well done,

Speaker A: Chris. That's your new theme song. When you walk into any place, you just play that first.

Speaker B: I love it. It was such a, such a great, well done number.

Speaker D: That might have been one of my favorites. I was jammed.

Speaker A: Yes, I think so too.

Speaker C: Love the beat.

Speaker A: I love the content. Well, thank you so much, Chris. This was absolutely fantastic. Love this information as we mentioned and love to have you back again in the future.

Speaker B: Yeah, this is, this is really the way forward. I mean, we need to figure out how to give our best even if the world doesn't want it. We are going to be ourselves and shine forward. I think that this is truly, uh, a wonderful way to invest, uh, in your people, but also to kind of help the organization benefit by people bringing their best self to work.

Speaker D: For more information on Clifton's strengths and encouraging your team dynamics, Visit us at thetrainingassociates.com we'll see you later.

Speaker E: It.