Strengths and our Jesuit Mission:
Exploring Strengths-Based
Education to Enhance Personal
Growth and Community
at Jesuit Campuses
JASPA 2010
Saint Louis University
July 22, 2010
Michael Puma
Sara Scalzo
Associate Director of Student Life
for Living-Learning Initiatives
Associate Director of Leadership
and New Student Programs
Learning Outcomes for Presentation
Attendees will:

Attendees will explore the intersection of Jesuit education and strengthsbased education through participating in a strengths-based reflection
activity.

Attendees will learn about the Clifton StrengthsFinder instrument and
how to introduce the instrument to students, student staff and student
leaders

Attendees will learn about creative applications of the strengths-based
program in different campus settings.
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Attendees will begin to process how they can apply strengths based
education on their own campuses.
Strengths Education at Loyola
August 2006: Several administrators attend Gallup Organization’s
StrengthsQuest Educators Seminar and Student Life Department incorporates
StrengthsQuest into professional staff training
May 2007: Loyola hosts StrengthsQuest Educators Seminar for 30 Student
Development Administrators
Fall 2007: StrengthsQuest incorporated into RA Training, Sophomore LivingLearning Community, and Sophomore Leadership Corps.
Spring 2007: Plans for StrengthsQuest implementation expand to Student Staff
in Campus Ministry, Center for Community Service and Justice , the Career Center
Peer Educators and the First Year Orientation Program Coordinators.
Fall 2008: Structured Strengths Curriculum for Student Life Staff Supervision
developed and implemented; Leadership Living-Learning Community Developed
Spring 2010 – Individualized Strengths meetings offered to students
StrengthsQuest: The Writing Challenge
How would go
about
improving
your
penmanship?
Strengths Basics

“A strength is the ability to provide consistent, near-perfect
performance in a given activity.”

“Just as finished diamonds start as diamonds in the rough,
strengths begin with talents. And just as rough diamonds are
naturally found in the earth, talents are naturally found within
you. But while diamonds are refined with blades and polishing
wheels, strengths are produced when talents are refined with
knowledge and skill.”

The Strengths process includes discovery, development &
application

Based in the study of positive psychology

Clifton, Anderson & Schreiner, 2006
StrengthsQuest
“It is ok to do what you want to do, until
you discover what you were meant to do”
- From The Rookie
S=T+S+K
Strength = Talent + Skill + Knowledge
Strength: the ability to provide consistent,
near-perfect performance in a specific activity.
The 34 Signature Themes
Executing
Themes
Influencing
Themes
Relationship
Building
Strategic
Thinking
Achiever
Arranger
Belief
Consistency
Deliberative
Discipline
Focus
Responsibility
Restorative
Activator
Command
Communication
Competition
Maximizer
Self-Assurance
Significance
Woo
Adaptability
Developer
Connectedness
Empathy
Harmony
Includer
Individualization
Positivity
Relator
Analytical
Context
Futuristic
Ideation
Input
Intellection
Learner
Strategic
Positive Psychology and our Jesuit Mission
 Positive
Psychology assumes that “happiness success”
is the most important goal in life


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The pleasant life – maximizing pleasure
The good life – personally fulfilling activities & exercising
personal strengths
The meaningful Life – serving something larger than oneself

Mather, 2010
MAGIS
DISCOVERY * DEVELOPMENT * APPLICATION
Five Traits of a Jesuit Education
(Mitchell,
1988)
A
passion for quality
 Study of Humanities & Sciences
 Preoccupation with Questions of Ethics & Values
 Importance it gives to the religious experiences
 Person-Centered
“Developing and applying our God-given strengths, gifts
and talents under the Lordship of Christ is motivating
because it is a joyous and fulfilling process and experience.
This is also the process that leads to true excellence.”
– Anderson, 2001
Strengths and the Examen
 How
have I used my Signature Themes today? How
are my Themes leading me to becoming my best self?
 How are my Signature Themes preventing me from
becoming my best self?
 How do I need to recommit myself to using Strengths
to the best of my ability?
Discovery: Strengths and the Ad Infinitum
Sophomore Community
As a result of participating in the Ad Infinitum Community, students will……
Strengths

Identify their top five signature themes utilizing the Gallup Organization’s
StrengthsFinder online assessment tool

Utilize their strengths to inform decisions made during their sophomore year
Community

Establish healthy and mutually beneficial relationships with others in the Ad
Infinitum Community
Reflection

Employ self-reflection to gain insight regarding decision-making
Discovery: Strengths and the Ad Infinitum
Sophomore Community

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Spring – Students Take Assessment
August – Introduction to Strengths
September – Strengths and relationships
October – Strengths and Academics
November – Strengths and
discernment/reflections
January – Strengths – reviewing the fall
February – Strengths and personal
goals/vocational discernment
March – Strengths and Career
Exploration
April – Strengths and Future Action
Plans
Discovery: Strengths and the Ad Infinitum
Sophomore Community

“StrengthsQuest provides you with a clearer
perspective of yourself, allows you to recognize
your strengths, and gives you advice on improving
those strengths. It has been useful in my classes
and getting along with everyone on the floor. “

“StrengthsQuest has truly helped me as a
sophomore because I have become more positive
towards myself and towards others because I
understand that we all have different forms of
thinking and my priorities are different from other
people's. Therefore, knowing this I can accept
people and be more understanding about why they
act in certain ways. I have also been able to adapt
my own strengths to school work, and thrive off my
strongest ones to get more work done.”
Development: The Sophomore Leadership
Corps

Student Leadership Corps Vision Statement:


The Student Leadership Corps (SLC) is a group of sophomore students who have
come together to further improve their individual and collective leadership skills
through examination, open communication, and trust. SLC members will develop a
deeper knowledge of themselves as persons and as value-driven leaders while at the
same time examining theoretical concepts of leadership
A glimpse into the program:

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Overnight retreat – introduce StrengthsQuest, Jesuit mission, leadership theory, and
allow time for group bonding
Weekly skill-building workshops – highlights include diversity, balance/stress
management, decision making, marketing leadership skills
Individual mentoring – offered throughout the entire year
Encourage students to think about Strengths throughout program, especially how
Strengths will help as they apply for leadership roles on campus
Development: The Sophomore Leadership
Corps

Thoughts from participants:

“My favorite part of StrenghtsQuest was learning about my Top 5 Strengths and
realizing how true they were. Essentially, SQ helped me put into words the qualities
that I knew I had and enabled me to understand their value as well as their potential
disadvantages.”
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“Strengths helped me on my leadership journey because by being aware of my Top 5, I
was able to learn the areas I could excel at and that were best fitted for me.”


Amanda, Class of 2012
Jennifer, Class of 2011
“I think in general the mission of StrengthsQuest has helped me to understand what
strategies I should use when working with others. As a student leader who has
encountered a great deal of adversity, I appreciate StrengthsQuest because I know that
even in the most difficult situations I have tools that will help me overcome and
succeed.”

Erin, Class of 2011
Application: Student Life Strengths Supervision
RAs participating in the Strengths Curriculum will:

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Articulate in detail their own top 5 Strengths
Integrate the results of StrengthsFinder with their self-perception of
their abilities and tendencies
Articulate the major Strengths of their peer staff members and
supervisor(s)
Formulate strategies to employ their Strengths in order to solve
problems and improve performance
Apply their understanding of Strengths to roles outside of the RA
position
Application: Student Life Strengths Supervision
 Components
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Integrated throughout fall training
Strengths Letter
Monthly staff activities
Included in evaluation process and individualized action plan
 Provides
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supervisors with structured tools to:
Improve individualized supervision
Strengthen group dynamics
Facilitate peer recognition
Provide opportunities for feedback and evaluation
Individualized Supervision
Words from RAs
Recognition and Feedback
Words from RAs
Tips for Introducing the Strengths
Philosophy to Your Campus
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Start small – do strengths with your professional staff
and allow some time for people to get used to the
strengths philosophy.
Examine your own strengths in relation to how you work
with others
It is best to offer experiential exercises when training
supervisors & student leaders
Have student staff and supervisors complete the
assessment before introducing the 34 signature themes
so that their assessment is not skewed.
Supervisors need to be able to articulate their own
strengths before they can work with their student staff.
Tips for Introducing the Strengths
Philosophy to Your Campus
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Share with colleagues across the campus so that you will start
to create a Strengths culture and a common language for
student development.
Allow students the freedom to disagree with the signature
theme report. If the students feel another Signature Theme
best describes them, let them own it.
Strengths supervision is not intended to take the place of
constructive criticism. It should also not be used to justify
inappropriate behavior and/or poor job performance.
Strengths implementation should be integrated into all facets
of your program – it is the only way to insure that you will
meet your learning outcomes
Intentionally show how strengths link back to the Jesuit
mission.
For more information and materials, contact
Sara Scalzo
sscalzo@loyola.edu
410-617-5570
Michael Puma
mpuma@loyola.edu
410-617-2339