Insights from Strengths Coach Tan Hee Guan

In May 2011, Don Clifton’s intern Rick Yamamoto ignited a little fire in my cognitive domain as a small group of us attended ‘StrengthsFinder for Halftimers’. After Rick’s coaching, I went on to spread this little fire to some friends and companies.

This little fire was rekindled as I became the Asia pioneering batch of Certified Strengths Coach in 2013. But the Baptism of StrengthsFIRE came only in 2014 during my conflict resolution with my wife. When Strengths transform my marriage, I can no longer coach with just cognitive understand of Strengths, I co-found

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Perfecting Self-Discovery with StrengthsFinder

At the beginning of every Strengths Discovery Workshop, after reading their StrengthsFinder reports, participants usually indicate the following:

• 15% – “not like me”
• 35% – “a little like me”
• 30% – “quite like me”
• 20% – “totally describes me”

By the end of the sessions however, with precise explanation & interview, most people will gravitate towards

• 0% – “not like me”
• 5% – “a little like me”
• 35% – “quite like me”
• 60% – “totally describes me”

I’ve discovered that the remaining 5% are uncertain, usually due to a combination of factors:

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Starting Right with Strengths I first encountered StrengthsFinder in 2012 when I attended a group coaching session with Half-Time Asia. I had many queries that the coach could not answer. That resulted in a pause in my quest for some time. Here I learned that many people (like me) who possess the #analytical talent theme, often require precise & reliable technical answers in order to start right with StrengthsFinder. Coach Certification & Development

Much as my interest was piqued (#learner), it was only 2 years later that I had access to real answers through the Accelerated Strengths Coaching Course. It provided

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16 Million StrengthsFinder Users

I had the privilege of being invited to a select group of certified StrengthsFinder Coaches in Singapore to meet with Gallup CEO Jim Clifton. It was an exciting time learning & contributing to the Strengths movement. After all, it was only recently that we reached the milestone of 16 million StrengthsFinder users. My team and me at StrengthsTransform™ had the privilege of contributing 9,000 to that number!

Empowering Strengths Coaches

However it was apt that Jim mentioned that henceforth, the challenge was not about just about StrengthsFinder or Positive Psychology. Rather the upcoming movement was

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Over the weekend, I had the privilege to have a conversation with Mavis Lee, one of our newly certified StrengthsTransform™ Youth Developers, to get to know how knowing her Strengths has changed the way she approaches life. Her life journey was tremendously inspiring and I wish to share it with the world, to empower youths who are looking to boost their self-esteem and motivation.

“Now all I want to do is to focus on developing my talent themes, unleash my true potential and be my own queen… and help people to do the same.”

What are your top 5 StrengthsFinder® talent themes? My top

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“Will an AAA battery ever run out?” The talent theme portrait of an undergraduate who worked 2 jobs and served as Captain of a Boys’ Brigade Company while providing for his family en route to achieving an honours degree. “I will rather lose my life than waste it.”

I’ve always been involved in youth development activities. But until I discovered StrengthsFinder, I did not understand my drive nor my motivation. Only through StrengthsTransform™ Coaching did I realize that I was actually functioning at my unique best as an Educator.

Why StrengthsFinder?

StrengthsFinder facilitates discovery & application of my talents in all areas of my life. To me, strengths-coaching tells us just how

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“You sometimes think you want to disappear, but all you really want is to be found.”

I was once lost. And being lost was the worst feeling anyone could have. I wanted to be found. I wanted to know what I’m good at. I wanted to feel positive about myself. The Singapore Education system has shaped us to be good students, good students that are able to fit into the mold that the society needed. Ever since young, I wanted to fit into the mold and I just wanted to be like everybody else. It was not until when I was

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“I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.”

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. He preserved the Union during the U.S. Civil War and brought about the emancipation of slaves. The very essence of doing what one does best is that you will love doing it. Our natural talents and passions — the things we truly love to do — last for a lifetime. And that is the power that drives you to keep doing what you are best at

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“Knowledge consists of the facts and lessons learned. Skills are the steps of an activity. These three- talents, knowledge, and skills- combine to create your strengths.” –Donald O. Clifton, father of Strengths-based Psychology as well as the developer of the eponymous Clifton StrengthsFinder- Gallup’s online psychological assessment.

Do what you do best every day.

And that for a 15-year-old secondary school youth would mean excelling in school. The power of leveraging on one’s strengths to achieve his goals is that not only is he more engaged in his work, but more likely to be productive and obtain better performance.

StrengthsTransform™ Campus Excellence strives

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Strengths-based Development Camp for Gan Eng Seng School, 2016

To kickstart the final year of their secondary school life, 300 students from Gan Eng Seng School went through 2 full days of “Strengths-Transformation” with Kingmaker Leadership Institute.

It was to be the best possible preparation for a grueling & defining year ahead – students will face National exams in the form of the GCE “O” or “N” level. It was crucial that students were to be prepared, inspired & motivated to conquer the exams to the best of their ability. The class dynamics was also a key factor

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