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| YLDG Events - Past, Present & Future |
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| YLDG Leadership and Team Building Conference Speaker Spotlight |
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PACA’s YLDG Leadership and Team Building Conference has always strived to further the bonds of our young leaders and present learning opportunities to all who attend through keynote speaker sessions. This year we will have two speaker sessions encompassing leadership tools, skills, and strategies to help you further development. I had the privilege of discussing these topics and having some Q&A with both speakers prior to our conference. Compiled here are the fruits of these conversations.
Session #1: Jennifer Hayes-Housel
Our session one speaker is Jennifer Hayes-Housel. Jen is a Gallup CliftonStrengths coach and will be facilitating the CliftonStrengths assessment for top 5 themes and helping us to examine what they mean about ourselves. 90% of Fortune 500 companies have used the Strengths process to maximize positive impact and boost profits. Individuals, partners, families, and teams gain awareness of and appreciation for differing and complementary ways to achieve success.
Jen remarked that the real benefit to the Strengths process is that it really gives you the tools to be a better human – truly becoming your best self! Often differences in others that can be seen as troublesome or stubborn can be realized to just be a difference in how each think and value their strengths. With this awareness and understanding comes the appreciation for these differences, and ultimately full-blown intent to have teams comprised of individuals with diverse Strengths.
Question & Answer
- What led you to become a Gallup CliftonStrengths coach? - I was introduced to CliftonStrengths early in my role as a Director in the Diocese of Scranton, in 2018. I immediately became what Gallup calls a Strengths Enthusiast, someone who sees the potential in the process and enjoys learning about and using Strengths. After two years of working with CliftonStrengths more informally and continuing to witness its positive value, I became officially trained and certified as a Gallup Strengths Coach in 2020.
- Tell us about the development/value of CliftonStrengths? - CliftonStrengths grew out of Donald Clifton’s work in positive psychology. His research focused on what people did well, rather than the more typical path of focusing on what was problematic. The Strengths Assessment grew out of his research into talent and excellence, and the first version was offered through Gallup in 1999. To me, the most basic value offered through CliftonStrengths is an awakened or renewed appreciation for our own strengths, as well as the strengths of those we encounter. No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something. This is a research-backed tool that is highly accessible. Depending on the person, partnership, or team using the Strengths process, it can lead to a more engaged and focused approach to a career, to better understanding and appreciation between a couple or amongst a family, or it can lead to a more highly performing team - a team that has learned to better collaborate by leveraging everyone’s most powerful talents.
- Do you see specific characteristics for successful leaders? - Gallup has done a lot of research around successful leaders. Some of Gallup’s findings in reference to leaders and CliftonStrengths are: 1. A successful leader knows his or her own strengths and surrounds him or herself with people who are strong in the areas where the leader is weak. And 2. No particular CliftonStrengths Theme ranking is required to be a successful leader. Instead, a successful leader works to leverage his or her Top Themes in developing a uniquely effective leadership style.
- How can individuals and companies get most value from the CliftonStrengths assessment tool? - Regular reflection and continued learning are recommended to get the most benefit from CliftonStrengths. An initial reading of your CliftonStrengths Report or participating in a single workshop are simply starting points. Gallup is a research organization and so offers an enormous amount of information relating to Strengths: webinars, podcasts, articles, etc. Additionally, periodic Strengths Coaching for individuals, partners, or teams is another way to continue to expand the power of this process.
- Tell us about yourself (family, career, hobbies, etc.)! - I graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in Psychology and later earned a master’s degree in Theology from the University of Scranton. For most of my career I’ve worked in non-profits, and I have always been service driven. It’s been a defining desire in my life, to work to improve people’s lives. [From a Strengths perspective, that would be my Achiever (#1) working in conjunction with my Connectedness (#5) and Belief (#8).] I’ve been married for 24 years and have two children. For fun I love to read and am an avid Audible listener, with a penchant for Fantasy (think Lord of the Rings). Fitness is important to me, and part of my best day is paddleboarding on the lake or going for a long walk on one of the rural roads in Northeast PA.
Session #2: Gary Rupert
Our session two speaker is Gary Rupert. Gary was a music educator for 40 years and was most recently the Band Director at Smithsburg High School in Smithsburg, Maryland, which is where I first met Mr. Rupert as a student. Leadership is a position. Leading is an action. Emerging leaders are encouraged to start where they are, use the skills they currently possess and do what they can to influence others in moving forward. Leadership is a choice you make, not a place you sit. We will explore the stages of influence and identifying leadership opportunities. Through this, we will learn to identify, encourage, and support emerging leaders.
It took me years to realize that Mr. Rupert did not just teach music, but rather used music as a tool to mentor and teach leadership. In the beginning of his career, he realized that he needed to “get out of his own way,” as he describes it, and realize that it wasn’t necessarily about the what or the how of his teachings, but rather the why. By serving the needs of his students and others, the natural consequence was that he too benefitted. The importance of true relationships became a common theme in our conversation as an indication of the quality of interactions with others.
Question & Answer
- What influences drove you to coaching leadership? - When I became an educator, I recognized that too many teachers were focused on the “what” and “how,” but few, if any, ever addressed the “why.” I understood that “why” is the most critical question. Life must be lived intentionally. How does a leader get their people to go if they don’t have any idea where they are going?
- What do you find to be the biggest challenge in mentoring leaders? - When mentoring people who already hold a leadership position, I have found that they assume past success automatically leads to future success. Often, they are unwilling to acknowledge that they need support. With emerging leaders, there are two major hurdles, The first is their belief that leadership comes from people of position. The second is they lack the confidence to lead from within. In both the case of people who are already in a leadership position AND the emerging leader, they only recognize the importance of leadership skills, but not leadership character.
- What do you see as “the Golden Rule,” regarding leadership? What traits do you find most valuable? - Leadership is about influence through service to others. Leadership is a role, but leading is an action. The action is not about standing on the mountain and looking down at others but creating a culture in which your people can stand on the mountain alongside of you.
- If you could go back and do it all again, what would you do differently? - I would not change anything. My life’s experiences have brought me to where I am today. In truth, I can’t go back…don’t want to go back…need to move forward. I must acknowledge the lessons of my past and use them to propel me forward.
- Tell us about yourself (family, career, hobbies, etc.)! - I have two sons: Chad and Jeremy. These days my hobbies are running and going to the gym. As for my career, I currently am a Culture Strategist and Coach for II:Leaders Creating:II Leaders, as well as a Mentor for LCL Mentors @ Marching Arts Education. I am sought-after as a speaker on leadership, motivation and creating a positive learning environment. As a music educator, my bands consistently achieved Superior ratings at local, state, and national levels. (I) have been named an Outstanding Maryland Music Educator, a Teacher of Excellence in both the Frederick and Washington County public schools and has been twice nominated as a Disney Teacher of Excellence and am sought-after as a conductor and adjudicator in the areas of symphonic bands and jazz ensembles. (I) am an avid blogger, whose daily entries are followed by people in over 57 countries and am the author of a daily inspirational book for students and teachers, "Today, No Every Day."
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