What if the secret to a high-performing team is not fixing what’s broken, but building on what’s already working?
That is the foundation of CliftonStrengths, the tool formerly known as StrengthsFinder, and it is changing the way leaders think about culture, communication, and performance. In this episode of the Build a Vibrant Culture Podcast, host Nicole Greer sits down with Jim Collison, CliftonStrengths Community Manager at Gallup, for a rich conversation about what it really means to be strengths-based, not just as an individual, but as a team and an organization.
Here is what they covered, and why it matters for you.
What Is CliftonStrengths?
About 50 years ago, researcher Don Clifton asked a simple yet revolutionary question: What if we focused on what people do best rather than what they lack? That question became the foundation for CliftonStrengths, an assessment built on 200 research-backed questions that identify your top talent themes out of 34 possible themes.
Today, nearly 35 million people have taken the assessment. You can purchase a Top 5 report to see your strongest themes, or unlock all 34 to get the full picture. Gallup also supports a global community of more than 20,000 certified coaches (Nicole is one of them) who help individuals and organizations put those insights to work.
Ready to discover yours? Start here: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-top-5-report/
From Talents to Strengths: The Journey
Jim is quick to point out that taking the assessment is just the beginning. His top five themes are Arranger, WOO, Maximizer, Communication, and Activator. And while those themes were always there, it took years of practice, reflection, and coaching to fully understand how to use them well.
“You don’t know a lot at first,” Jim says. “You’re learning as you go.”
That learning curve is real, but the framework Gallup uses makes it actionable: Name it, claim it, and aim it.
Most people get excited in the “name it” phase. There’s a dopamine rush in discovering your talents and finally having language for things you’ve always done naturally. But as Jim points out, nobody ever got anything done with dopamine alone. The real work, and the real payoff, comes when you aim those talents in the service of others.
The Role of Psychological Safety
Understanding your strengths is one thing. Using them is another. Jim makes an important distinction: the conversation about whether strengths-based development is a good idea is largely over, especially with younger generations. The real question now is whether people have a safe enough environment to actually use their strengths.
Psychological safety is not a soft concept. It is the condition that allows strengths to function. When people feel safe enough to say, “I’m really good at this, let me take it,” teams move faster, conflict decreases, and work becomes more energizing.
Nicole calls this being “lit from within,” and it’s exactly what a vibrant culture is designed to produce.
Making CliftonStrengths Cultural
So how do you actually embed strengths into an organization? Jim says it starts before you ever hand anyone an assessment. It starts with a culture audit: Where is the organization today? How engaged are people? What does the leadership structure look like? What values are already at play?
Strengths is a powerful tool, but it works best as part of a larger ecosystem that includes engagement and wellbeing. If any one of those three elements is out of balance, the whole system suffers.
Once the groundwork is in place, a team strengths grid can be a game-changer. When a team maps everyone’s themes together, something shifts. Conflicts that felt personal suddenly make sense. The colleague who always wants to talk things through has Communication high. The one who goes quiet and analyzes has Deliberative. The one who seems scattered is actually running on Activator and Ideation.
“I thought you didn’t like me,” is one of the most common things Jim hears from teams after doing this work together. And then, with understanding, that story changes.
Want to bring this experience to your team? Explore CliftonStrengths for Managers here: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-for-managers/
Or for your leadership team: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-for-leaders/
What About Your Lowest Strengths?
Nicole brings up a question that comes up often in coaching: What do you do when someone gets their results and cannot stop looking at what is ranked at the bottom?
Jim’s answer is both honest and practical. His own lowest themes are Focus and Discipline. He jokes that it is a miracle anything gets done. But rather than seeing those low themes as failures, he has built systems around them: if it is not on the calendar, it is not real; if he needs follow-through, he partners with someone who has it naturally.
The strategy is simple. Either fake it when you have to, find someone who has it and lean on them, or build a system that compensates for it. Low themes are not weaknesses to fix. They are signals about where to seek support.
Keeping Strengths Top of Mind
Awareness fades without intentional practice. Jim shared several habits that keep CliftonStrengths alive and working:
Write your top five somewhere visible. Jim keeps a handwritten list of his podcast partner’s top five right at his desk.
Listen to strengths-focused content. Gallup has created seven hours of podcast content for every single theme.
Journal about your wins. When something goes well, write it down and ask yourself: what in me made that happen?
Tell someone. Accountability accelerates growth, especially for those with WOO low on their list.
Work with a coach. This is what the global network of certified coaches is for.
Filter your goals through your strengths. Before starting a new project, list your themes and ask how each one can support your goal.
Looking for a certified coach or a strengths-based development experience? Browse Nicole’s full CliftonStrengths offerings here: https://vibrantculture.com/product-category/the-cliftonstrengths-assessment/
It Takes Everyone
One of Jim’s most important points is this: building a strengths-based culture is not the leader’s job alone. Managers are under enormous pressure right now, and they cannot carry this by themselves. Everyone on the team has a role to play.
As Jim put it: “We’ve all got to jump on this engagement bandwagon. We all have to do it together, with intentionality.”
That means followers (or teammates, partners, collaborators, whatever language your culture uses) have to show up with their own strengths, take ownership of their development, and actively contribute to a culture where everyone can do their best work.
Jim’s Closing Nugget
When Nicole asked Jim for a mic-drop final thought, he offered three:
First, do not wait to start serving people with your strengths. Someone around you needs what you have to offer, right now.
Second, you do not have to go big or go home. A little bit every day is enough. This is not a diet. Small, consistent actions compound into real transformation.
Third, lead by example. Show people that this works by doing it yourself.
“Maybe one positive thing a day,” Jim said. “Yeah. A little bit every day.”
Ready to Get Started?
Whether you are exploring CliftonStrengths for the first time or looking to go deeper with your team, Nicole Greer and Vibrant Culture are here to help.
Discover your strengths: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-34-assessment/
Get your Top 5 report: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-top-5-report/
CliftonStrengths for Leaders: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-for-leaders/
CliftonStrengths for Managers: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-for-managers/
CliftonStrengths for Sales: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-for-sales/
CliftonStrengths for Students: https://vibrantculture.com/product/cliftonstrengths-for-students/
Explore all products: https://vibrantculture.com/product-category/the-cliftonstrengths-assessment/
Work With Nicole Greer
Ready to build a culture your people want to return to?
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Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/build-a-vibrant-culture-nicole-greer/
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