Post 1 -Nikki Carbonari

My top 5 StrengthsQuest themes are input, connectedness, harmony, positivity, and relator. The last four of those themes are all in the relationship building category so they definitely interact and correspond with one another. The theme that is not in relationship building is input, which is under strategic thinking. StrengthsQuest’s definition of input is a person who is inquisitive and likes to gather information from many different places and experiences. I think this theme goes hand in hand with both relator and connectedness. A vast knowledge of different things and a curiosity for the world allows me to connect with others and then be able to relate to them. Harmony is described as finding the common ground in an argument, which can go along with input and relator. The theme positivity also corresponds with connectedness, which StrengthsQuest describes as acknowledging that everything happens for a reason. All in all, I can see how my five themes interact and now I am more aware of their presence and how I use them in my everyday life.

I definitely think all of our group’s strengths will contribute to our experience with Board Immersion. For me, four of my top five strengths are in relationship building, so hopefully these will be helpful when getting to know the organization and my mentor. I think positivity and harmony will be two useful strengths when working on a board of made up of many different people. In the classroom, relator, input, and connectedness will hopefully be three themes that allow me to contribute to the class. It is hard to pin point one theme that will be the most useful but in general positivity is a good theme to always have in any situation. I think positivity relates to having an open mind and an optimistic outlook for the entire experience. Obviously there will be ups and down during the year, but for the most part I hope I will be able to maintain a positive mindset throughout the experience.

I have taken similar strengths/personality tests in the past, however this was my first time taking StrengthsQuest. I thought the test was very thorough and my results were actually pretty accurate to how I would describe myself. I would definitely say I possess all of my top five themes, although I’m not sure if I would put them in the exact order StrengthsQuest did. I was also a little confused by their definitions of certain talent themes. My initial understanding of a theme was usually quite different then how StrengthsQuest explained it. Overall though I thought StrengthsQuest was a great way to start off Board Immersion and introduce everyone to each other’s strengths and the ways in which we will be able to work together to put our strengths into use. Right now I do not have any questions about StrengthsQuest, but I know we will be going over it more throughout the quarter and if questions come up then I’ll be sure to ask.