17. Guest Chani Kohn - Clifton Strengths Finder Coaching Session

You are invited to listen in to my personal Strengths Finder coaching session with Chani Kohn, a certified Clifton Strengths Finder coach. This episode is a deep dive into the Strengths Finder assessment and how Chani’s expert interpretation can lead to a richer understanding of our natural talents and their practical applications in career, business and life. 

When reviewing my recent CliftonStrengths® 34 Results on my own, I felt I had a basic understanding of my top strengths, but WOW! A coaching session with Chani brought a depth of understanding far beyond my interpretation. Especially the synergies between strengths and how best to tap into using them. It was also very interesting to see how my strengths have evolved and can serve me during this season of entrepreneurship. I will be listening to this episode on repeat!

If you want to learn about your strengths and gain expert insights, Chani is offering a special discount for listeners of the podcast. You’ll receive your personal CliftonStrengths® 34 Results AND a 30-minute coaching session with Chani.

Valued at $400, Chani is offering a special price of only $250 for listeners.

Send her a message on LinkedIn with the words “Next Chapters” to take advantage of this offer.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chanikohn/

Grab a Free Resume Template for Stay at Home Moms.
Interested in my 1:1 Career Comeback Coaching program? Let's chat!
Send me an email ---> christina@hernextchapters.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn ---> www.linkedin.com/in/kohlchristina

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hi and welcome to her next chapter's podcast. I'm your host, christina Cole. I'm a mom of three and soon to be an empty nester. I'm also a certified HR pro who restarted my career after being a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. I created this podcast to connect with moms who have an empty nest on the horizon and are wanting to redefine their identity outside of motherhood, which might include a job search. On this show, we'll have raw conversations about our ever-changing roles as moms. We hear from women who restarted their careers and share tips for a job search after a career break. So if that's you, you're in the right place, friend, let's get started.

Speaker 1: 0:50

Welcome to this week's episode of her next chapters. I'm excited to have back with us today Haani. Haani is our Strengths Finder coach and she has done a huge favor for me. I just recently took the Strengths Finder again and Haani is going to help interpret my scores for me my top five, my top 10, I'm not sure we're going to go through it together and kind of gives you, all listening, an idea of what it's like to have a coach interpret the results with you. Because you can, haani, if I'm not wrong, you can get these results on your own, but then it's not really fully interpreted or kind of a deep dive to connect the dots and understand how to use them. Yeah, you definitely can.

Speaker 2: 1:37

You can take the assessment either just your top five or you could take the full 34 and it does come with a report, but the part that it doesn't come with is a certified coach in the Strengths to really help you understand what these strengths mean for you or any questions you may have or how they intersect. So that's definitely the key part. That's really helped me gain more insights into my strengths too. Okay, perfect.

Speaker 1: 2:10

So that's what we're going to do today in live. I mean, we're live recording it. So I'm going to be a little bit vulnerable here as we go through what my strengths are, and I'll just read them off real quick, the top five, and then you can help me with the interpretation. So Achiever is my first one, and then Ideation Maximizer and we talked about that on the previous recording Responsibility and Input. Those are my top five and you had asked me before we met to kind of go through and with a highlighter and to highlight the things in the report that I'm like oh yeah, that is spot on, that is me as well as to highlight things that are like I'm not quite sure that describes me. So I've done that exercise and so I'm interested to talk to you about my strengths and how I can use them.

Speaker 2: 3:04

Yeah, I know I'm really excited. I obviously, you know, love strengths. I could talk about them all day and I just you know what I really love about them is the, the intersection of how you start seeing them come to life. Once you understand them a little bit more, then you're going to start spotting them while you're. It could be like how you're planning your week with your family, to your professional side, to um. Sometimes people have even said, oh my gosh, I noticed. Then, after I learned about strengths, I noticed, like how I drive in the car, so it's it's from the like higher level, to even like some of the nitty gritty Um. So you know I I can share also a little bit, just if it's helpful. As you mentioned around, you know your top five um. I can share. You know, helpful for you, just what some of those you know mean um, just to give a little bit more insight um for people to understand what those exact ones mean Um.

Speaker 2: 4:14

So an achiever is someone who, as it sounds, they want to achieve Um, but it's someone who you really have like this burning fire in you that you're always looking to do. So it could be from your simple to do list um that you get that satisfaction of checking cloth. But even when you check it off, it's like okay, so what's next? Um, and this is the achiever, someone who can really, um, like kind of burn the midnight oil, uh, when they're really focused on a task, um, so that's, that's the achiever. Does that resonate with you?

Speaker 1: 4:52

Yeah, like you. Yeah, you can see me smiling. So the last, uh, a week ago, the podcast that I published. I was busy all day and I just hadn't gotten to it yet and I started like at 9 30 at night, and I am a night person. First of all, I'm a night owl, but usually I go to bed. You know, somewhere between 11 and midnight I'm in bed, lights out. I know that that's late. However, this night I was working on it and working on it, working on it and going you know what I think I need to have an email address that is, like you know, with my, my brand name. So I stopped what I was doing, so I can get that, because I wanted to talk about it.

Speaker 1: 5:31

Like you know email me at this address and like, well, I got to stop and do that. And then I couldn't find my business debit card, my credit card, to pay for, so let me go find that. Anyway, the point of the story is I was up until three in the morning working on it and my husband had texted me like a little bit before three. I didn't even see the text. Cause my phone's undo, not disturb. He was with me but I didn't see any text in me. He came in the door, he's in his bathrobe. He came downstairs and he's like are you okay? He's like what are you doing? I'm like I'm working, like can't you see? I'm working and I'm already telling, but did this and this and this and this and this and this? I'm like, okay, I'm going back to bed.

Speaker 1: 6:08

But my point is I was in the flow and it had to get done. I mean, like I've been very committed that this podcast is going to be released every single Wednesday, no matter what, and if I haven't gotten to it yet, that means I am up until two or three in the morning, wednesday morning, and getting it done. This last week I was able to like publish it on a Monday night and it came out on Wednesday by itself, because you know all that. But I didn't want to be up until three in the morning. But that's my point is that's an example of working, working, working and just being in the flow, and I didn't even at so three 24 is when I was upstairs. I remember looking like, oh my gosh, I didn't want to stop because I was just in the in the groove. I'm like there's so many things I need to do. I'm like no, I have another interview tomorrow. I need to be fresh for that. So I need to go to sleep. So I have at least six hours to sleep, yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:58

And with the achiever, too, like, exactly like you're talking about. They have a great deal of stamina and they also take a lot of satisfaction from being busy and productive. So it's not just like being busy to be busy, but it's also being productive, which is exactly what you were describing.

Speaker 1: 7:17

And I guess, before I started the podcast, I've been, I've been busy but I have felt like not productive, like I didn't have things, concrete things to show for the mindset change and the yeah thinking and the connecting. You know it was hard to show like here's the result of all the busyness. So that makes a lot more sense to me now in talking about it this way.

Speaker 2: 7:43

Yeah, well, and the way that strengths works is that there's four different domains that all of the strengths fall into, so there's executing, strategic thinking, influencing and relationship building. And the achiever falls into the executing domain, so there's their group together. So it's also interesting to see, well and we can talk about it like what which domain that someone leads with. So your next one ideation. This falls into the strategic thinking domain and this is a really interesting one. I love this one for you, for being an entrepreneur also.

Speaker 2: 8:30

Ideation is like it sounds. It's someone who loves ideas, loves coming up with ideas and isn't afraid of new ideas. So not afraid to try something out, or okay, it doesn't work out, but you're more excited about the idea of and trying to find connections between. You know different pieces of, whether it's information or working on something, but always like you're always thinking of oh, look what, what could this be called, or what could be better here, or oh, what about this idea? And it might not just be professionally, it might be. You might have seen that also person show up in your life.

Speaker 1: 9:08

Well, I think that ideation for me, because when I think of a blank, a blank slate, like a blank screen or a piece of paper, that's kind of challenging for me. But so I at least like try to like get a draft out or, like you know, get a straw man or find other, do research and find other peoples I'm thinking back to, like the corporate world. If we were looking at a PTO policy that was unlimited PTO. So like, well, rather than start that from zero, let me go look into what other people have done and then refine it and make it better and make it fit my organization. But when I come up with it all by myself, I feel kind of stuck. So I think this one might make more sense when I apply it with the next one, which is Maximizer, taking an idea that it exists and making it better. And I'm also wondering, now that I'm in the entrepreneurial space, that that's why this is showing up, because I am the only one doing it and I do have a lot of ideas.

Speaker 1: 10:13

And I get a little frustrated with myself that I have all these ideas and not necessarily the capacity to put them into place. To put them into action, yeah, and.

Speaker 2: 10:22

I really think that you might not be giving yourself enough credit that the you know, if you think about it. You had this idea for a podcast and you built it from scratch and you're you had the idea of I'm gonna publish it every Wednesday. You have the idea of different guests to feature. So all of these ideas of how to make it better, and you are spot on. Yes, the Maximizer, which is taking something from good to great and like striving for excellence, is definitely working with the ideation. It's also interesting of the and I've had this as well of when you have a Cheever and Maximizer both in your top five, like wow, is that like a powerful, like dynamo of two strengths and there's also some like really big watch out areas with both of those too, because with strengths there's blind spots too. Or like oh, it was the concept of overusing your strengths. So, like I've experienced that before when I've had a Cheever and Maximizer where like and I was hearing some of it come out in the story you were sharing of like okay, I just want this to be like really good and I need you know. So it's the achiever is your stamina to get it done, but your Maximizer at times and it's important to be aware of it the Maximizer at times can really cause you to like, keep making the tweaks and like, okay, when is good good enough? And for someone with both of those, that's something I always recommend that could be helpful before starting out on any project, like defining what is good enough for the project, cause sometimes what you may think is good enough is that might be ideal state, but what's that going to take you away from that? What could still be good enough and still and it's probably still going to be amazing anyway. So that's something to just be careful of at times with the Maximizer.

Speaker 2: 12:26

What I love about the Maximizer is that it's someone who is detail oriented and like see the little things that will make a big difference. So whether that could be like someone who is editing something and it's like the change of a word or the language they use, or it could just be setting up a party or an event, and like the colors they're using or how they set up an event, or how, when someone comes into a room, how they want to welcome them. So it's those little things that like they want to take it from, like every interaction they have or everything they're doing. It's how do I take this from? Good, but like I want to be great.

Speaker 1: 13:09

So I have a story to pack that up. You mentioned having a party, and when we host parties here, we have an island in the kitchen where I'll lay out the food. But I put the plates at the beginning and then I put the napkins and the silverware at the end. That way you're not having to juggle your silver and napkins while you're loading up your plate, because if it's all together, then your one hand is full of silverware, the other hand is full of a plate. What are you gonna load? So that's a little detail that I make a point of and it makes the whole thing flow smoother. And now, if they're all together at one place, it's not the end of the world. I usually have one and I just grab my plate and then I go back in line to get my silverware. But that's a maximizer type of thing, but I'll tell you when you mention details.

Speaker 1: 13:55

So this is back from my second professional level job, the accountant that I worked with, the accounting manager. She obviously works with numbers, numbers, numbers and whatever it was that she's having me do. She says so I guess you're really not a very detailed person. That's okay, I'll go ahead and do it. I'm like, go for it, but I still have kind of held onto that. No, I'm not detailed. I think it's that I'm not detailed. I don't prefer to work in detail with numbers. But that little example of like I'm setting up a party and I'm setting up the flow, that was a detail that I noticed other hosts don't necessarily do, and but that's just a little detail of that's more of a social environment versus numbers or wordsmithing. Oh yeah, I can go through and edit words and make it better and stronger and I do have a. Well, at least I've had it. I think I've rearranged my room, but I had a sticky note up that said done is better than perfect.

Speaker 1: 14:57

So that's something I'm working on this year. Forever and ever I will be working on that, so that must be my maximizer really showing up is trying to make it perfect, and that the shadow side, the dark side, I'm not sure what you guys call it, but the blind spot. The blind spot side of it is that continued striving for perfection and not getting it finished.

Speaker 2: 15:21

And it can be exhausting and deflating. So it's like it's knowing that, like okay, what I achieved, you know what I set out for. I mean, you went, set your expectations high and that's perfectly okay, but it's just like what's realistic, to make sure that you're like feeding your maximizer but taming it at the same time.

Speaker 1: 15:48

I remember there's a Amy Porterfield. She's a marketing podcaster. She mentioned in one of her episodes I listened to I'm not gonna say it right, but that it's okay to strive for a B plus instead of an A. It's like what? Like what, that's your goal. Like, yes, a B plus is gonna do the job really, really well. You don't have to like. And that extra and I know for me like okay, that extra three hours maybe, that I mean I was working on it. It's like, anyway, I'm like justify like why it took me five hours and why I stayed up till three in the morning because I felt that lies in the flow. So that was my achiever. But the maximizer kept me in the chair probably longer than I needed to be.

Speaker 2: 16:32

Well, and it's a perfect segue into your next one. Which really shows there in that story is your responsibility. So responsibility is in the executing domain and this is where, like, if you take that like psychological ownership of like what you say you're going to do and commit to, you are going to do it Like and it doesn't matter, like what's gonna get in the way, like here, like it was your sleep, that like you're like, no, I committed to this. I said it's coming out every Wednesday, like I am doing this and like I am dedicated, like I am responsible and in this, like I give you a lot of credit, because, especially as an entrepreneur, it's really easy to not have that discipline, just be like, oh fine, I'll do it the next day. But you're like no, I am committed and I'm going to do this and that's what.

Speaker 2: 17:29

Like the responsibility with the maximizer and achiever is also really interesting mix, because it's the I want to do something, Like I have that fire burning in me to do and to complete. The maximizer is saying, well, okay, we're going to do this thing, but I want to make sure we do it. Great, and the responsibility is saying we're definitely finishing this thing, Like we are not going to sleep before we finish this.

Speaker 1: 17:59

Yeah, they all came together. Yeah, I was gonna say about the responsibility. Well, I guess for me the podcast is an example. Became my external accountability because it's public.

Speaker 1: 18:18

But nobody's gonna tap me on the shoulder and say you didn't publish on a Wednesday and you said you would. I mean, so that's an internal element, but the external, because it's visible and public, that's the external accountability for myself. And then, yeah, I'm gonna make it happen, no matter what, even if I'm just talking into the mic by myself, don't know what I'm saying yet, but here we go, yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:42

Something's gonna be published and I think what's so great for an entrepreneur is starting out is that sense of responsibility of saying okay, like, even if it is, I'm talking to myself, like I said, I'm gonna do this and I'm going to do it. The blind spot.

Speaker 1: 19:01

What are the blind spots? Yeah, oh, responsibility.

Speaker 2: 19:03

Yeah, with responsibility, like some of the blind spots there can be, potentially over committing yourself, where, especially with having the achiever also like someone who's an achiever, a lot of times we'll say, yeah, I wanna do this, I wanna do that, I wanna like and commit to a lot, and what the achiever doesn't have is achiever might commit to a lot, but that doesn't mean they're gonna say I'm gonna get this all done by this time. That's the responsibility coming in. So a watch out is really making sure that are you over committing yourself? So, and I feel like what's hard as an achiever is saying no or saying the. You know how do you push back and say no because you want to do, but the responsibility in you is going to finish it, but to what end? Like you don't wanna burn out, so I need my sleep. Yeah, exactly. So I think you know what I always recommend is you know the.

Speaker 2: 20:10

I think there's a lot of power in the yes and so you know, yes, I would love to do this and I right now have, you know, three other projects I'm committed to.

Speaker 2: 20:23

So what does the following one look like for you?

Speaker 2: 20:26

And a lot of times the other person's like okay, that's great or you know, whatever you know, you figure it out.

Speaker 2: 20:32

But I think you know the yes and is what really helps balance the achiever and the responsibility out together, because then that person feels I, you know, the achiever in me is saying, yes, I want to do this, but I'm also there's someone who you also have to be really responsible for is yourself, and you owe that to yourself, to be responsible to you, because if you are over committing, then your work is not going to feel as great as it can be and then your maximizer is going to be really upset and really picked into high gear of like no, but like this could be better.

Speaker 2: 21:13

And you know, then on top of that it's like but I said I was going to do this, so I have to do it, but I'm over committed. So that's definitely a place to watch out, especially, you know, whether in a corporate setting or in a entrepreneur setting, or even in a home setting, of how many times you know we as moms, are we like way over committed within the household, and you know. So just keeping that in mind too is, I find, really helpful.

Speaker 1: 21:41

Yeah, within the household that you're going to talk about, like volunteering, like cookies and you know, or whatever you know. Just it's hard to say no, but I like the yes and so I know yes and and you're going to think this is funny from improv, because I coached improv teams. People were like what, like, are you an actress? Like not at all. But that was through the destination imagination program that I mentioned. For what? Six years my teams chose the improv challenge and so yes, and was like that's how you do improv. So you can't say when someone throws something, an idea to you, you can't say no, because that totally stops the whole flow. You have to say you know yes and and then you build on it Anyway. So I'm familiar with that concept, but I've never thought of it in this light, combining my strengths and and watching out for the pitfalls, like yes, I can do it. And we need to talk about the timing.

Speaker 1: 22:41

Yeah yeah, so sure, that is beautiful, the yes and All right. So the last, not the last one, but the fifth one. We've got achiever ideation, maximizer responsibility and then input. Help me with this one because I had a hard time relating to it or understanding it.

Speaker 2: 23:01

Yeah, so input is also part of the strategic thinking domain, and input is people who are really, really talented at this. They have, like a need to collect or archive. So it's not just. I don't want you to think like, oh my gosh, am I a hoarder? Because that's not.

Speaker 1: 23:19

You're just my mind.

Speaker 2: 23:21

Yeah, no, that's not. I know that's sometimes how people think of it. But you might accumulate like information or ideas or even relationships, like I know, like even when, when we were talking a little bit ago, even mentioning you know, oh, I'm connecting with you, know this person like from like college, or this person from my first job, so like that's the input of like you're, you're collecting even like those relationships, and all of that is inputting into your life and into you. Know, I see a lot of the input works really nicely with the ideation and I think that's really really great dynamic together, both in the strategic thinking domain. But what I love about it is here you are as the input collecting, whether information, ideas.

Speaker 2: 24:16

It could be a webinar you're going to, or you mentioned, oh, you listened to Amy Porterfield's podcast, and I'm sure you have a whole list of podcasts or books or articles that, like you're either subscribed to or you are always. If someone were to ask you what's a book you're reading, you would have like five to name. So it's that collecting of things and information that I think that would then flow so nicely into your ideation of oh hey, what, what was that that I just read? That like how could that work? Well, here Are you even mentioning, you know, your the PTO example of you know? Oh, let me go out and see how others have done it, so you're getting the input there. And then you had the ideation of okay, and the maximizer okay, now how can I make this Michael?

Speaker 1: 25:09

Right, right, that makes sense. I think what stumped me a bit is the. I talked a lot about reading, like the. You know, you read, you read, you read, and I'm like, well, these days I listen, yeah, yeah, so I listen to a book and the book I'm listening to is Atomic Habits, to answer that question, and I'm not always listening to a book, nor am I reading, but I have subscribed to quite a few newsletters, like email, newsletterscom, and there's some that I opened up right away because I really like their content, and there's others, you know, I may or may not, so I guess I'm collecting newsletters. I hadn't really thought of it that way, I feel like. Is it talked about? You might be delighted to read more about specific topics, particularly those with which you are already familiar. So maybe this showed up for me as a number five strength, because right now I am researching the programs that I'm developing for my clients.

Speaker 1: 26:07

And so I'm researching, like, what are other people in this space doing? What are they offering? What are they talking about? What does my voice fit into the conversation? So I hadn't really looked at it in that light because I was thinking like, well, what am I researching? Like you know, think of like history or something I can know I'm not Right. Right, it's different research.

Speaker 2: 26:27

It's not like medical research or anything. It's also around just like seeking and looking like, seeking out information and then storing that information and being really good at that of like and having that access to like that knowledge, and that then helps you make really well informed decisions about what you're doing. Or maybe it helps you make a well informed decision to pursue an idea, or you might have, like, a really good system in place for like you're mentioning the newsletters or the different podcasts that you might listen to about how you organize it, how you can locate it.

Speaker 1: 27:08

And I don't have a good system and that's where, on this one I had, I use green highlighter for like what connects to me, and I use the pink for like so, like green and redish, you know, or red highlighter, but I use pink. So out of the six categories, one is green and the other five are pink. And but that's why I wanted, so I was so excited to talk to you about like help me understand it because, like.

Speaker 1: 27:37

So I'll take a screenshot of something Like if I'm on LinkedIn on my phone or something in Facebook, screenshot going oh, that was interesting, but I don't then go. I have 20,000 pictures, so it's in the middle of my 20,000 pictures, although I have started in a Facebook group that I'm in that has you know, my ideal clients are gonna live in that Facebook group.

Speaker 2: 28:00

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 28:01

I see a post that is relevant to like the services that I offer, I'll save that post and I call it social proof. So I have started doing that. I've never gone back and looked at them, but I've been starting to like, oh, that's a good one, I don't wanna just like it, I wanna save it so I can go back and look at it. So there is a little bit of a system there that I can point to.

Speaker 1: 28:24

But yeah, otherwise I'm having. I'm quite impressed to come up with what are my systems and maybe that's one that a strength that's farther down on my list of system creating. That isn't quite with the input, because I am getting input. Yeah, I can read that like I'm listening to podcasts of different people and for different purposes, to all in support of you know where I'm at today, but I'm not as good at the system.

Speaker 1: 28:51

I'll take notes like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna show you. Yeah, I have all these notebooks. What is that? Five or six that I'm showing you, and the problem is they're not like I could go to start with one. I'm like, oh, it's just gonna be. I'm like, oh, this is kind of that type of content I don't wanna like write in that one right now. So then I'll grab another one. Oh, this is a different type of content. Or, you know, and I'm like I wanna have a system, but I don't have a system. I just kind of like, wherever I can find paper, I wind up writing it, and then you know the one I just showed you. Ahead, a page is ripped out from a different notebook. I'll at least put them together because they kind of go together.

Speaker 2: 29:25

Well, and it's interesting, I'm hearing you speak Like I hear so much of the input strength coming out. I love a lot around, like the collecting and archiving. So like even the screenshots you're taking, like you might not go back to it but you're collecting that. Or the podcast, like to your point, like maybe you're not reading the book but listening and I feel like that's just a sign of the times of like where shifts have moved a little bit. But there is so much that you're storing and archiving and you might go back to it at some point. But like there was a reason that you're like, oh, I wanna hang on to this Because at a later point, like I'm exploring something or I'm curious about it and I wanna continue to look at it and I think to your point around the system.

Speaker 2: 30:14

That's where, like when I look at your other strengths a little further down, at number 15, you're a ranger, an arranger. Is, you know, someone who is really skilled, is really skilled at looking at the world of you know? It's all puzzle pieces in a sense, and how does it all fit together? So it might be someone who's really strong at project plans or really driven by timelines, or someone who looks and can arrange all the pieces of how should it work and what's the right order for it to go. So that might be a strength to tap into and to learn a little bit more about the arranger, of how you can tap into the arranger, because that, paired with the input, I think could be really helpful there.

Speaker 1: 31:03

Yeah, that makes sense. As far as the collecting, so as you were talking, I just had a memory because I rearranged my office and I'm gonna have to be going through some old files to create some space. The file cabinet the one right there in front of the globe is from like college era for me and that was a long time ago and so I haven't gone through that one yet. So I was thinking about oh gosh, I have to go through all that. But I've collected things Like my old performance reviews are in there. Old resumes are in there because, like performance reviews and anyone listening who's in a job search, keep your performance reviews, the written record, because those are great things to remind yourself of when you're interviewing your superstar stories. I've actually lifted some things from my performance review and put it on my resume, like the direct quote from the vice president of HR, something that was relevant. And anyway, that's a side note.

Speaker 1: 31:58

I found a notebook when I was cleaning up the office from my 20s, when I had created a resume writing business as a little side project, and in it in the notebook were my brochures, because we didn't have like email marketing type stuff back then or Facebook, so I had printed brochures. I'll fold them nice and pretty. I had a business card, and then I had the resumes that I had worked on. I had like their original one with my handwritten notes on it, and then I have like their polished, pretty one that I made. I still have this book, and it was so nice for me to see it, though, because I'm like, oh, I've been doing this for a year. I did this in my 20s and then I'm doing it again. Like who, what does that say?

Speaker 1: 32:39

Like you know, I was on to something back then and, yeah, I don't know why I stopped. I guess I probably took on another job and was like busy and overwhelmed and did a job. That's kind of the pattern. But anyway, that was just. I collected it, I didn't want to let that stuff go, whereas my daughter like, like, maybe part of it is sentimental attachment. Sure, I don't know if that's part of this, the input. My daughter is much easier. She doesn't have the strong sentimental attachment to things like I do, like I won't let her throw out like her baby doll, like that's your baby doll. No, we're gonna hold on to baby doll. Well, she's like I'm done with it. Yeah, and that's probably not the right example, but they're because I'm like she'll come back and listen to the podcast and go mom, I didn't want to get rid of baby dolls, but anyway she has an easier time of like cleaning out the clutter that might accumulate as I like, oh, but there's value.

Speaker 2: 33:33

So I'm not a hoarder, but Right, but they're definitely and it's funny as and I'm smiling because that is a blind spot like for the input strength of just it can lead to physical clutter, but also, what I find interesting it can also lead to intellectual clutter. So I think, like there it could be interesting of like how maybe it's scheduling time with yourself, like once a quarter for like input audit of you know, an audit of whether it's the screenshots on your phone and you know, did you you put them in a folder or something, or is it? You know you mentioned you're gonna be going through the file cabinet, or is it going through the notebooks on your desk or you know, going through any of that like, and I think that way it helps so that your mind doesn't become too overloaded.

Speaker 1: 34:28

Yeah, that makes sense. I made a. I just made a note of that and I'll calendar it for myself too. I love that once a quarter because I've done it with LinkedIn as well. When there's a particular post or something, I'm like, oh, that's really interesting, I wanna remember that, I'll save it. Linkedin has a way to save it. I have no idea how to see it again because I haven't looked, but there's a save tool. So I'm like, oh, I saved it. And I'm like, oh, I need to figure out how to like go look at those and it's input, it's research, it's the reason I saved it, because I want to use that idea again for my marketing and how I'm posting it or showing up and all that For sure. This is very insightful. Good, I wanna tell you.

Speaker 2: 35:09

Is there anything else that you were that either resonated a lot for you or you were a little bit more curious about?

Speaker 1: 35:19

Let me look through. The strategic definitely resonated that's my number six Particularly in an entrepreneurial lifestyle. I can see how it showed up in my previous my corporate world as well. It had to be very strategic. Well, in this part is what I underlined about. Because you can do it quickly. It may look as if you are winging it. Honestly, there's plenty of times I've felt that I'm winging it, but in reality it's the strategic strength coming through. Developer, intellectual, the futuristic was my number 10.

Speaker 1: 36:03

Yeah, I was really surprised by that. I guess it depends on what you mean by futuristic, because it's one of my previous roles, my previous jobs. We brought in a futurist. That was our title. It was during COVID. They were like what can happen? What happens if the election turns this way? What happens if this happened Then? What that meant for our work? This is at a foundation. How would that affect the people that we serve? It was just like your entire job, that's your job, your career as futurist. You're sitting daydreaming about what can happen if ABCDE. I feel like I'm more practical. Right For me, when I hear the word futurist or futuristic, I think of someone that's daydreaming. Maybe it's going back to the ideation too, because if you're thinking about, those probably go together. I would think if you're thinking about the future Again, that might be showing up in my top 10, because I'm in an entrepreneurial lifestyle right now. But that one I was surprised by. I'm like, oh, I wasn't expecting futuristic to show up.

Speaker 2: 37:23

Yeah, I definitely think a lot of the futuristic is so indicative of where you are in your life and it's not necessarily as you're describing this, futurist. It's more like you're someone who has a vision, but you have a detailed vision of what could my future be. And if I were to turn my aspirations of my podcast and into reality, how does that look like? You have that vision for what tomorrow can be. It's not necessarily your vision into the next five years, but you have this future forward thinking. Look, whereas sometimes for entrepreneurs it can be full of worry, where you're looking at it from an opportunity standpoint of what could this opportunity be for me? And, yes, spot on of the mix of the ideation and the futuristic is really really great, because sometimes you have the futuristic or just kind of hanging out there of like, oh well, what if this or that, but the ideation I think really helps. Take the futuristic, like that vision, turning it into the idea, and then you have the power of the input of what and the strategic of OK, how can I get there and what are maybe some information that I already have that can help me develop this further, and then, if you're achieving your maximizer, you're going to get it done and the responsibility. So when I was just looking over your top 10, I was like, wow, these are such a cool mix for an entrepreneur. You have the strategic, you have the execution, you have the influence and you have relationship building. So you have a mix Like, while you lead with strategic thinking, you really still do have a mix of one of the from one straight from.

Speaker 2: 39:34

All of the four domains are in your top 10, which is not always the case, like I know for myself. I do not have, I don't think I have. I have to look back, I don't remember offhand, but I don't think I have one representation from each domain in my top 10, which that's not a bad thing. I just think that it's really cool when someone has one from each of them, because they all connect it differently but really nicely together.

Speaker 1: 40:06

T-Tap because I was wondering about that. Because, yeah, I've got strategic thinking, executing and then relationship building and influencing.

Speaker 2: 40:16

I have strengths in each one and I said for me when, looking at it, I'm like, well, I'm not really strong in any, but what you're telling me is that it's a gift to be strengths in all, yeah, and it's funny because you're like your perspective, and I feel like this is so such a good moment of like beauty in the eye of the beholder that in your perspective it's like, oh, like I don't feel like I'm good at any one thing. Where, like I'm like, oh my gosh, what a great balance. Like this is awesome. Like you have strengths in each domain within your top 10 that, like, how cool is it that you can tap into one of those at any given time?

Speaker 2: 40:56

Where, like I've had people who are like I have no influence, like how am I gonna influence? Like, and they still can. They just get to things in a different way. So, like I don't think I'm as high on some of the influencing ones, but I know that I get to the influencing through my strong relationship building. So it's understanding of.

Speaker 2: 41:18

It's not that you don't have that strength, it's just that that's not the one that comes the most natural to you. So you might use you're gonna end up using your top five the most and then it will expand to your top 10, but, like I know for me my 30 through 34, I'm not using necessarily on a daily basis. It doesn't mean I don't have it doesn't mean I never use them. It just means that if I need to use one of those, I need to like buckle down and be a lot more thoughtful, like even we were talking about the Arranger it's number 15,. That it doesn't mean you don't have the skills to do it. It just means you need to be a lot more focused and purposeful around using it mentally to prepare yourself around it.

Speaker 1: 42:04

Yeah, that makes sense. Well, this has been amazing because if I had just done this on my own, it's like, okay, there's a couple of things that I can relate to, but having you coach me through it and talk through examples is just so much more enriching and meaningful, and so thank you number one, and I think this is great for the listeners to be able to kind of see through my example of what this is, self discovery is like, and then how to use the strengths and we've already taken some notes, like I'm going to do what we call it a quarterly input audit.

Speaker 1: 42:43

Yeah, organize my input. And then even the ideation I was kind of struggling with that but you made it make sense and how I am coming up with all kinds. I am full of ideas. My problem is getting them out of my head and into reality, not my problem. My challenge, which is what my achiever and my maximizer want to do, like, come on, let's get going. So, yeah, this has been really fun.

Speaker 1: 43:10

Any other thoughts from your perspective on, you know, like this is how this might change over time. We've talked a little bit how I'm in a season of being an entrepreneur and have left a corporate environment. I'm also in a different season of life with my family. You know my kids are becoming young adults rather than dependent. They're still dependent, but they're not young children anymore. So there's all kinds of shifts that are going on in my life and I did take the Gallup, the Strength Finders, several years ago and they've changed Not 100%, but there's been a lot of change that I noticed between the test I took last week compared to now, so I'm curious to know your thoughts around that.

Speaker 2: 44:01

Yeah, yeah, and you know Gallup believes and they share that. You know your friends, they really don't feel that they're going to shift too much. There are things within your life like big life changes or it's a significant amount of time that a lot of times it's in your top 10 where there might be some movement. I've experienced even myself of things moving out of my top 10, but the ones that have moved into my top 10 really make a lot of sense. When I first took Strengths I was like new family. I did not have kids, it was a first job, whereas then when I most recently took it, you know I had been, you know had a larger career, larger scope and responsibility to children, had moved into a house in the community of the neighborhood. So I really believe that you know there's no harm. If you do want to take it again, there will. I wouldn't be surprised if there is movement. If it's, you know a significant amount of time since someone last took it and there have also been significant life changes for someone.

Speaker 2: 45:20

I will say like if someone's going to say, oh, I took it last year, I would say yeah, I think you can leave it unless there's been something so significant, but there's definitely I would say probably.

Speaker 2: 45:33

You know there could be two schools of thought where you know there are some tests that are assessments that people take. It's like you take it once and that's it. And there are those that feel that you know, with Strengths, you take it and you know there might be some movement along the way, but more or less they'll stay the same. And there are others who feel that it's really those life experiences that can really influence what strengths you're utilizing more than others, which I feel like you're a great example of when you had taken it previously. You are in a really different place in your life with your family and your career where you are at now and the strengths show through with, like what you're using, which I think is such a cool reflection point for you of wow, I do have these strengths and I may not be as comfortable with them yet, but these are so great for me to know I have them and tap into that can just help you succeed even more.

Speaker 1: 46:30

Yeah, thank you for that explanation. And yeah, I shared with my husband when I like, oh my gosh, I just got my results and they're different, and he's like, well, duh, you're a different person now than you were when you took it before. I'm like, okay, you got me. But it's just kind of like so obvious to him and for me it was a little unsettling. I'm like I like those strengths, but I still have them. It's just tapping into them as routinely, given the life phase that I'm in right now. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 47:05

And when you do want to tap into them again, them again. It'll be easy because you know them, they're familiar.

Speaker 1: 47:10

Right.

Speaker 2: 47:11

Whereas, you know, for some it might not be as comfortable. But I think that you know, as I've mentioned, like, I think it's like such a like your top 10 are so dynamo for where you're at in your life right now and I think in the more you can lean into them and tap into them, the better. Like you're saying, you know doing this input audit and you know, once you put that, if you put that in your calendar, your responsibility is going to make you sure that you do that. That is true. You know, even as you're mentioning like, oh, my ideation, or my futuristic, like I, you know, as I'm seeing, like you know, your, your workspace, like I, how cool could it be if you could have like one one wall, be like a whiteboard wall, and you could like write down your ideas or something. Oh, you're pointing Great.

Speaker 1: 48:05

I'm pointing and my whiteboard's going right there.

Speaker 2: 48:09

I love it and that's going to be so amazing for you where you might feel like I have all these ideas and also you're collecting so much with your input that whether it's a screenshot isn't that okay. So maybe your system is you start printing some screenshots and you put them on the whiteboard and that's your way in your system. So I think sometimes, like you're not sure about the, about a system, it doesn't have to be like a whole process or a whole guidebook or you know, we think of like a system sometimes, as you know, very process oriented. It could just be your system of what works for you. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 48:49

Yeah, yeah, like that idea of printing them and then just even putting them in a notebook and then, yeah, I mean inspiration, you know exactly. Yeah, well, then I'm going to want to go by different topic and yeah. See you're organizing, I'm organizing, all right, so this has been absolutely amazing and so insightful You're. You do this all the time with your clients, right? So was what we just went through kind of a typical coaching session, when someone first gets results.

Speaker 2: 49:16

Yeah, and and it also depends on like I have some clients that just want to do strengths and we have this type of session. Then there are some who want to do a fuller coaching package. So we always start off with strengths. There are some that want to focus on career coaching and I'll also start off with strengths. So strengths is always that, that springboard, and it really is dependent on each person of what their need is around coaching.

Speaker 2: 49:48

What I have found has been really impactful with strengths is whether you might be with an extra search or you might be at a fork in life of which way do I go?

Speaker 2: 50:00

Or you might be at a milestone within your career or your life, whether you're becoming a new parent or a spouse, or you are becoming a people manager for the first time, or you're a new executive in a C-suite or a vice president.

Speaker 2: 50:21

A lot of those at times are really scary but amazing changes and that fear sometimes of where I feel what strengths really helps with is taming the imposter syndrome, and it is really a great way also to give each person a really nice language to whether it's self talk for themselves or it's just how to speak about themselves, whether it isn't your job search, for an interview or on a resume.

Speaker 2: 50:51

It gives you very unique language to you to utilize and to feel confident about, or it's even as you might be a people manager for the first time. How beautiful would it be to share with your team? Here are my top five strengths, or my top 10, and let's talk about them and let's see. I want you to hold me accountable for when I might be overusing one of these, so it gives people that permission and you're already starting off from a place of amazing giving and receiving feedback. So those are some of the examples, but what I love about strengths is that it's so you know you can really go in so many various directions with it of what's really needed for someone's life.

Speaker 1: 51:33

Yeah, absolutely, when I could see. Specifically for women in transition, particularly if they're empty nest or they're going back to work after a season of being an unpaid caregiver, is my new phrase for stay at home. Mom yes, we have moms do way more than just stay at home.

Speaker 1: 51:53

It's very very true, and I could see where I know for myself when I was getting ready to reenter the workforce. It's like well, what are my strengths? Do I go back to my career of what I was doing before, or is this time to do something new and different?

Speaker 1: 52:08

And I could see where a tool like this would be really helpful for that self. I'm going to try to say self identity, self Confidence, yeah, To know that you know these are your strengths and this is where these strengths fit into career paths and go forward. So I think it's a wonderful starting point and with that, honey, I know you have an offer for the rest of the show.

Speaker 2: 52:37

Yeah, and we had mentioned in our last podcast, so if you didn't hear it there, happy to offer it again. It is a special coaching session, one on one with me for 30 minutes, as well as being able to take the assessment, the full 34 assessment, and it's a value of $400, but special for your listeners it will be at $250. And yeah, and the best way to reach out to me is on LinkedIn and you can message me with the code next chapter. So then I'll know that you listened to the podcast and I'll know what pricing to obviously honor for you. So again, it's the $250 for the full 34 assessment, which comes with other reports as well, plus the one on one 30 minute coaching session with me.

Speaker 1: 53:38

Wonderful. And then, honey, can you spell your name for folks real quick?

Speaker 2: 53:42

Sure, yeah, I know it's a little bit tougher. It is C-H-A-N-I. It is my first name and my last name is Cone. It's K-O-H-N. Okay.

Speaker 1: 53:54

And that's so they can find you on LinkedIn, and I will do my best to get a link to your LinkedIn profile. It's funny to say it that way in the show notes that people can easily access it there as well. Perfect, well, this has been wonderful. Thank you so very much. Thank you for having me again. It's been amazing. Absolutely All right, everyone. Have a great rest of your week and we'll talk to you next time. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this episode hit home for you and if it didn't, well, go easy on me. I'm still figuring this all out. And if you haven't already, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello so I can personally thank you for listening. Until next time, remember, your story is uniquely your own and your next chapters are ready to begin.