I will start this post by explaining why I became a Strengths Career Coach, I love a good story. I have always liked making people aware of their strengths and I would do that by listening to them, talk about what they peers, colleagues, managers say about them, ask powerful questions to get that "aha moment". I have always loved it.
The background to this is "education in France" primary school, secondary school, high school, you name it. It has always struck me how:
From a young age people would put you in a category | can def be traumatic
Most teacher will tell you what you are doing wrong instead of telling you what you have done better or well
Teachers will ignore you if you aren't getting it like the others ... wow strong example of empowerment there..
(My mother was a teacher, most of her friends were teachers and they always tried to see where their students were doing better, but not the teachers I got - not my mom's friends, huh, now I get why!)
I went to the US to learn English when I was 17 and I loved how the relationship we had with teachers was so much more open than in France, same in Germany when I stayed there when I was 14.
Now, I think I got creative from a young age because I knew what my strengths were in school:
- Languages - mainly English but my German was good aswell at that time
- History
- Geography
(My #1 Gallup strengths is context... surprising? I don't think so!)
A few months before graduating high school in France, I was hearing from a few teachers that I would not graduate and therefore will not get to go to California for my exchange... Jeez what a motivation pitch to help someone haha ridiculous right ? I then decided to put all my efforts into what I was great at, especially in English (as I had 3- 4 different exams for that language) to make sure I could graduate High School. I graduated with the best written grade in English - how? I watched all 10 seasons of friends in 2 months in English, with English subs and wrote down every expression I didn't know, looked it up, memorised it and used it.
Being fluent in English helped get into all my post-graduate programs, my business school etc - people even stopped checking my English because it was better than theirs, I kept on working on it and I still do. Are we really fluent in a language that we were not born into?
When I became a coach, it became clear to me that I had to do some strengths coaching. I wanted people to be aware of their strengths so they could strive too. Until you allow yourself to take time off and reflect, how will you understand:
- What you love
- What drains you
- Make a decision to change the situation
My aim as a Strengths Career Coach is to make sure that everyone understand what they thrive at and create that awareness, to make sure they make the right career choice for themselves.
Do NOT let people talk you down because you are not doing something well, try to understand why? lack of motivation, draining, uninteresting? Maybe someone else in your team can assist you ? Maybe you can change the course of your career just by gaining awareness... so ... what are you looking for? Do the Gallup Assessment and come debrief it with me! I've got my cuppa!
See you soon? https://linktr.ee/mariethecoach
