CliftonStrengths

Hybrid work has changed more than where people sit. It has also changed how teams build trust, establish expectations and collaborate across locations. And for many employees, that shift is likely to last. As of May 2026, 52% of U.S. full-time, remote-capable employees worked in a hybrid arrangement, and the same percentage expect to continue working hybrid long term. That makes understanding how people experience teamwork across locations increasingly important. Two people can work on the same hybrid team, receive the same guidance and still experience how that team operates differently. CliftonStrengths offers one way to better understand those differences. Natural talents can influence what people notice and value in their interactions with others, whether those interactions happen across a table or on a screen. Explore Gallup’s new research on CliftonStrengths and team experiences: https://lnkd.in/ecvHKdtf

How do you use your strengths to bring out the best in someone else? John Hope Bryant, CEO of Operation HOPE, looks for what is strong in the person across the table, finds common ground and uses his Strategic talents to activate something in them they may have forgotten about themselves. His philosophy extends even to disagreement: “Talk without being offensive. Listen without being defensive. And always leave even your adversary with their dignity.” It’s a powerful way to think about strengths-based leadership: Know what you naturally do best. Then consider how you can use it to help others recognize what’s best in them. In the latest episode of Leading With Strengths, Bryant joins Gallup CEO Jon Clifton to explore how his CliftonStrengths shape the way he leads and connects with others. Watch the full conversation: https://lnkd.in/erk6yxXu

How can two people be part of the same team and walk away with different views of how well it works? New Gallup research offers one piece of the answer: People with different patterns of talent can interpret and value aspects of the team experience differently. People who lead with different CliftonStrengths domains reported meaningful differences in experiences related to clarity, belonging and trust. Those differences make strengths awareness especially valuable on a team. Understanding a teammate’s strengths can give you greater context for how they contribute and how they may perceive what is happening around them. The goal is not to create one team experience that everyone interprets the same. It is to build enough awareness to better understand those differences and work together more effectively. Explore Gallup’s new research on CliftonStrengths and team experiences: https://lnkd.in/gWPTEzJP  

Your strengths remain remarkably stable over time. The risk is allowing their application to remain just as fixed.  This edition of CliftonStrengths Insights explores how to redirect your strengths as priorities evolve, ensuring your greatest talents remain aligned with what the moment demands. 

Sometimes, one person can change what someone else believes is possible.  When Operation HOPE CEO John Hope Bryant was 9 years old, a banker visited his classroom and introduced him to entrepreneurship. Bryant credits that encounter with changing the direction of his life.  Decades later, that experience continues to shape how he thinks about developing others. “We’re modeling what we see,” Bryant says. Sometimes seeing a different possibility and having someone encourage you toward it can change your path forward.  Gallup research underscores the importance of development in the workplace: Encouraging someone’s growth can have a meaningful effect on how they connect to their work. Among employees who report having someone at work who encourages their development, less than 1% are actively disengaged.  In the latest episode of Leading With Strengths, Bryant joins Gallup CEO Jon Clifton to discuss the experiences that shaped him and how his CliftonStrengths influence how he develops potential in others.  Watch the full conversation: https://lnkd.in/gPUQPMeU

What does it look like when strengths become part of how a campus helps students learn, lead and prepare for what comes next? At Prairie View A&M University, that work is taking shape through PantherStrengths, the university’s name for Gallup’s CliftonStrengths program. Students are discovering their CliftonStrengths early in their college experience, career coaches are incorporating strengths into their work with students, and student champions are bringing strengths into mentoring and leadership. This vision extends across campus. PVAMU President Tomikia P. LeGrande has challenged university leaders to imagine what could happen if students, faculty and staff better understood and applied their strengths. For students, that means going beyond knowing their top five themes to understanding how their talents can shape how they learn, lead and approach their future. See how strengths-based development is taking shape at PVAMU: https://lnkd.in/ewCUGMCu

Individual talent can drive exceptional performance. But on a team, its value extends beyond what one person can accomplish alone. Gallup’s approach to teamwork follows a progression: understand and apply individual strengths, build powerful partnerships, then use the team’s collective talent to achieve shared goals. High-performing strengths-based teams understand what each person contributes; connect those contributions to team success; and use that awareness to plan, prioritize and take action. The goal is to build on what each person naturally does best and bring those talents together to strengthen team performance. Explore Gallup’s insights on building stronger teams: https://lnkd.in/e3zPeqRf

What do the best managers have in common? Gallup research found that even across different CliftonStrengths profiles, people described their best managers similarly: They provide support, build trust and autonomy, communicate clearly, demonstrate empathy and fairness and recognize contributions. That consistency reveals a shared foundation for effective management. Managers and those who develop them can build on that foundation by understanding how each manager’s individual strengths shape how they put these qualities into practice. Explore Gallup’s new research on CliftonStrengths and team experiences: https://lnkd.in/e8xGAf6G

Every leader needs to make things happen, influence others, build relationships and think strategically. What effective leadership looks like across those demands, however, can vary from one leader to another. Leadership development can easily become an exercise in trying to match your image of what a great leader should be. Instead, focus on how you can lead effectively using the talents that come most naturally to you. That shifts the focus from imitation to intentionality: understanding how you lead best, where you may need to adapt and how to meet the demands of leadership without trying to become someone else. Explore Gallup’s research on developing your strengths as a leader: https://lnkd.in/e6dGMSBU

How well do you need to know a colleague’s strengths to work well together?   Not every working relationship requires the same depth of strengths awareness. Learn how to focus on what matters most in this edition of the CliftonStrengths Insights newsletter.