OXFORD, Miss. – Recognizing the importance of skilled leadership, the University of Mississippi has launched a new initiative to coach students, faculty, staff and members of the Lafayette-Oxford-University community.
StrengthsFinders has been adopted by the Ole Miss Student Union to pursue use of an overarching leadership inventory that is exciting and engaging for students, staff and faculty. Organizers have begun the process of coaching staff and working with several student organizations to help them learn more about their values and how to turn those values into strengths.
“The StrengthsFinder Workshop Series is structured to meet the needs of teams, departments and organizations,” said Will Takewell, associate director of student leadership and engagement and program coordinator. “These workshops are progressive and build on one another. Groups must start with Strengths 101 before continuing on in the series.”
Takewell and Haley Anderson are the two staff members leading this initiative through the Student Union’s Leadership and Engagement Office.
“Our goal is to broaden this work to and bring in more staff and faculty who have interest in leading StrengthsFinder, as well as including student leaders through our leadership and engagement ambassadors,” Anderson said. “As part of our primary responsibilities, Will and I are leading trainings, providing one-on-one consultations, providing coaching sessions for managers and teams, and assisting students in securing codes and trainings for their student groups.”
Pricing is available for each of the coaching sessions in the series. Content can be customized to meet specific needs of any group, which may be indicated on registration forms.
“At the University of Mississippi, we are here to guide you through your own strengths journey,” Takewell said. “Our certified strengths coaches offer a range of individual and team resources to help you identify, invest and apply your talents in your various roles on campus and in the community.”
The CliftonStrengths Assessment reframes leadership by providing tools to develop natural skills, rather than “fixing” areas of weakness. For more than 50 years, CliftonStrengths has guided millions of people in discovering what they do best.
For information about group workshops and pricing, visit https://union.olemiss.edu/strengthsfinder-workshops/.
Besides the workshop, the UM Leadership and Engagement Office offers one-on-one consultation sessions with its strengths certified coaches.
“These sessions are recommended for anyone who wishes to have a more focused and individualized approach to their strengths development,” Takewell said. “In addition to general consultations, we offer a specialized session to managers and team leaders, which focuses intently on leading a team of individuals through a strengths framework.”
For information and pricing for individualized coaching, visit https://union.olemiss.edu/strengthsfinder-consultations/.