453 Pivot Point: Adding Meaningful Layers to Your Expertise
A monologue from Sarah Elkins
I’ve been growing and deepening my understanding of the CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) assessment I use to improve communication with the teams and individuals I work with.
After working with roughly 2,000 people with this tool, you’d think my understanding of it would hit some sort of plateau, but it hasn’t. It’s kind of like learning about the human brain – each person is different in some way, so you can be confident there will always be something new to learn.
In recent months I’ve been focused on brief, 20-minutes-or-less episodes that keep a person’s attention while still offering insights and entertainment.
What you’ve been hearing in each episode is a brief story of a pivotal moment, and then a thread pulled to generate insights about it. Listeners, I have two goals for you:
To uncover your related story for you to add to your collection to practice and have ready when the opportunity presents itself.
To demonstrate storytelling in a practical, approachable way so you hear how I compose my words, phrases, and use tone-of-voice to add dynamics and meaning.
In the past year I’ve been introduced to two people and two concepts that have proved pivotal to my growth as a communication professional. The beauty to my depth of experience and intuition about CliftonStrengths is that I continue to add layers to my coaching ability as I learn about other concepts like the ADKAR framework for change management and the Advanced Integrated Emotional Intelligence training and certification I recently achieved.
I didn't necessarily know it at the time, but introductions to these women and those concepts were pivotal in my growth and development personally and professionally.
Listeners, now it’s your turn:
Looking back at how you developed your expertise and knowledge in your work, is there a moment when you learned a concept that added an important layer to your expertise?
Is there a layer in your knowledge that made a difference in your expertise but you didn’t realize it until now?
Did my story uncover a time when your natural talent might have gotten in your way, a time when it was an instinctive reaction that made things worse?
Mentioned in this episode:
Episode 416 with Rachel Bohns
Episode 430 with Morgane Borzée
I hope you’ll collect your stories, practice them, and know when it’s time to share so you can connect more deeply and to allow another person to learn from them.
After more than 430 episodes of this podcast, I was recently inspired to change the format of the show.
The new format for my show aligns with what I’m learning about narrative identity (how the stories we tell about ourselves internally and externally influence our identity) and demonstrates what I’ve been teaching for years: Sharing a story to reveal who you are and what matters to you.
My hope is that future episodes will offer more clarity about great storytelling and how to find and explore pivotal moments to demonstrate who we are.
About Sarah:
Sarah is a Montana based workplace communication trainer, TEDx speaker, DisruptHR speaker, public speaking coach, professional storyteller, musician, and podcast host. Her workshops and coaching packages with teams and their leaders are known to address and reduce miscommunication – the most common cause of tension and stress in the workplace. Using the team’s results from the StrengthsFinder assessment, she guides teams in learning to speak each other’s “language”, learning to value each other’s strengths and connecting with each other through enhanced self-reflection and effective listening.
Sarah’s nearly 20 years working in government agencies inspired her to complete her MBA and to achieve her StrengthsFinder certification to improve work environments for others, guiding teams toward increased satisfaction, productivity, and happiness.
Visit her website to purchase her book, Your Stories Don't Define You in paperback or audiobook.