Jim Collison:
[0:00] Welcome to Season 4 of The CliftonStrengths Podcast, where we'll dive deep into how CliftonStrengths themes build powerful partnerships and how it helps teams thrive. I am Jim Collison, Gallup's CliftonStrengths Community Manager.
Jillian White:
[0:10] And I'm Jillian White, Gallup's Subject Matter Expert on Culture and Leadership and our Lead Subject Matter Expert for CliftonStrengths.
Jim Collison:
[0:16] Today's theme is Context. We'll explore what this theme brings, what it needs and how it fosters collaboration. Jillian, welcome!
Jillian White:
[0:24] Thank you, Jim. It's always fun to look at the background of Context together.
Jim Collison:
[0:29] Indeed.
Jillian White:
[0:29] Context of Context.
Jim Collison:
[0:31] Speaking of the context of Context, bring us up to speed. What does this strength look like?
Jillian White:
[0:36] Yes. So if you are somebody who has strong Context, you naturally love history. You love looking to the past and learning from the past. Remember, this is a Strategic Thinking theme. The energy comes from that learning from history. You want to look at how something's been done before and not reinvent the wheel. The image that I like to have for this is you're driving in a car, and you need the rearview mirror. You're driving forward, but looking in that rearview mirror, looking to the past, helps you make sense of things that are behind you so you know how to drive forward better.
Jim Collison:
[1:07] I love that example, because we, when we drive cars, we do have to look both forward and backwards to be successful with that. And this is a theme I have a lot of envy around. I really like Context. I don't have it high, but when, when folks are using it well, I'm kind of drawn to it. It's kind of this historical context that just, that kind of fuels me. In your consulting work, what have you seen done? Give me an example of maybe where you've seen this in action.
Jillian White:
[1:34] You know where I see this show up a lot is actually in the legal profession. So we do, within Gallup, we do a lot of coaching with leaders around employee engagement results. In the last couple weeks, I've been working through an executive team doing one-on-ones with each of their executives at this organization. And where this showed up was with the general counsel. So this world, you can imagine in that legal profession, how this lit up this individual. Oftentimes, they had to look at precedents of how cases were decided in the past. And they got a lot of energy out of studying that and then thinking about how to bring the application to current cases, current situations, and how to apply that. So you saw that energy of looking backward and thinking about how to move forward with that information. Now, they need people around them who can help synthesize all of that, think about that application, but that power of looking backward and understanding precedents was really neat to see.
Jim Collison:
[2:30] Well, when you think of that legal profession, it always makes me think of when I studied geometry in high school. It was a proof on a proof on a proof, but kind of that Context exercise, right, of kind of thinking through, like, we know this because of this, and we know this because of that. And I —
Jillian White:
[2:47] See how everything builds on top of each other.
Jim Collison:
[2:50] Exactly. No, I love that. We have a new section in Gallup Access and in the Gallup Access app where you can take a look and compare your themes to other folks who've shared those with you. In that area is this idea of I bring and I need statements. We're going to practice a little bit of that here. Jillian, when, when we think of this, what does it bring? What kind of things does it bring?
Jillian White:
[3:12] If I'm partnering with somebody who's really strong in that Context, they are going to bring background and history to anything we're working on together. They are likely going to want to look backwards and understand how things have been done in the past, what we've already learned. They're going to bring that to our partnership. they're going to be that partner who helps us not reinvent the wheel. That's the beauty of Context as a partner: They're making sure that we've learned the lessons from the past and we're not doing something that we know doesn't actually work. They look for those blueprints that can be pulled forward. I also think these partners can bring a little healthy nostalgia in a partnership. So they love traditions. They love thinking about how to create things that will be meaningful memories. So it might be the person who you're partnering with that says, "Hey, every time we get a win, let's go to dinner and celebrate." Or they've got some special tradition or routine that they like to look at and bring that sense of nostalgia.
Jim Collison:
[4:08] Oh, I love that. And I think some folks love sitting in that. I think we've got to grow from it as well. But speaking of growth, what does this theme need?
Jillian White:
[4:18] If I'm partnering with somebody who's got that high Context, just think about, they're sitting on the other side of me. What's going to make me be a good partner to them? Remember what they value. They value history and context. If we're working together on something, if I can bring to them the background of the situation or send them the notes for the meeting before we get together, they are going to appreciate having that relevant background for our conversations. Now, they also need time and space to actually study and understand history. So remember, they like to look to the past. That takes some time. That takes some thinking energy to do that. They also need space to be able to share context and history, how they're getting to the conclusions that they're at. So we've got to remember to give them that space to look at the past and then to share what they're learning from the past.
Jim Collison:
[5:06] You said, "Give them time." And sometimes I would think, in my experience, too, give them some time to interview people — think, from an organizational standpoint — to get a grasp of organizational history, right? They may not know it all, but given some time, given some time to interview and learn, they can help pull that history forward a little bit. It doesn't take long in an organization to forget just what things that were done 5 or 10 years ago. And so I think, I love that, "Give them time," and I would even say, give them time to go back and, and maybe interview, based on the history. Would you, would you add anything to that?
Jillian White:
[5:40] You know, for sure. I would even say that plays out in a personal situation. So we had, you and I have a colleague who's high Context that, when she started at Gallup, she thought it sounded a little bit overwhelming to have to go talk to every new person and think about her partnerships. But with that high Context, she reframed it for herself. And she said, What if I actually looked at learning a little bit of the history and background of each person who I'm going to be working with and learning a little bit of the history of the company at the same time? All of a sudden, she lit up a lot more. And even think about that, in terms of partnering with somebody with high Context — they're probably going to feel closer to you if you share a little of your own personal history. When they understand the background, they feel more connected. So give them that space in that personal relationship. But then also, like you said, imagine the power when you're doing that inside of an organization and you're saying, Hey, where have we come from as an organization? What makes us who we are today? That can be some incredibly powerful mission moments for a company, too.
Jim Collison:
[6:37] What have we learned? What's been the best of us in the, in the, in, you know, in history? Yeah, love that. In the new CliftonStrengths Top 5 Report, we have a section called Theme Dynamics. It's really a pairing of two themes, how they are synthesized together. We'll look at both individually and in groups. And so, as we look at our database, we have one that pairs with Context most of the time. Talk a little bit about that.
Jillian White:
[7:02] Yeah. If you have Context in your Top 5, so you're one of those people out of our 34 million people in our CliftonStrengths database — and climbing — you are most likely to also see Learner in your Top 5 strengths. Makes a lot of sense, because Context looks to the past; Learner loves to learn. Put those two things together. Someone who learns from the past, they're probably a really good teacher, because they're looking back and saying, What can we pull forward that we're learning from studying what's come before us?
Jim Collison:
[7:31] Yeah. Themes don't live in isolation. A really good exercise to look at the themes and say, How do they synthesize together for me? So that's an example of how that's done. When we think about it in terms of collaborations or partnerships, how can this partner with teams?
Jillian White:
[7:46] So go to the two sides. I always like to talk about the catalyst partner and the complementary partner. When I think about Context, it is that Strategic Thinking theme. It likes to look to the past. What are strengths that are going to come alongside it and catalyze that love of going deeper into information, right? Input, Learner — those are strengths that are going to help somebody study the past. Analytical might help you synthesize things you're learning from the past. Intellection might help you muse on it. A lot of those other Strategic Thinking themes are going to be fun to partner with somebody who has that high sense of Context.
Jillian White:
[8:24] Now, on the complementary side, I like to think about strengths on a bit of a spectrum. So let's imagine for a minute that you're looking at strengths on a time spectrum, and you have Context that, by default, likes to look to the past. You have Adaptability that's most present and in the moment; a little more forward leaning — Activator, Achiever; way out there, Futuristic. And then a Connectedness all around it that brings it together. So if I'm thinking about what a good complementary partner is for somebody with high Context, think about any of those strengths that I just mentioned that help take that Context and see the bigger picture of how it's pulling us through to the future and to today.
Jim Collison:
[9:02] I'd love to work on a team that had all those themes in action.
Jillian White:
[9:06] Wouldn't that be fun?
Jim Collison:
[9:06] It would be. That gets me excited. We have some tips for leaders, teams, and individuals. And let's talk about leaders first. How can leaders recognize and harness Context in their teams or in their organization?
Jillian White:
[9:18] Yeah, first of all, think about how you spot it. These are the people on your team who are probably piping up with how we've done things before or what they're learning, maybe even in their spare time. These are the people who really enjoy watching historical documentaries or looking to how things have been done even way before in time. But they're pulling those things forward and really thinking about what we can learn from the past. So remember, if you're leading people that have this on a team, ask them for what they're learning about history. Give them space to share that history. You know, a good question is to say, you know, "What have you learned from how this has been done before? So what are you learning from how you're seeing this done in the past?" And helping them pull through those learnings and giving them space to share that will really leverage that high Context on your teams.
Jim Collison:
[10:06] Yeah. Historically, what do we know about, or in the past with our organization, what has happened when we — those are, I think those are great questions. Those get me, even with low Context, those get me excited about bringing some of that, that knowledge forward. When we think about groups using someone with high Context, how can they take advantage of that?
Jillian White:
[10:28] Yeah, once again, I mean, these are your historians on the team. These are the people who can help you create memories on the team. These are those people — go back to what I shared earlier: Just remember when you're working with that high Context, if you're working with them as a part of a team, remember to share a little of that personal context, remember to help them look at the context of a project. So, for example, let's say I know, Hey, I've got a one-on-one with someone else on my team who we're going to be working together on. I'm going to say, All right, what do I need to make sure that that person knows about the background of why we're working together and the goal of that time? That's going to help feed their Context and get the best out of them.
Jim Collison:
[11:09] I kind of think about teams using them — you know, ChatGPT, those concepts of kind of swarming on, right? And thinking about using them and — because they have all that, you know, they have that background they like to talk about, and using them almost like a ChatGPT agent.
Jillian White:
[11:26] Maybe that's the image we should put with Context is you're your own Team GPT, Context GPT.
Jim Collison:
[11:34] Team GPT — I love that. That's great. That's a, you know, send it a query and say, "Tell me what you know about these things."
Jillian White:
[11:40] They're probably really good at trivia if they remember things from the past.
Jim Collison:
[11:44] For sure. With individuals with Context, just some final thoughts and encouragement on, for someone who has this, how they can really use it for success.
Jillian White:
[11:53] Yeah. If you have Context that's very strong for you, I just encourage you to claim it. Help people understand where you're coming from. Let your teammates, let your partners know, Hey, I do best when I understand some of the history first. And what that allows me to do is to help us actually be more efficient moving forward. So make sure you're claiming it. Be that historian. Help create memories as a part of your team, whatever organization you're a part of. It's such a gift to be able to bring to those around you.
Jim Collison:
[12:21] That's great. That is awesome. Speaking of Context, we have a lot of Context available for you in Gallup Access. Head up to gallup — my.gallup.com. Log in. If you choose the Resource tab, upper left, choose Resources, and then put in Context — all the learning materials we have on that. You can learn even some more things about that. And we'd love to have you check that out today. If you're listening live, stay around for a little bit of a midshow. If you're listening to the podcast recording or on YouTube, we might have another one ready for you. Just click Next. With that, we'll say, Goodbye, everybody.
Jillian White's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Achiever, Input, Learner, Belief and Responsibility.