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 help teams thrive. I'm 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 Learner. We'll explore what that theme brings, what it needs and how it fosters collaboration. And as always, Jillian, welcome.
Jillian White:
[0:24] Thank you, Jim. I'm excited to learn about Learner today. I have this in my top five. So it's one I have some natural curiosity around.
Jim Collison:
[0:32] Yeah, I'm excited for it. Whenever it's in your top five, I'm always feeling like we're bringing our best. So I appreciate that today. Let's go back a little bit. What is Learner?
Jillian White:
[0:41] Yes. So just to remind us as well, when we look in our overall Gallup database, we have over 34 million people who have taken Clifton StrengthsFinder. And now there could be a little bit of self-selection bias in who likes to take assessments and learn about themselves. But in general, we do see within that population of 34 million, Learner is No. 2 in that database in terms of most common strengths to show up in, in that population. So really neat to see that so prevalent. When we look at the basics of what Learner is, Learner is a Strategic Thinking theme. It lights up in the process of learning. It loves the process of learning, like I just said. So there's joy in the journey. There's a mindset of continuous improvement that comes with that Learner. It's oftentimes more about that process than it is the outcome. We had a little fun. We've got folks who are on with us live when we record these. And I did a little crowdsourcing before this to think about what's an image. You know, I like to pick an image that represents the strength. I love the simplicity of one that Kristen, who's on with us live, gave in the chat, and she gave us this image of a question mark. I think when you look at Learner, there is a natural curiosity about the world around you, and you just have this constant question mark that loves taking in things. We had a couple other images that were suggested diving into a pool of books and podcasts. And, you know, Learner's different than Input. It doesn't necessarily need to have an output from the learning. It doesn't necessarily need to archive it. But it loves diving in that natural curiosity, that process and joy of discovery.
Jim Collison:
[2:21] And it may be one as it's pairing with other themes that has this influence. We see it a lot, right? You mentioned it's two that can be biased because the people who take CliftonStrengths may want to learn, right? We have to be careful with those numbers and the way we use them, right? Achiever, Learner, some of those kinds of things could filter because the individuals who take it represent them. It's not a census. It's a sample, right, of the global population. But from your consulting work, Jillian, what would be a great example of seeing this theme in action?
Jillian White:
[2:53] Jillian, Jim, I've got fresh ones off of this. I'm coming off of a week of travel, and I've been with two different leadership teams this week, and one of them, CEO and executive team of a Fortune 500 client that has Learner in their top five. We got to go through the strengths of all of the individuals on their team. And so fun to hear how that showed up. So coming fresh off of this week, this team with very high Learner, what is really neat to see is the ripple effect across their organization. I would say they lead with a growth mindset. They love pioneering as a team. And you see that show up in terms of they're constantly thinking about how to grow the business. A couple interesting things that popped as I got to hear them process their Learner. One, the CEO himself actually said he's had to be more mindful of what questions he asks out of his curiosity now that you sit in a position of power because your questions show what's important in the company. So I thought that was an interesting evolution of how to partner or lead other people with that Learner. One other member of the team who had high Learner was talking about a little bit of that self-realization when you are leading other people and you have Learner, that when someone asks you, the analogy that he used was, when someone asks you what's the time, you don't have to explain where the watch came from. That there's an element of, they might just want the time. And so that team also had to be aware of, they love to learn. Maybe not everyone else loves to learn as much as they do, but you really see them foster this pioneering growth mindset across the company.
Jim Collison:
[4:29] In our new section in Gallup Access called Connections, used to be called Community, there's the ability to share our themes with others, other individuals. Then we can compare those brand new team grids available in that section now as well. But we want to focus on what these themes bring and what they need. That tool is also there available for you for discussions to have. Let's practice that a little bit now. Jillian, when we think about Learner, what does it bring?
Jillian White:
[3:44] Yeah, you heard some of this in the story that I just shared. If I am partnering with somebody who has that strong Learner talent, they are naturally bringing curiosity. That question mark is above their head. They're naturally curious about the world around them. They are bringing, and I will feel this in that partnership, continuous improvement. So they are constantly learning and iterating and being able to grow and adapt based on that Learner. It makes it a bit of a powerful change agent as a partner because they're oftentimes willing to jump into things where they might not know how to do it yet, but they can have that courage to venture into the unknown. in. And that's what also brings that pioneering mindset in a partner who has strong Learner.
Jim Collison:
[5:42] We've spent some time talking about bringing, I'm sorry, but not only bringing and needing, but also going from the me to we. And I think that Learner, the me, is for myself, and the we is learning for the benefit of others. And I love how it can bring some of that feeling to it as well. What does it mean? Yeah.
Jillian White:
[6:01] Well, when you think about what it needs, it needs exposure to new things. So for a Learner, it's not a great day at work if you are just stagnant and just keep doing the same thing. So they need variety. They need opportunities to learn and grow. Think of this as they are constantly taking in. So it's not like Input where you, you have to be able to share what you have, but they are good at sharing and applying information. They're constantly learning, so they constantly do have things to share. I would say give them that time. And then I would say they also need help aiming that Learner. We know Learner loves the process of learning, but oftentimes thinking about how to partner in a way that, that captures the best of that learning is, is a powerful way to complement it.
Jim Collison:
[6:46] How does that work for you, since you have Learner three? How, when you think about what you need, did you build that need statement out of the what you needed? Or can you talk, like, what, what, what really fills your bucket, so to speak, from a learning standpoint?
Jillian White:
[7:00] Yeah. Well, it's really interesting because even in our next section, we're going to talk about what most likely pairs with Learner. And it is actually Achiever. And I have that combination in my top. So I naturally do that inside of myself. Now, someone who has Learner by itself or Achiever by itself might not necessarily have that. And so finding that partnership can be good. For me, I oftentimes think about what my Learner helps me accomplish. So even when I was preparing for this last week, I knew, you know, what I needed to be able to cover with this group. And so I spent a lot of time. I've got Learner and Input. So those can intensify each other. But doing my homework beforehand, looking at their quarter one earnings, looking at, you know, their engagement results. And there was a lot of just kind of learning about the company to really make sure I could connect the dots between things and make it a productive conversation. So you hear that Learner and Achiever come together.
Jim Collison:
[7:57] I love how, in our pre-show, you and me, you quote back other seasons of the CliftonStrengths podcast or Theme Thursday.
Jillian White:
[8:07] I might be the Input.
Jim Collison:
[8:09] Well, but I can see you're getting prepared for this, of leading others in this journey. And I think you enjoy that process of learning. You never, I never get the sense that you approach it from a sense of obligation. It's more a desire of, ooh, I get to learn some new things in this, right, in this process. And so I always, to me, I always appreciate that when you say, yeah, we're back and listen to those. And maybe there's a little bit of your Learner.
Jillian White:
[8:36] Yeah. And you know what? I'll point out something that stood out to me. If you go back and you listen to the Theme Thursday short that Kurt Liesfeld did in season No. 1, he talked a lot about the joy of the journey with Learner and almost an emotional side of this. And I always love to think for any of us who are practitioners around strengths, we can look for clues of talent in people. And oftentimes clues of talent is when people do light up. And so when you see someone who lights up with discovery, that is a clue of somebody who is naturally a learner and has that question mark above their head and that curiosity that loves to discover around them.
Jim Collison:
[9:15] In the new Top 5 report, we have this concept called Theme Dynamics, brought to the new report. It's where we take two themes and look at them together. You already alluded to this, the most common theme that comes with Learner is Achiever. What else do you want to say about those two? Because you have them, you also have Input, which you've mentioned before. How does that all play, for you, how does that play together.
Jillian White:
[9:38] Yeah, well, let me read you the statement that we've got in our report first. So when you combine Achiever and Learner, and by the way, remember, Achiever is actually the most common one in that database of 34 million. So this combination is pretty common, at least among those who've taken StrengthsFinder. When you're working on a task, you really want to get it done. When you're exposed to something new, you really want to understand it. So I always think there's kind of, for me, there's an element of my Learner helps me achieve and my Achiever helps me learn. So I accomplish learning, right? Like what's a course? What's something I can go to? Right, like that I can check off my list that helps me learn something. And then my Learner helps me achieve. So what do I need to achieve and what do I need to be ready for and listen for? Or, like you alluded to, even thinking about our content on these podcasts is, you know, for me, it's energizing to go back and to say, well, how did, how did somebody else say it? How did, how did Al Winseman write about it in his article? And what word could I use from that? How would Gallup GPT say we should talk about this? And pulling all those things together, the joy of the journey is what's fun.
Jim Collison:
[10:46] Well, and they're always that combination, you know, Learner-Analytical, learning to think, learning to build, you know, like, and so I love this. It's, it's, it's more than a single theme as we put these together. And those are conversations. And the reason we included that in the new Top 5 report. OK. How can this idea of theme, theme dynamics be used together for partnerships and collaborations?
Jillian White:
[11:09] Yeah. You know, I always like to talk about who's your catalyst partners, who's your complementary partners with this strength. And, you know, my hypothesis, too, that oftentimes these strengths get energy from other strengths in a similar domain. So even when I think about pairing Learner and what would light up a Learner, partnering with somebody who has strong Input allows that Learner to go deep and it almost intensifies that curiosity and makes them collect some of that information through their partnerships. Relationships. Context could be another fun one to partner because they provide a reservoir of looking at the past and things you can draw from to learn from. Analytical might be a fun one because it could challenge your thinking and help you learn more as you go through that process. On the complementary side, go back to what I said earlier with oftentimes we look at that complementary partner as someone who helps to bridge the gap of where that strength might not naturally focus on its own. So I think someone who partners with Learner by itself that helps make it productive is that good partner. That could be a lot of executing strengths. Achiever, Focus, Discipline, Arranger, Activator. Even though I have Activator's influencing, it can keep things moving forward. So it's something that helps to make that learning productive. I also think a complementary partner could be someone who helps aim that learning at people. So Individualization or Maximizer. Those are ones that naturally see what either makes people unique or what makes them excellent at something. So if you could learn more about people with that kind of a partner, you would know better how to position the people around you. And then finally, I think there's a natural student element with Learner, but it's got the power to be a good teacher and pairing it with Communication or Developer or something that uses that knowledge, uses that learning to grow other people, I think could be powerful as well.
Jim Collison:
[13:03] We have some tips for leaders, teams and individuals. Let's think a little bit about leaders first. Talk about how leaders can recognize and harness this Learner for their teams and organization.
Jillian White:
[13:14] Yeah, you heard me talk some about this already, but look for people who light up with discovery, people who are constantly taking in something, love learning. Here's a few things to think about. Position them to pioneer. Let them be your change agents, right? And, and give them variety in their work. When they have that variety, it's going to allow them to continually learn through their experiences. Ask them questions like, what are you learning right now? That's going to feed that. They're already doing it, so that's going to help pull that out of them. And then provide early and often learning opportunities. Remember, that's what fuels them. Giving them opportunities to feed what they're interested in will just bring out the best and light up that person.
Jim Collison:
[14:01] What should teams know about working with someone or maybe onboarding someone who has this theme?
Jillian White:
[14:06] Yeah. You know, it was funny. We hosted a client in Omaha a couple weeks ago when I got to see you, Jim. And she actually, this new leader actually had Learner No. 1. And I asked her what she wanted to learn when she came to Omaha about what Gallup does. And her answer was everything. And I thought, what a great example of somebody who has strong Learner and a real story of onboarding someone to our partnership. And when I think about onboarding that high Learner, give them time to ask questions. That is going to allow their Learner to be active and present as you are working with them. And then ask simple questions like, how do you learn best, right? You know, if you want to learn more about strengths or engagement or things like this, where do you go deeper? And if their answer is, I love talking it out with people, or I love reading about it in books, or I love listening to podcasts, right? Find ways to help fuel that Learner in the way that they love to learn.
Jim Collison:
[15:08] Didn't you say, when we did Input, that when we onboarded you, you got a bunch of books, like, right off the bat?
Jillian White:
[15:14] Good memory, yes.
Jim Collison:
[15:15] And, and fueling both Input and Learner for you of getting up to speed. I imagine you were excited to dig into those and, and get up to speed.
Jillian White:
[15:30] I would say two thoughts with that. So if you have a strong Learner and you're partnering with other people, be willing to stretch and to volunteer for new things in that partnership because you know you can learn it. There is a bit of a courage, I think, that comes to stepping into the unknown with a Learner because they can figure it out, right? Share your learnings as you go with your partner. That's going to help make you stronger. And then secondly, I would say, what can you learn about that will help your partners? And that might even be learning about your partner. Be curious about who you're partnering with. What do they bring to the table? What are they good at? Where can they contribute? Where can you contribute? Bring that curiosity to your partnership. And I think that will naturally help you understand your partner better and understand how you can apply that Learner at what you want to accomplish together.
Jim Collison:
[16:22] Love that. Well, I think with that, we'll remind everyone to take full advantage of all the resources. We do have available in Gallup Access a Learner's dream that is out there. Head out there, log in, hit the Resource tab, upper left, choose Resources, then put Learner or whatever you want to learn about in there. And all those resources will come back for you. We have nine years, now 10 with this one of Learner, you know, the theme itself that you can learn about Learner. So we'd appreciate you jumping in there, getting that done. We built it just for you. If you are listening live, stay around for a little bit of a mid-show. If you're listening to the podcast or on YouTube, we probably have another one 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.