Guest Column by Megan Thorson

Do you ever wonder why you make certain choices? Why do you do what you do? Why do you like certain things, or why you are better at some things than others?  There is a reason and it has to do with your talents and strengths. 4-H Ambassadors recently took part in the Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment. Before a recent 4-H retreat the youth answered a series of questions from the assessment and at the conclusion of the assessment, they were given their top five strengths out of 34.  Examples are communication, empathy, consistency, belief, arranger, analytical, etc.

Research shows that someone’s greatest potential for success comes from understanding their talents and using them every day.  There is also a quote out of the Strengths Finder 2.0 book that states “You cannot be anything you want to be, but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”

Some of you may agree or disagree with this. This doesn’t mean we ignore our weaknesses, but it does mean to focus from those weaknesses to discover more about their talents to accomplish more.

4-H youth were able to dig into their understanding of what their strengths mean. By understanding their strengths and other people’s strengths, they can see how they work in a group setting when working on a group project for instance and how it works best to have people from varying strengths.

For instance, too many people who are strong in the command strength probably shouldn’t all work together as all of them would want to take control of a given situation and make the final decision.

There needs to be a balance of all strengths to make a strong team. Also as part of this assessment youth are able to see which college majors or future jobs would possibly be best for them or fit them better.

In addition to the strengths training at this recent training, the ambassadors also were able to attend sessions on interviews/resumes, program planning and public speaking. 4-H staff led many of the sessions and Val Kvale, placement specialist from Albert Lea Workforce Development, gave the ambassadors many great ideas for interviews and putting together a resume. The main focus of the ambassador retreat was giving the ambassadors opportunities to learn more about themselves and give them some skills they will need as an ambassador or skills to use in their professional/personal life.

The 4-H Ambassador Program is supported by the University of Minnesota and Minnesota 4-H Youth Development and is in many counties throughout the state. Our ambassador program here in Freeborn County consists of around 20 youth in grades eighth through 12th grade. Not only do the ambassadors get to learn many life skills, team building and leadership skills but they also provide service to the county-wide 4-H program through helping lead the 4-H Cloverbud program (open to youth in grades K-2) and doing various local and regional community service projects.

To learn more about 4-H please call the local office at 377-5660 or visit the state website at www.extension.umn.edu.

To learn more about the Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder research or to take your own assessment visit gallupstrengthscenter.com.

 

Megan Thorson is a County 4-H program coordinator with the University of Minnesota Extension service for Freeborn County.