You Have Potential to Be Great At Something. Don’t Waste Another Moment Operating Without Personal Clarity, Self-Awareness and Confidence.

Bert Was On A Mission

He was a personal friend. He came to my office for a visit.  Sitting in one of the guest chairs positioned in front of my desk, Bert asked if I’d ever taken a CliftonStrengths™ Assessment?

Yes, Maybe, I think so, was my answer.  Well, did you or did you not take the assessment Bert asked? I think I have the results hidden somewhere in a drawer of my desk. Get them out please, I’ll wait, Bert said. At this point I knew that Bert was on a mission. I just didn’t know why.

I’m about to share my top strengths. Why my strengths? Because it wouldn’t be right for me to openly share any of my client’s private information. If I choose to share my own, that’s different.

FUTURISTIC®

Bert was serious about my assessment results. I did not know back in 2012 what the big deal was surrounding my assessment results, but I sure do now.  Bert began to explain what to me was simply black ink on white paper.  He showed me that I was Futuristic. Futuristic® is a CliftonStrengths™ term that means Visionary.

STRATEGIC®

Wow, the Futuristic® piece of information alone helped me to understand a lifetime of seeing possibilities down the road that others didn’t see. Then Bert explained my Strategic® gift.  He explained that this particular gift is one that a person either has or they don’t have. It cannot be taught. Bert explained how my Strategic enabled me to see the Big Picture as well as paths to get to a future destination that others can’t always see. I quickly began to understand why situations I’d encountered in the past worked out the way they did.

ACTIVATOR®

Bert got to my third Trait called Activator®. He explained how I had a built-in “GO BUTTON” that most people don’t have. To be specific, out of 34 possible Traits, Activator® comes in at number 29 in overall frequency. Only 11% of people out of more than 18 million people who have now taken the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment worldwide have Activator® in their top 5 traits.

MAXIMIZER®

Bert continued on to tell me about my Maximizer®. It was love at first sight when I began to understand that it was in my DNA to not just push good to great but to push for excellence. Once again, I quickly began to understand why I had operated they way I had up to the point when Bert sat in my office, but with no clarity of purpose.

 RELATOR®

Next, Bert talked to me about my Relator®. This Trait as he explained is a very powerful relationship building trait. Most of my relationships are deep, authentic, and trusting. I’ve never been a social butterfly. Now I understood why.

COMMAND®

Bert couldn’t resist telling me about my next Trait. It’s called Command®.  Out of 34 Traits, Command® comes in at number 34 in frequency. Very few people possess this leadership trait.

DEVELOPING STRENGTHS

We went on through my top 12 Traits as I recall. The further we went, the more I understood why Bert had chosen this particular assessment to drive his coaching practice.  This wasn’t the last time Bert and I would meet to discuss my Traits. Bert wanted to see me develop my Traits into full-blown Strengths.

According to the late Don Clifton, the author of the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment, a true Strength is the ability to consistently provide a near-perfect performance in a specific task. When I wrapped my head around this definition, I have to admit that my Maximizer got excited.

Most people who take a CliftonStrengths™ Assessment only learn what their potential strengths could be. They never do what it takes to turn a raw Trait into a full-blown, polished, Strength.

For the next 12 months, I mentored under Bert because it quickly became clear to me that the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment had a strategic place in my own coaching practice. Adopting this tool in my coaching practice was one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.

GAME-CHANGING, LIFE-CHANGING, PARADIGM-SHIFTING, TRANSFORMATIONAL, CONFIDENCE-BUILDING

My Career Coaching clients have been achieving life-changing results as a result of the work I do with the CliftonStrenghts™ Assessment and the EQ-I 2.0 Emotional Intelligence Assessment.

If you’d like to learn how my clients are benefiting from the year I invested to mentor under Bert, and the 5+ years I’ve invested into developing my coaching services beyond Bert’s involvement,  I invite you to visit my Career Coaching / Strengths Coaching page on the Jeff Snyder Coaching website.

My clients tell me that the work I’ve been doing with them is “Game-Changing, Life-Changing, Paradigm-Shifting, Transformational, and Confidence-Building”. I’ve never done work that is more important in my life!

Jeff Snyder’s, Self-Awareness, Self-Confidence, Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Before you make your New Year’s resolutions, be sure that you are crystal clear about your “WHY”

What is your “WHY”?

Your “WHY” is your unique purpose that is connected to your unique giftedness that is driven by your personal values. If you don’t know what your unique giftedness specifically looks like, now is a great time to find out. The difference between finding out or not finding out is the difference between excelling at the work you do versus delivering an average performance.

Some people are built to lead. Others are built to follow. Some are built to function in-between leading and following in a managerial capacity.

You can find out exactly and precisely how you are uniquely wired and it takes just 30 minutes to discover.

Your “WHY” will give you the sticktuitiveness to follow through on decisions. You don’t need to make empty New Year’s resolutions that generally fizzle out in just a few months. Discover what you were built to be great at and then align your daily activities with your unique giftedness and you won’t need the resolution to keep you going.

You’ll be able to keep going because you’re doing what you were built to do in the first place. I call it the difference between settling for what you “CAN” do and holding out for what you “SHOULD” do. This is what happens when you take action to discover your unique giftedness.

“Just spent my first hour on the phone with Jeff Snyder Coaching - motivational, inspirational, eye-opening, validating, humbling, and completely NOT what I was anticipating for a first call!  It was SO MUCH more!  I came away with insights and pragmatic, practical tools I can put into action in my work/relationships starting as early as today! 

IF you are willing to go there, Jeff will provide you with the “code” and he’ll help you crack open the door to possibilities and the journey that lies ahead of you.  BUT, ultimately, it’s up to you to take that first step and then follow through with a commitment to taking action on the insights, resources, materials, and strategy that Jeff will place at your fingertips.

​​​​​​​Jeff, Thanks for the investments you are making in people lives.”

— Mark, Executive Director

Jeff Snyder Coaching’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Direction Is More Important Than Speed...Something To Ponder

Here’s a thought for highly Strategic people to ponder. After assessing my coaching clients, I have discovered that many of my clients have Strategic™ in their Top 5 or Top 10 potential strengths.

I say potential strengths because possessing the Strategic™ trait does not mean that you’ve polished and matured your Strategic™ into a well-oiled machine. That’s what the process of coaching is all about.

I guide my clients to discover how they are uniquely gifted. How a person is uniquely gifted determined how they can produce the best version of themselves. Once my clients discover exactly and precisely what makes them tick, we move on to developing strengths. 

Strengths start out as traits before intentional development, maturing, and polishing occur. Once a trait becomes a strength, there is nothing that can hold a polished strength back from creating excellence.

, 719.686.8810

Connecting With People at an Emotional Level Produces Results

What You Should Do When You’re Interviewing For The Wrong Job

7 Total Interviews

The company just called Sue back for her 7th interview.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Seven total interviews. Nobody at the company is qualified to understand Sue’s uniqueness. She’s now being asked to take on an individual contributor job.

She’s a deeply skilled, talented, polished and bright candidate. It’s as if the hiring manager is doing everything possible to tactically fill his round hole with a square peg and Sue is the current candidate on the stage.

Who Is Sue?

First, she’s Strategic®.  She has an ability to not only see the big picture but she also has the giftedness to know how to move from point A to point B with great precision. Sue doesn’t need to be in a position that pushes her down in the weeds. She needs to be in a position where she can guide others through the big picture.

She possesses a strength called Individualization®. She’s gifted with an ability to understand the uniqueness of each person she encounters.  She instinctively knows how different people can work together to produce the best possible output. She is gifted to manage people.

Sue is an Arranger®.  Arrangers are gifted to arrange people in the most optimized manner in order to get things done. Combined with her Strategic abilities, Sue has her eye on the entire plan and she instinctively knows how to put the right people in front of the right tasks to maximize their productivity.

Throw in Sue’s Achiever® and she’s virtually guaranteed to guide teams to results. She is built to take people and project results to the finish line.

Placing Sue in a down in the weeds, in an individual contributor role, where she has no ability to guide other people to produce results is a recipe for total frustration, lack of engagement, and guaranteed turnover on Sue’s part. 

Self-Awareness Is Powerful

Sue knows that she needs to be hired into a role where she gets to leverage her people skills, her organizational skills, and her executing skills in a highly strategic role.  

When Sue takes on a role like this, she’ll likely deliver the best productivity of her entire career and she’ll fall in love with the work she’s doing. She’ll be engaged, empowered, and her results will be powerful!

She picked up her heightened and accurate Self-Awareness through Strengths Coaching with Jeff Snyder.

What Should Sue Do In This Case?

Turn around and run!

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Encouragement: Something A Person Can Never Receive Too Much Of

ENCOURAGEMENT

I try very hard to load my Monday morning schedule with calls that will get my week started off with a bang!  This past Monday was no exception.  Yes, this is a testimonial from one of my coaching clients but in reverse, what my coaching client delivered to me was encouragement on a silver platter. 

When was the last time you passed on encouragement to someone else on a silver platter?  Do you have any idea how much your actions or words of encouragement might mean to someone else? 

“Just spent my first hour on the phone with Jeff Snyder Coaching - motivational, inspirational, eye opening, validating, humbling, and completely NOT what I was anticipating for a first call!  It was SO MUCH more!  I came away with insights and pragmatic, practical, tools I can put into action in my work/relationships starting as early as today! 

IF you are willing to go there, Jeff will provide you with the “code” and he’ll help you crack open the door to possibilities and the journey that lies ahead of you.  BUT, ultimately, it’s up to you, to take that first step and then follow through with a commitment to taking action on the insights, resources, materials, and strategy that Jeff will place at your fingertips.

Jeff, Thanks for the investments you are making in people lives.

PS: If like me, you’re 50 plus with some insights on life, Jeff’s coaching will give you a whole new edge on leading the upcoming generation. We can all learn a thing or two.”

— Mark Scoular, Executive Director

This testimonial came to me by way of me digging as deep as I possibly could to deliver value to this coaching client. This is the same value I strive to deliver to each and every one of my coaching clients.

I can’t wait to tackle next Monday’s loaded schedule!

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Taking Action…Why It’s So Hard for Some People to Do

Taking Action…Why It’s So Hard for Some People to Do

• He says, “I’m stuck in my career.”  The career coach, who is built with Visionary and Strategic abilities, knows precisely how to get his prospective client un-stuck.  Sadly, the prospective client doesn’t take action.

• He needs to lose weight. His life literally depends on it.  Why is it so difficult to leave one’s comfort zone of over-eating and not exercising to do better? He has such a hard time acting to do what he knows he needs to do. He’s been reprimanded and held back in his career because he comes across too harshly to his peers and subordinates. He knows he has a problem, but rather than taking action to identify and address the problem with someone who specializes in solving such problems, he continues repeating the same behavior.  Why is it so difficult for this person to leave their comfort zone that includes bad behavior to pursue behavior that others will appreciate?

• She wants to get in better shape.  She doesn’t like to exercise alone and she knows that if she tries, her get-up-and-go and motivation won’t last long.  Rather than finding a way to connect with someone to exercise with her to create accountability, she keeps putting the idea on the backburner and fails to act.

StrengthsFinder™

The Clifton StrengthsFinder™ measures 34 traits that each one of us possesses.  The StrengthsFinder trait that leads to taking action is called Activator®. A person who is gifted with this trait “can make things happen by turning thoughts into action.” This is the person you want to call on when you need to get a project out of paralysis of analysis mode and get it moving forward.

If you have trouble getting things started in your professional life or in your work life, chances are that your Activator® trait as measured by the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ may not be high.

Take Action

Why not find out where your Activator® sits amongst your 34 traits?  Once you know, you’ll develop clarity around why getting started might be difficult for you.  A strengths coach can help you to build a strategy to compensate for your lack of Activator® if that’s who you are.

Out of 34 traits that make up the Clifton StrengthsFinder™, Activator comes in at number 29 out of 34 in terms of frequency of landing in a person’s Top 5 traits. 

What this means is that only 11% of people who have taken a StrengthsFinder™ find Activator® showing up in their top traits. If you possess this trait high in your traits list, you have something special.

If you’re not an Activator® but you need to get an effort moving forward, find someone who has high Activator® and/or consider hiring a personal coach who is gifted with Activator® to help you get moving in a positive direction.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, Strengths Coaching, 719.686.8810

Do You Possess a High ACTIVATORⓒ Score on the Clifton StrengthsFinder™?

Activatorⓒ is one of my top scores on the Clifton StrengthsFinder™. The more I coach people who have this strength and the more I learn about this strength, the more I understand just how unique it is.

Putting my opinion aside, here are the facts.  Out of the 34 traits measured by the Clifton StrengthsFinder™, ACTIVATORⓒ comes in at number 29 in frequency out of 34.  What that means is that 11% of people out of more than 15,000,000 who have taken the assessment have ACTIVATORⓒ in their top 5 strengths out of 34 possibilities.  In other words, having Activatorⓒ in one’s top 5 strengths is somewhat rare.

The more I understand about how ACTIVATORⓒ works, the more I like it. 

• People who have this particular strength are always thinking about how to get started and how to mobilize others. 
• They turn ideas into action and they often possess contagious energy. 
• They make things happen!

If you are deeply gifted with Analytical traits as defined by the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ and you have a difficult time hitting the “GO” button, you might need to partner with an ACTIVATORⓒ in order to get your brilliant ideas into motion.

If you have this trait yourself, you should be in a position where you have the ability to get things going.  Remember that most people don't have the "GO" button to push that you possess.

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

She's Rare, She's Valuable, and she has Unlimited Potential!

While reading an article in the New York Times, I ran across a sentence in the article that grabbed my attention.

“In a capitalist economy, the market rewards things that are rare and valuable.” CAL NEWPORT 

Last week I was privileged to have coached four women who all work in the cyber security profession.  They are all exceptional in their own ways.

One of the tools I use in my coaching practice is the Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment.  In less than an hour, this tool shows me exactly and precisely how each of my clients are uniquely built.  Every time I review a new client’s StrengthsFinder results, I get to look at traits that are both rare and valuable.

WOW!

One client in particular whom I worked with last week has more than one trait in her top 5 Traits / Strengths that are both rare and valuable.  When these traits are weaved together, she is a special person.  

By the way, the Clifton StrengthsFinder is made up of 34 traits.  Each term that describes a trait belongs to the Gallup Organization and is Trademarked.  Traits near the top of one's Clifton StrengthsFinder report have the potential of being turned into Strengths.  This is what Strengths Coaching is all about.

COMMAND

Command is my client's number 1 trait.  Out of 34 traits that make up the Clifton StrengthsFinder, Command is the trait that comes in at number 34 in terms of how often it is found in the top 5 on a StrengthsFinder report.  

The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment has now been taken by more than 15,000,000 people around the globe.

• For men, Command shows up in the top 5, 3% of the time. 
• For women, the Command trait shows up in the top 5, 2% of the time.

To say that my client who has Command at the top of her Strengths profile is an anomaly is an understatement.  The reason I say that is that our traits / strengths do not work by themselves.  They work with the other traits / strengths that surround them.

SELF-ASSURANCE

Also showing up in my client's top 5 traits is Self-Assurance.

• For men, Self-Assurance shows up in the top 5 traits / strengths 6% of the time.
• For women, Self-Assurance shows up in the top 5 traits / strengths 2% of the time.

Is my client starting to look like a rare and valuable contributor to you?  She is!

COMPETITION

One more trait that shows up in my client’s top 5 traits / strengths is the Competition trait. 

• For men, Competition shows up in the top 5 traits / strengths 16% of the time.
• For women, Competition in the top 5 traits / strengths is much more rare showing up only 2% of the time.

What does this picture tell me as a Strengths Coach?  My client’s top traits / strengths are both rare and valuable. The client described above has huge up-side potential that is virtually limitless. 

The company that hires this naturally gifted leader will see multiples on their return on investment.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, Strengths Coaching, 719.686.8810

Can a Career Road Map be Strategically Planned?

Not long ago, a really bright converged security professional came to me for resume writing help.  After sharing a phone call with this person, I was convinced that he/she was extremely articulate.  After a short amount of time on the phone, I saw a serious disconnect between the person portrayed on the resume that was in front of me and the person I was listening to on the phone.  This happens all the time by the way.

There was no doubt at all that this caller needed help from a professional resume writer but that’s not all they needed. I sensed that I was listening to a Security Rock Star who didn’t know they had a future as a Security Rock Star.

My caller needed clarity, confidence and a clear career road map.  I suggested that they consider my Strengths Coaching program. 

Here’s how it works and here’s what my clients can expect in terms of results after the coaching program is has been completed.

1.      The beginning of the program focuses on learning.  After my clients take a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, our first two phone calls focus on me helping my client to understand what their unique talents are, how they operate, how they come across to other people and what the powerful edge and potential pitfalls are that are connected to each of their unique talents.

2.      In the second phase of this program, my clients begin to understand their unique talents.  At this point they can claim what is naturally theirs and they can choose to own the gifts they have.

3.      Once my client decides to claim and own their gifts, then I’m in a position to help them to properly aim their gifts.  What this means is that some people are gifted to be the most brilliant architects and engineers in the building.  Other people are naturally gifted to manage people and some people are naturally gifted to learn how to lead. At this point, I can step in with my 26+ years of experience in recruiting and I turn to my top strengths. My Futuristic strength combined with my Strategic strength and my experience all work together in helping my clients to build unique strategic career road maps that align with their unique giftedness.

A Strength as defined by the Clifton StrengthsFinder is the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific task. 

The good news is that every human being has talents that can be turned into strengths. All of our talents are different; making us unique individuals.  Once talents become strengths, the sky is the limit when an individual can deliver a near-perfect performance over and over and over again.

 Jeff Snyder Coaching, Strengths Coaching, 719.686.8810

Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching…Why?

I was recently asked why I offer both Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching. 

Strengths Coaching focuses on what a person has potential to be great at based on their natural giftedness. Because I work heavily with people who are gifted technologists, I have built up enough data and experience to understand the uniqueness of the gifted technologists I’m privileged to serve.  When I get to pass this understanding on to the gifted technologists who trust me to coach them, I get to help my coaching clients take their personal game to a new level. 

Maximizer

This work taps into the Maximizer (one of my top strengths) in me. By default, my Maximizer causes me to focus on taking good to great all the time.  I love to show my clients how they can turn their good performance into a great performance.

Gifted Technologists

My work goes beyond working with gifted technologists.  My unique experience also enables me to show some of my clients how their unique giftedness sets them up to either become or to fine-tune their leadership abilities if they're already in leadership. 

The days when I get to coach someone who has potential they didn’t know they had before we got together are some of my best days!

Weaknesses

Because everyone I coach is a human being, there is a 100% chance that every one of my coaching clients have weaknesses.  As a Strengths Coach, I have determined that it makes no sense at all to try to help my clients turn their weaknesses into strengths.  It simply doesn’t work.

What does work is the effort I invest with my clients to strengthen their strengths while showing them how to build strategies around their weaknesses so their weaknesses don’t get in the way of their strengths. Strategies can’t be built around topics that are not clearly understood.

Emotional Intelligence

It was my observation that everyone has weaknesses that led me to discover a way to become trained and certified in Emotional Intelligence Coaching. 

Emotional Intelligence shows me how my clients perceive themselves.  Sometimes this self-perception is right and sometimes it is wrong.  I can also see how my clients are likely perceived by other people.  When there is a gap between how my clients perceive themselves and how they come across to other people, there is work to be done.

The good news here is that a person’s Emotional Intelligence can be improved upon.  In my coaching practice, these are the Emotional Intelligence skill we measure and work to improve based on each coaching client’s unique needs.

Emotional Intelligence

Self-Perception

Self-Regard, Self-Actualization, Emotional Self-Awareness

Self-Expression

Emotional Expression, Assertiveness, Independence

Interpersonal

Interpersonal Relationships, Empathy, Social Responsibility

Decision Making

Problem Solving, Reality Testing, Impulse Control

Stress Management

Flexibility, Stress Tolerance, Optimism

Working with my clients as an Emotional Intelligence Coach to improve their Emotional Intelligence is the most difficult and the most impactful and rewarding work I do.  When a person works to improve their behavior, the behavior that impacts other people and progress is made, this is the most impactful work I do and it is one of the greatest personal and professional investments my clients can possibly make.

Better behavior leads to all kinds of positive results.  When my clients are focused on doing work that aligns with their top strengths and they are focused on delivering their work with their best behavior attached, the result for my clients is their best performance. 

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.881

“I’m an Alpha Male” he told me

That’s what my caller told me during our conversation.  I’m not sure how you define “Alpha Male” so here's what came to my mind. 

I interpreted the comment in context of this conversation to mean that the person on the other end of my phone had a need to tell me he was a “Big Dog” and he was used to being in charge. 

The Alpha Males and Alpha Females I know who are impressive leaders may feel the need to tell others they are “Alpha” but they turn on their Impulse Control and they don't say what might be on their minds.

The "Alpha" leaders I know through my leadership coaching work more often than not possess the Command strength near the top of their StrengthsFinder report.  

Command as defined by the Clifton Strengthsfinder:  People exceptionally talented in the Command theme have presence.  They can take control of a situation and make decisions.  

Only 5% of the +-15 Million people who have taken a Clifton StrengthsFinder have the Command trait showing up in their top 5 traits.  Out of 34 traits that show up on the StrengthsFinder report, Command comes in 34th in terms of frequency. Command is rare.

Successful "Alpha" people tend to operate with these characteristics:

• They inspire trust by being honest and by demonstrating high integrity
• They are decisive
• They have vision and they are able to clearly communiate their vision
• They are people whose words you might not like but you always know where they stand
• They are humble
• They’re leaders

Leaders don’t need to tell others that they’re leaders.  They simply do what leaders do.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, Leadership Coach, 719.686.8810

Strengths Coaching with Jeff Snyder

When you're ready to figure out the difference between what you "Can" do and what you "Should" do with your life, give me a call.  I help my clients to find Clarity.  Clarity leads to personal Confidence.  Clarity also makes Direction clear.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.8810

What Is Strengths Coaching?

What Is Strengths Coaching?

The Strengths Coaching I’ll refer to here is what happens after a person takes a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.  The report that comes from taking a Clifton StrengthsFinder shows a person’s totally unique human makeup or wiring as I like to call it, based on how their 34 traits line up.

The results of this assessment don’t throw a person into a box or category that someone else created.  This assessment brilliantly shows a person how entirely unique they are.  As a Strengths Coach, I get to show my clients what to do with their uniqueness.  I’m passionate about this work. 

“Millennials love not being put into a box by the way”

Traits / Strengths

The traits at or near the top of someone’s Clifton StrengthsFinder report are generally thought to be someone’s Strengths.  This is true if a person is aware of their dominant traits and if they’re actively working to leverage their dominate traits to create the best possible version of themselves.

I spoke in front of an audience of approximately 75 people.  I asked the audience to raise their hand of they had ever taken a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.  My best guess is that as many as 60 out of 75 hands went up.

I then asked those who had raised their hand to keep their hand up if they had done anything with their StrengthsFinder assessment results.  Again, my best guess suggests that approximately 10 hands remained raised and as many as 50 hands went down.

Eye Opener

This was an eye opening experience for me. At that moment, I began to understand why so many people I encounter think they know their strengths.  In reality, these people might know the words that sit on an assessment report but if they’ve never gone beyond the word descriptions on the assessment report, they likely don’t know their unique personal strengths and more importantly, how those strengths operate.

My Strengths Coaching Process

• Begins with my client taking a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.

• What: In our first session together, I help my client to understand what their report says, how to read and interpret their report and we set the ground work for our second meeting.

• Why: In our second session together, my focus is on interactively taking my client on a deep dive into their unique top traits.  My goal here is to help my client see how and why their unique traits cause them to operate the way they do.  Simultaneously, my client will learn how their unique traits could be coming across to other people. It is during this second meeting that “Ah Ha” moments and “Light bulb” moments frequently occur.  This is when my clients start to see not just what dots are sitting on their report but they start to see how their dots work together to make them the unique person they are.

• How: In our next meeting, this is when I build our meeting around the homework my client worked on after our second meeting.  During the homework stage, I find that many of my clients start to develop clarity around what they uniquely have to offer.  Once the switch flips in my client’s mine, it is now time to start working on how they can leverage their unique giftedness to create their best performance.

• Leverage: In our fourth meeting, this is where I apply my 26+ years of experience as a professional recruiter to help my clients to create a personal strategy around their unique Strengths.  By strategy I’m referring to what my client will do with their new-found understanding of how to create their own best performance. For some of my clients, this means making course adjustments in the job they already have in the company they’re already in.  Some of my clients come to the realization that they might be in the wrong job or that they might be in the right or wrong job in the wrong company.  Other clients who had been scratching an entrepreneurial itch now have the clarity to see that stepping out to start their own business of some sort is the right personal decision.

Bottom Line

What matters to me is that each and every Strengths Coaching client I’m privileged to work with is able to move forward with enhanced Clarity, Direction, Confidence and a Strategic Plan to know how to get to their next destination.

What's Next?

Many of my Strengths Coaching clients learn so much about themselves through the Strengths Coaching experience that they stick with me to work on improving their Emotional Intelligence.  In addition to being a Strengths Coach, I am also a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach.  The work I do around Emotional Intelligence Coaching is the most deeply impacting work I’ve been privileged to do with other people in my entire career.

The combination of Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching is what moves my clients from “Good to Great” and I’m fortunate enough to go along for the ride. 

Jeff Snyder Coaching

"Ace Your Interview with Perfect Interview Answers"

Acing An Interview

"Ace Your Interview with Perfect Interview Answers"

This was the subject of an email that recently landed in my Inbox.  This kind of email subject drives me crazy.  Here's why.

• There are no tricks to acing an interview. 
• There are no perfect interview answers.

My Advice For Performing Well In An Interview

• Communicate with clarity about what you're great at and what you're not great at.
• Know how to articulate what you're great at by backing up what you say you're great at with stories of past accomplishments and contributions and well-articulated aspirations of what you want to accomplish in your future.
• We're all not great at something. Know exactly what you're not great at and know how to articulate what you're doing to manage your weaknesses.
• Honesty and accuracy is always your best strategy.
• If you're younger and you're chasing a job that is above you, know your unique personal strengths and know how to tie your strengths to the job you're stretching towards.
• If you're older, know your unique personal strengths.  Know how to tie your unique personal strengths and hopefully the wisdom you now have to the job you can easily contribute to.
• Be sure to show up to your interview with questions.  Questions should not be one-dimensional.  Ask technical questions, business questions, questions about the hiring authority's management style and more.  

Conclusion

Knowing yourself inside and out and knowing something about the company you're about to interview with is your responsibility when you go to an interview. Being prepared to ask strong questions is your responsibility when you go to an interview.

If you don't know your unique personal strengths, consider strengths coaching. Knowing your unique personal strengths will go a long way towards bringing clarity to your interview process.

If interviewing is uncomfortable to you, don't risk leaving a job offer on the table.  If you need interview coaching, invest in yourself and get interview coaching.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Is the Command Talent one of your top Talents or Strengths?

People who are strong in the Clifton StrengthsFinder Command talent are part of a small group.  Out of 34 traits that are measured in the StrengthsFinder assessment, Command comes in at 34 in frequency.  Only 5% of people have Command in their Top 5 Traits or Strengths. 

People who possess strong Command have presence.  They naturally take control of a situation.  They make decisions and they lead. 

Command gifted people need to be in the driver’s seat.  They need for things to be clear amongst other people.  They are willing to speak up.  They’ll share good to know, bad to hear news to give people a realistic idea of where they stand.

People with high Command do not shy away from confrontation.  They can be direct and highly decisive. Command gifted people can inspire others to rise above their fears.

Command comes with a powerful high side to leverage if you have it.  Command also comes with a powerful low side if you have it and you haven’t built a strategy to manage it properly.

You can find out how you're uniquely wired and you can learn how to turn your unique set of talents into strengths!

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Is the Includer Talent one of your top Talents or Strengths?

People who are strong in the Clifton StrengthsFinder Includer talent are exceptionally skilled in the act of accepting others.  They have an instinctive awareness that helps them to spot those who might be left out of a group.

Includers look for ways to make the circle of inclusion larger.  Includers see everyone as being the same. Therefore, everyone should be included.  Includers bring a high tolerance for acceptance and diversity to a group or team.  Includers generally hate cliques.

You can find out how you're uniquely wired and you can learn how to turn your unique set of talents into strengths!

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Is the Futuristic Talent one of your top Talents or Strengths?

People who are strong in the Clifton StrengthsFinder Futuristic talent are inspired by what they envision being just down the road. Futuristic people can inspire those around them when they share their visions of what could be in the future.

People who possess the Futuristic talent have the ability to see what is around the corner. They can often see what’s ahead in ways that other people cannot see. 

The Futuristic talent enables those who have it to spot trends. People who have this talent can often see what’s just beyond the horizon.

Another word for Futuristic is Visionary. Companies look for vision in candidates when they hire to fill leadership roles.

You can find out how you're uniquely wired and you can learn how to turn your unique set of talents into strengths!

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Is the Restorative Talent one of your top Talents or Strengths?

People who are strong in the Clifton StrengthsFinder Restorative talent are exceptionally capable when it comes to dealing with problems.  They are instinctively gifted when it comes to determining what went wrong and what should be done to fix a problem. 

Restorative people are energized by solving problems.  People who are wired in this way can effectively deal with personal, professional, financial, systems problems and more.  They are diagnostic experts who can deal with problems in a calm and collected manner.

You can find out how you're uniquely wired and you can learn how to turn your unique set of talents into strengths!

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Is the Developer Talent one of your top Talents or Strengths?

People who are strong in the Clifton StrengthsFinder Developer talent are able to spot talent in others and they have an instinctive ability to know how to develop the potential that lies in others. 

When a Developer gets to assist in developing another human being, this is one of the best experiences they can possibly have.  Developers possess a selfless desire to help others succeed.  Developers can often see talent in other people that those people don’t see in themselves.

You can find out how you're uniquely wired and you can learn how to turn your unique set of talents into strengths!

Jeff Snyder Coaching