CliftonStrengths
The CliftonStrengths® assessment identifies recurring patterns in how people naturally think, feel, and behave. Rather than defining a single personality style, participants discover their dominant talent themes and explore how those talents can be intentionally developed and applied.
For teams, the result can be a much richer understanding of what every person brings to the table.
Build a Team Around What People Naturally Do Best
Most development conversations begin by asking what needs to be fixed.
CliftonStrengths offers another starting point: Where does each person have the greatest natural potential—and how can the team use those talents intentionally?
What Does CliftonStrengths Explore?
The Gallup CliftonStrengths model includes 34 talent themes, organized into four broad domains:
Executing: talents that help turn ideas into action
Influencing: talents that help teams reach broader audiences and move others toward action
Relationship Building: talents that help create strong relationships and cohesive teams
Strategic Thinking: talents that help teams absorb, analyze, envision, and make sense of information
Individuals may explore their five top strengths, or their complete CliftonStrengths profile.
When individual results are brought together in a CliftonStrengths Team Grid, a team can see its collective talent patterns and begin asking more strategic questions about how those strengths contribute to performance.
Why Use CliftonStrengths for Team Development?
A strengths-based conversation can shift how colleagues see one another. Instead of: “Why aren't you more like me?” the conversation becomes: “What do you naturally bring that our team needs?”
CliftonStrengths can help teams:
Recognize and articulate individual contributions
Improve appreciation of differences
Identify complementary partnerships
Strengthen collaboration
Match talents to responsibilities and challenges
Understand dominant team patterns
Explore potential blind spots
Improve engagement
Develop leaders authentically
Create a strengths-based team culture
For executive teams, CliftonStrengths can also provide a useful lens for examining whether leadership responsibilities are being distributed in ways that make use of the group’s collective talent.
The goal is not to conclude that a team “lacks” capability simply because a particular theme appears less frequently. Instead, the discussion focuses on how the team can intentionally use the talent it has, and what partnerships, systems, or behaviors may help it address important demands.
What Could a CliftonStrengths Program Look Like?
Discover Our Team Strengths
2–3 hours
A highly positive, interactive introduction to individual and collective strengths.
Sample agenda:
Introduction to strengths-based development
Explore individual dominant themes
“Name, Claim, Aim” strengths
Share individual contributions
Introduce the four CliftonStrengths domains
Explore the team grid
Identify collective patterns and partnerships
Discuss how strengths show up when the team is at its best
Select one strength to intentionally apply
Ideal for: intact teams, project teams, newly formed groups, and teams seeking an energizing development experience.
Strengths-Based Leadership & Team Performance
3–5 hours
A leadership-focused workshop connecting natural talent with leadership effectiveness and organizational priorities.
Sample agenda:
Individual leadership strengths
Strengths and potential overuse
Four domains of leadership talent
Leadership team grid
Complementary executive partnerships
How strengths influence decision-making and execution
Match talents to strategic priorities
Apply strengths to current organizational challenges
Leadership action planning
Ideal for: leadership teams, executive retreats, succession-development cohorts, and emerging leaders.
Build a Strengths-Based Team Culture
3-session engagement
Session 1 — Understand Our Talent
Individual strengths
Team grid
Contributions and partnerships
Session 2 — Apply Our Strengths
Current team priorities
Delegation and role alignment
Collaboration
Solving real problems through strengths
Session 3 — Sustain a Strengths Culture
What has changed?
Recognize examples of strengths in action
Develop strengths-based feedback practices
Integrate strengths into team meetings and development
Establish ongoing commitments
Your Team Already Has Talent. Use It Intentionally.
Great team development does not require making everyone more alike.
It requires understanding what each person uniquely contributes, and designing ways for those talents to work together.
Horizon Team Design helps teams turn individual strengths into collective capability.
What Could Your Team Accomplish by Using Its Strengths More Intentionally?
Explore how a strengths-based development experience could help individuals understand what they naturally contribute and teams make better use of complementary talent.
Explore other tools that may fit your goals:
MBTI
Explore how personality preferences influence communication, decisions, and approaches to work.
DiSC
Develop greater behavioral adaptability across workplace relationships and situations.
FIRO-B / FIRO Business
Understand interpersonal needs related to involvement, influence, autonomy, and connection.
EQ-i 2.0
Develop emotional intelligence skills that strengthen leadership, resilience, and relationships.