We provide faculty, staff, and students with opportunities to learn more about their strengths and how they can leverage them in their daily life through academic courses, campus-wide events, individual coaching sessions, and group workshops. Several faculty and staff members from across the university are passionate about bringing awareness to others and their strengths. On this page, learn more about different ways you can incorporate this information into your work.
If you are interested in individual coaching or a group workshop, please complete this request form, and a staff member will contact you.
Still not familiar with the CliftonStrengths language? Check out the definitions of commonly used terms.
Academic Courses that use CliftonStrengths
- Approaches to the College of Business Administration (BUAD 100)
- Integrity: Becoming an Ethical Leader and Effective Communicator (BUAD 200)
- Impact: Becoming a Leader who Makes a Difference (BUAD 405)
- Servant Leadership and Social Justices Seminar (ELPS 211)
- Emerging Leaders (ELPS 310)
- Coached Leadership Skills (ELPS 350)
- Leadership Knoxville Scholars (ELPS 411)
- First-Year Studies (FYS 101)
- Interpersonal Leadership Development (ALEC 102)
- Introduction to Macro Social Work Practice (Social Work 511)
- Sports Management: Theory to Practice (RSM 350)
“‘Leading with CliftonStrengths has exponentially expanded my leadership vocabulary and deepened my understanding of myself, which made me feel more prepared and articulate in interviews and in leadership roles.”
—Grace Woodside, 2023 Ignite Student Director
Workshop Offerings
Group workshops are facilitated by trained professionals at UT. Topics and duration of the sessions can be customized for you. Below is an overview of some of the sessions which can be facilitated for each target audience.
Upcoming Events
Master Your Grad School Apps with Strengths
Preparing for the next step in your higher education journey? Join representatives from The Graduate School and Jones Center for Leadership and Service to learn tips and tricks to master your graduate school applications while leaning into your Strengths. As a bonus, unlock your Full 34 CliftonStrengths report free of charge when you participate! Have questions? Reach out to Paola at pcw@utk.edu for more information.
March 6, 2024, 6 – 7:30 p.m., Student Union 262A
RSVP: Master Your Grad School Apps with Strengths – University of Tennessee (campuslabs.com)
Master Your Job Interview with Strengths
Preparing for your next steps after graduation? Join representatives from the Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration and the Jones Center for Leadership and Service to learn tips and tricks to master your job interviews while leaning into your Strengths. As a bonus, unlock your Full 34 CliftonStrengths report free of charge when you participate! Have questions? Reach out to Paola at pcw@utk.edu for more information.
April 10, 2024, 6 – 7:30 p.m., Student Union 262A
RSVP: Master Your Job Interviews with Strengths – University of Tennessee (campuslabs.com)
This workshop is designed to serve as an introduction to CliftonStrengths for students who have taken the assessment but are not quite sure what to do with their results. The workshop will look at a brief history of CliftonStrengths, an overview of the different themes/domains, and what can be accomplished by leveraging strengths, accompanied by engaging team and self-reflection activities. After participation, students will be able to summarize strengths perspectives and ideology, easily identify their Top 5 Strengths, and develop an action plan for integrating Strengths into personal practice.
Strengths Based Teams
This workshop is designed for a team who is looking to achieve specific goals and increase their awareness of how to build a strengths-based team. This workshop will introduce basic concepts such as theme dynamics and domains, as well as providing team activities that will develop awareness about the group’s Strengths and how they can be leveraged for higher success as a group. After participating, team members will gain awareness for individual and team efforts focusing on strengths and be able to apply strengths-based principles to strengthen their team.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Tailored for students who are familiar with CliftonStrengths but interested in learning more about intentional application, this workshop is designed to do a 90-minute deep dive into the way strengths can be applied to specific situations. Topics include: strengths and values, connecting strengths and identity, strengths and well-being, developing leadership strengths in college, and more! Each workshop will be designed uniquely for the team of students and will allow for personalization in order to accomplish the group’s goals.
The strengths-based approach can improve departmental culture, enhance employee experience, and help your teams learn to work better together. The Learning and Organizational Development team in Human Resources can come to your departmental meeting, retreat, or training and lead a workshop based on your unique goals.
Note: You will need a copy of your strengths report prior to attending any of these sessions for staff and faculty.
Workshops for Staff
CliftonStrengths for Staff, Now What?
Have you completed the CliftonStrengths assessment producing your Top 5 Strengths, but don’t really know what to do next? This is your opportunity to take a deeper dive into understanding your individual strengths and how to incorporate them into your work.
CliftonStrengths for Supervisors Has your team taken the CliftonStrengths assessment and you find yourself wanting to utilize the results in your office more effectively? This is your opportunity to learn and apply strength-based supervision strategies for your team ultimately leading towards speaking the same language while encouraging growth and employee success.
Workshops for Faculty
Strengths-Based Faculty Workshop
The goal of this 90-120 minute workshop is to bring teams of faculty together to understand the philosophy behind using an asset-based approach with colleagues and students, delve into the CliftonStrengths report to examine one’s unique talents and abilities, and explore how these can be leveraged toward accomplishing our goals. This session can be curated to focus on the unique strengths that faculty bring to their collaborative teams or toward lifting our students’ strengths to elevate their success in the classroom.
Leading Change Using a Strengths-Based Approach
The goal of this 90-120 minute workshop is to assist teams in developing an intentional strategy as they approach organizational, process, or other significant changes in the workplace. Framed in the Lippitt-Knoster Model for Managing Complex Change, participants will be asked to consider not only the change they seek to enact, but also the unique skills and abilities they have to enact that change. The session will help individual team members and change leaders reflect on the skills they uniquely bring to the process, ask the group to consider their collective strengths, and examine potential challenges the team can mitigate by being mindful throughout their process.