For Nebraska Women’s Basketball Coach Amy Williams, unlocking her team’s potential each year starts with understanding what makes each player and coach tick. She and her team explore their strengths with the help of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Clifton Strengths Institute.
“CliftonStrengths has had a pretty major impact on our team communication and, therefore, the chemistry we have within our team,” Williams said. “Our players now have a better feel for which teammates respond better to one-on-one communication, and which just want you to let them have it straight.”
Developing respect for each other’s different strengths, she said, helped the team better navigate challenges together.
“The most impactful activity for our team was breaking into small groups to discuss our Top 5 strengths,” she said. “We talked about what we liked, what was harder to relate to and how we could use our unique combination of strengths to lead in our own ways. It created accountability for every member of our team and a responsibility to help lead.”
When only one player had Empathy in her Top 5, for example, the group discussed how she could use that strength to lead by connecting one-on-one with teammates to understand their perspectives.
CliftonStrengths also confirmed what Williams long believed about her coaching staff.
“I am very heavy in the Executing domain, but I have one assistant with four of his Top 5 in Relationship Building, and another with three of her Top 5 in Strategic Thinking. It is easy to see now why I have always felt like we complement each other so well.”
Williams encourages other coaches and leaders to try the strengths-based approach, noting it helped the Huskers focus on what they do best instead of fixating on weaknesses.
“CliftonStrengths provided us with a really cool opportunity to focus on where we are strong and how we can lean into those strengths to benefit the entire team,” she said. “That’s an important trait of a highly functioning team.”
Student organizations, faculty and staff can schedule a workshop with the Clifton Strengths Institute at https://go.unl.edu/csi_workshops. Workshops can focus on stretching people's strengths, transforming classroom or team culture, and unlocking greater levels of performance and engagement.
