By Margaret O’Donnell, Director, Communications & Brand
When calendars fill up, team development is often one of the first things to fall off the priority list.
Between deadlines, projects, meetings, and day-to-day responsibilities, it’s easy to push personal growth and team reflection to the bottom of the list. Recently, however, our Communications team spent an hour doing exactly that, and the experience reminded me why investing in people is one of the most valuable investments any team can make.
A Simple Assessment That Sparked Bigger Conversations
The journey began when Cari Rutkoskie, our Vice President of Communications, introduced me to CliftonStrengths, a framework designed to help people better understand their natural talents and strengths. Cari had been using the assessment for decades and spoke about the impact it had throughout her career.
Sara Schelb and Christina Book, our communications consultants, had also completed the assessment through previous leadership development opportunities, and I decided to follow suit.
We partnered with Al Nicolai, our Director of Talent & Performance Management and a globally certified strengths coach, who helps facilitate these conversations. With Al’s guidance, our team stepped away from our daily work for an hour to focus on something different: Understanding how our individual strengths combine to shape our effectiveness as a team.
Learning from Each Other
The conversation quickly became about much more than assessment results.
We explored how our individual talents influence the way we think, communicate, solve problems, develop ideas, and support one another. We also discussed where our talents naturally complement one another and where blind spots can emerge when a strength is overused.
Those conversations led to meaningful personal insights. We realized that our strengths often shape how we interpret situations through our own experiences and perspectives. What may seem like an obvious observation to one person could be an idea that others have not yet considered.
Several of us realized we may hold back at times because we assume someone else is thinking the same thing, when in reality our perspective may be exactly what the team needs. It was a powerful reminder that every voice around the table brings value and that sharing different perspectives often leads to better outcomes.
The Value of Different Perspectives
Perhaps most importantly, we gained a deeper appreciation for the diversity of talent across our team.
Every team includes people who generate ideas, build relationships, drive execution, ask thoughtful questions, bring structure, challenge assumptions, and create momentum. The session reinforced that high-performing teams aren’t built by having everyone think alike. They’re built by understanding and leveraging the unique strengths each person brings to the table.
The discussion also reminded us that self-awareness is not an individual exercise. It grows through conversations and a willingness to understand how others see and experience the world. Having a shared language to discuss our working styles made those conversations more productive and more meaningful.
Recognizing Success More Intentionally
One of the most meaningful discussions centered on recognizing success.
Like many teams, we spend a lot of time identifying challenges and solving problems. We don’t always spend enough time acknowledging where we’re already succeeding.
In fact, one of the blind spots we identified as a team was our tendency to move quickly from one project to the next without fully recognizing our accomplishments or the impact of our work.
That realization inspired a simple commitment: create more opportunities to celebrate wins and highlight impact. One immediate takeaway was the idea of beginning team meetings by recognizing where we are winning before diving into the challenges ahead.
It may seem like a small change, but it represents a meaningful shift in mindset.
The Power of Cross-Functional Collaboration
The experience also demonstrated the value of collaboration across functions.
Through our partnership with Al’s and her coaching expertise, we were able to tap into knowledge that already existed within our company and apply it in a way that delivered immediate value to our team.
It’s a great example of how sharing expertise across teams can create meaningful development opportunities and strengthen connections across the organization.
An Investment, Not Time Away
The greatest takeaway wasn’t learning what was written in our strengths reports. It was learning more about one another.
The honest conversations and deeper understanding that emerged during that hour strengthened relationships and created a foundation for even stronger collaboration moving forward.
I left the session energized and inspired by the unique strengths our team brings together every day.
In a world where everyone’s calendar is full, it can be tempting to postpone opportunities like this. Our experience reinforced the opposite lesson.
Taking time to recognize and celebrate strengths isn’t time away from work. It’s an investment in stronger relationships and, ultimately, greater impact.