THE
Cahen
AMBLER
BLOG
Welcome to The Cahen Ambler Blog
As I explain more in depth in my introductory post, this is a space where I like to use storytelling and references from history and popular culture to help each of the 34 talent themes come alive in a way that’s different than the standard definitions found elsewhere.
As a general note, I’m not aware of the actual talent themes of any of the fictional characters I discuss. Nor have I coached any of famous people I might reference. This is mostly for educational purposes and also to help illuminate strengths in a way that’s memorable.
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Ideation & Introduction
Welcome to my first Strengths blog post. I used to do a good amount of blogging back when blogging started, so I’m excited to get back into it should this be your medium of choice. Speaking of back in the day, I first took the “StrengthsFinder” assessment back in 2011. I was attending a leadership…
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Woo & Walter White
If you’ve followed my blog, you know I’m a fan of alliteration in my titles. Today we’re talking about Woo. The talent theme that gets the most eyebrow raises of any from those unfamiliar with CliftonStrengths. And while we’re talking about Woo, this entry really isn’t about the alliterative Walter White – the award winning…
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Relator & Ross
The official Gallup description of the Relator talent theme includes the following passage: People exceptionally talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal I emphasized the word friends because the connection with that word to Relator is a great way…
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Maximizer & Marine Officers
When it comes to the talent of Maximizer, it’s all about this idea of transforming something good into something great. This talent is particularly evident in environments where excellence is the standard and continuous improvement is the goal. In 2016, I had the honor of attending a week-long event called the Marine Educator Program where…
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Activator & Adrenaline
I’m fascinated by the psychology of thrill seekers, mostly because I am not one of them. Sure, I don’t mind a nice and easy roller coaster, but I’m the last person who you could convince to jump out of an airplane. I’m sure it’s an incredible feeling, but I’m a big chicken. The first person…
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Self-Assurance & Shaq
My last blog entry was about Kobe Bryant and Achiever. So it’s only natural that today I talk about Shaquille O’Neal and Self-Assurance (If you need to get up to speed on the infamous partnership and feud between these two legends, click here). Self-Assurance is an influencing theme and I like to think about it…
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Achiever & Attack Fast
If you remember obscure Nike commercials the way I do, you may have come across the Nike Kobe VII System campaign back in 2012. It was a series of commercials where Kobe Bryant played himself as a motivational speaker. He gave several intense talks to a room full of successful athletes and celebrities (Jerry Rice,…
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Focus & Following the Yellow Brick Road
I have a confession to share about my “blogging process”. Deciding on a topic for these posts can be a challenge. It’s not because I don’t have any ideas (thanks, #1 Ideation). It’s usually because I have a hard time narrowing down to one idea (thanks, #24 Focus). Often, the best idea to me is…
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Context & Flux Capacitors
It’s cool to be rare. According to Gallup, Context is one of the 5 rarest CliftonStrengths talents. I love coming across someone with a rare talent. I currently work on a team with 40 people and only two have Context in their Top 5. And because it’s not as straightforward as some other talents, those…
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Individualization & Inside Out
I recently took my family to see Inside Out 2. As of this blog posting, It’s Pixar’s highest grossing film ever with over a billion dollars in revenue. Diving deep into the analytical part of my brain I can safely calculate that odds are… you’ve seen it. Or at the very least, you have an…
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Intellection & Iron Man
What’s your origin story? In the comic book world it often refers to how a particular superhero came to be. Created in a lab? Bitten by a radioactive spider? Born on a faraway planet? No matter how they came to be, the protagonist usually has some supernatural ability that they were born with — or…
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Connectedness & Commencement
In 2005, Steve Jobs gave a commencement speech at Stanford. If you have the time, take a few moments to watch it. As of this posting, it has 44 million views on YouTube. I *might* be exaggerating but I think 44 million of those views are from me alone. I love this speech that much.…
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Learner & Lisa Simpson
I like to consider myself an early-adopter and innovator. For example, I was the first kid in my 6th grade class to wear a Simpsons t-shirt to school. Channeling my inner Bart Simpson, I got in trouble for wearing it and made a rare trip to the Principal’s office. This was because the shirt featured…
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Command & Crashes
US Airways flight 1549 was carrying 155 people when just minutes after takeoff, a flock of geese struck the plane and damaged the engines. Forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River, the pilot took control and calmly landed the plane. Sully Sullenberger (you know the name!) became an American hero and was…
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Restorative & Renovations
I enjoy a good home renovation TV show. I know I’m not alone because there are roughly a billion of them. Fixer Upper, Love it or List It, Maine Cabin Masters… if there’s a downtrodden piece of property with good bones then I want to see what can be done with it. Never mind that…
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Positivity & Penalty Flags
Way back when I was just an undergraduate psychology student, I read about something in a Sports Psychology textbook called the Fundamental Attribution Error. It’s a bias we all tend to have that helps to explain why we might attribute someone else’s actions to who they are, while explaining away our own similar actions to…
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Input & Nintendo
My son and I have been playing a game on the Nintendo Switch called “Super Mario Bros Wonder”. I played video games pretty regularly as a kid on the NES and Sega Genesis and then into college on the Playstation. Then there was like a 20 year gap on my gaming resume until very recently…
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Deliberative & Dinner
Imagine two friends meeting up for dinner at a new restaurant. The first person knows exactly what they want to eat a few seconds after scanning the menu. The other person needs a few minutes after the server first checks in. Maybe the person who has their mind made up isn’t picky. Maybe they really…