Behavior. Talent. Clarity.
Four Decades of Proven Insight.
Helping people understand themselves and others through
Social Styles® and CliftonStrengths®
Social Styles® and CliftonStrengths®
Every coach has a story
Mine begins long before online assessments existed, before “strengths-based psychology” was a recognized field, and before leadership development became its own industry. My foundation started in a classroom for life insurance agents where I was first introduced to Social Styles®. My use of this tool was minimal at first, but it grew significantly when I shifted from being an agent to becoming the trainer at that same life insurance company where I trained the agents on how to use Social Styles® in their work with their clients.
A few years later, after transferring back into the field, I learned about positive psychology at an all-day meeting for life insurance managers. Dr. Donald Clifton was one of the key speakers. His message—letting rabbits run, squirrels climb, and ducks fly—left a deep and lasting impression on me.
Both Social Styles® and this early concept of positive psychology were still in their incubator stages in my life, but they had so captured my attention that they changed the way I worked and led others. I began shifting away from the traditional management mindset of trying to get people to work more like me or fixing what was “wrong” with them. Instead, I started observing how people behaved, how they worked, how they responded to stressful situations, and how relationships changed based on the smallest shifts in communication.
I also noticed patterns that puzzled and intrigued me: some people performed certain tasks exceptionally well and with complete ease, while others struggled with the very same tasks. Yet the people who struggled in one area could perform entirely different tasks with equal effortlessness. I found myself asking these individuals how they were able to do their work so easily. Their answers were almost always the same: “I can’t tell you how I do it, but you can watch me, and maybe you’ll figure it out on your own.”
These were not academic exercises—they were lived experiences. Social Styles® gave me the tools to observe behavior and communicate more effectively with others, but positive psychology, at that time, lacked any kind of structured toolset. I felt as though I had only half of what I needed to support, encourage, challenge, and guide people. I understood the concept of letting rabbits run, ducks fly, and squirrels climb, but I didn’t yet have a practical way to explain to others why they were good at certain things or how they could build on those natural abilities.
I knew I needed better language—better categories, clearer descriptors, a more effective way to communicate what I was seeing in people. But at that time, there was no defined framework or vocabulary available to help me articulate these differences.
My approach today is the result of more than 40 years of applying what works—long before the research had caught up and long before the developmental tools we now rely on were available to the public.
A few years later, after transferring back into the field, I learned about positive psychology at an all-day meeting for life insurance managers. Dr. Donald Clifton was one of the key speakers. His message—letting rabbits run, squirrels climb, and ducks fly—left a deep and lasting impression on me.
Both Social Styles® and this early concept of positive psychology were still in their incubator stages in my life, but they had so captured my attention that they changed the way I worked and led others. I began shifting away from the traditional management mindset of trying to get people to work more like me or fixing what was “wrong” with them. Instead, I started observing how people behaved, how they worked, how they responded to stressful situations, and how relationships changed based on the smallest shifts in communication.
I also noticed patterns that puzzled and intrigued me: some people performed certain tasks exceptionally well and with complete ease, while others struggled with the very same tasks. Yet the people who struggled in one area could perform entirely different tasks with equal effortlessness. I found myself asking these individuals how they were able to do their work so easily. Their answers were almost always the same: “I can’t tell you how I do it, but you can watch me, and maybe you’ll figure it out on your own.”
These were not academic exercises—they were lived experiences. Social Styles® gave me the tools to observe behavior and communicate more effectively with others, but positive psychology, at that time, lacked any kind of structured toolset. I felt as though I had only half of what I needed to support, encourage, challenge, and guide people. I understood the concept of letting rabbits run, ducks fly, and squirrels climb, but I didn’t yet have a practical way to explain to others why they were good at certain things or how they could build on those natural abilities.
I knew I needed better language—better categories, clearer descriptors, a more effective way to communicate what I was seeing in people. But at that time, there was no defined framework or vocabulary available to help me articulate these differences.
My approach today is the result of more than 40 years of applying what works—long before the research had caught up and long before the developmental tools we now rely on were available to the public.
Why My Coaching Stands Apart
I blend Social Styles® and CliftonStrengths®—a rare combination that gives you a clearer, more complete understanding of yourself and others. Many coaches begin by learning an assessment and then start coaching, and while there is nothing wrong with that, it naturally limits the depth they can offer until they have years of practice applying those tools in real situations.
My coaching developed the opposite way—through decades of observation, real-world use, and long-term application before formal assessments were even available. This gives my work a depth that only comes from living the material long before teaching it.
My Experience Timeline
1982–Present
• Daily use of Social Styles® to understand behavior, communication patterns, and interpersonal dynamics in real leadership and management situations.
1984
• Became the sole trainer in a three-person training department (manager, trainer, coordinator), applying Social Styles® extensively to train agents, coach managers, and strengthen communication across the organization.
1986–2013
• Applied Donald Clifton’s early strengths philosophy before the assessment existed—identifying natural talent through observation, conversation, and real performance rather than formal tools.
2013–Present
• Integrated Social Styles® with CliftonStrengths® assessments, combining structured measurement with decades of practical insight into human behavior and natural talent.
Using both models together helps individuals gain insights most coaching approaches never reach. Social Styles® reveals how you behave, communicate, and relate, while CliftonStrengths® explains why you think, feel, and act the way you do. This combination helps you:
My coaching developed the opposite way—through decades of observation, real-world use, and long-term application before formal assessments were even available. This gives my work a depth that only comes from living the material long before teaching it.
My Experience Timeline
1982–Present
• Daily use of Social Styles® to understand behavior, communication patterns, and interpersonal dynamics in real leadership and management situations.
1984
• Became the sole trainer in a three-person training department (manager, trainer, coordinator), applying Social Styles® extensively to train agents, coach managers, and strengthen communication across the organization.
1986–2013
• Applied Donald Clifton’s early strengths philosophy before the assessment existed—identifying natural talent through observation, conversation, and real performance rather than formal tools.
2013–Present
• Integrated Social Styles® with CliftonStrengths® assessments, combining structured measurement with decades of practical insight into human behavior and natural talent.
Using both models together helps individuals gain insights most coaching approaches never reach. Social Styles® reveals how you behave, communicate, and relate, while CliftonStrengths® explains why you think, feel, and act the way you do. This combination helps you:
- Understand external behavior you can immediately act on
- Identify internal talents that drive performance and energy
- Adapt to others through versatility
- Lead and grow from your natural strengths
- Build stronger relationships through observable behavior
- Reduce conflict and misunderstandings
- Recognize stress behaviors and respond effectively
- Explore career and leadership paths aligned with your strengths
If you're interested in discovering what your behavior and natural talents reveal about your leadership potential, I’d love to walk with you through that journey. Phone: 334.444.9523 email: [email protected]