Written by Madalynn Cook
I am a First Year student at Ohio Wesleyan University; I work in the Career Connection office as a Peer Career Coach and the new Strengths Intern. Part of my role is managing the Strengths Conversation Days on campus where students meet with our team to discuss their results from the OWU Strengths Assessment. I decided to reach out to our new OWU President, Matt vandenBerg, to hear his thoughts on the strengths initiative. Curious to hear what he said? See below!
Matt vandenBerg’s Top 5 Strengths
1. Achiever — hard worker, stamina, staying busy, getting things done and producing results.
2. Futuristic — drawing inspiration from the future and possibilities and energizing others about those opportunities.
3. Activator — turns thoughts into action and acts instead of just talking.
4. Strategic — devises alternative ways to proceed given an ability to decipher challenges and patterns.
5. Winning others over (Woo) — loves meeting people, making connections with people, and winning the excitement, interest, or commitment of others.
Matt’s Strengths Reflection
“The more I’ve reflected on my strengths assessment, the more I realize how those top strengths play a prominent role in my approach to leadership at OWU.
My Achiever instincts drive my unwavering commitment to OWU’s success and to turning aspirations into tangible achievements.
Although I’m focused on the here and now, the Futurist in me draws inspiration from tomorrow’s possibilities. I get excited when I have the opportunity to inspire others about what OWU can accomplish. I’m dedicated to making sure that what we do today drives us toward a superior tomorrow.
As an Activator, I don’t approach that work alone. I revel in the art and science of breathing life into ideas and fostering an atmosphere where leadership is distributed and people are empowered to turn dreams into reality.
The Strategic part of my personality embraces challenges – because those challenges create opportunities to innovate, to do things others have not done, and to establish new paradigms of excellence. I constantly seek purpose and meaning in everything I do, in how I spend my time, and in where our institution invests its collective time, energy, and resources.
Meanwhile, the Woo (Winning Others Over) in me finds joy in connecting with others, building trust, and inspiring them to invest in and support our inspired vision for the future.”
Matt vandenBerg
To see that our President enjoyed taking the assessment and loved his results was an amazing experience. It brought a sense of happiness to see that our president supports the strengths initiative and thinks it can help inspire the students here at OWU.
Just like President vandenBerg, I also believe that the Strengths Initiative is something that can help the students at OWU and can even make life easier for them. Once students are able to understand their own strengths and understand themselves better, things in their everyday lives will become so much easier.
If you are trying to find out your own strengths, like President vandenBerg, go take the Strengths Assessment and schedule a meeting with our strengths team!
