What Is Leadership Vision? Revisiting Where We Started

We're going back to where it all began!

Originally released in September 2017, this was the very first episode of the Leadership Vision Podcast. Nathan Freeburg and Brian Schubring explore the early ideas behind Leadership Vision—using Strengths to better understand individuals, strengthen teams, and influence organizational culture.

Nearly nine years later, much has evolved. As we prepare for the next chapter of Leadership Vision, we're revisiting where we started—and the ideas that continue to shape our work today.

Transcript

LVC Podcast Episode 1

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Okay, Brian Schuberg. Are you are you ready to record?

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Yep, as ready as I can be.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

As ready as you can be, as ready as that, as ready as you will be. Brian, this is exciting. This is an exciting moment in the history of Leadership Vision. We are finally doing a podcast. Is this recording? Yeah. Hey everyone, it's Nathan Freeberg from Leadership Vision. We are still on a little bit of a summer hiatus from new episodes, but we'll be back in September with some exciting news about Leadership Vision and some of the direction that we're headed. It's very exciting. You can actually probably right now go to our website and see some of those new things, but we wanted to share some of our older favorite episodes. And this is actually the oldest episode of all of them. When we launched the podcast back on September 19th of 2017, and so I wanted to share this again so that you could have maybe a little bit more historical context about Leadership Vision, about where we've come from, so that in September, when we put out these new episodes, it'll maybe make a little bit more sense in context. So here's this episode. It's the conversation between Brian Schubring and myself telling you, kind of introducing you to who Leadership Vision is. And then, like I said, in September, Brian, Linda, and I will have a similar conversation about the 2026 and beyond version of Leadership Vision. So enjoy this episode between Brian Schubring and myself and look for new episodes coming out in September. I was thinking it might be helpful, it might

Interview Start

SPEAKER_01 1:31

be fun to start to start by saying like this is what we're about. This is our this is our vision, this is our motto. This is kind of the one thing that wakes us up in the morning, and then go back and dissect it and talk a little bit more about where we where we came from. So Brian, tell us what is Leadership Vision all about?

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Leadership Vision. We are a consulting firm and we are using Strengths Finder to help people better understand themselves, uh, number one. Secondly, we're using Strengths Finder to help people better understand who they are in relationship to the teams that they're working on. We also have a very clear expectation of using a strengths-based approach to influence culture, the place within which the people exist, where people are working, where they're serving, as well as the place where teams are existing too. So there's always this threefold idea that is surrounding how we work with strengths and what it is we're trying to accomplish after we finish working with any of our clients.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Concisely, like talk us through the genesis of leadership vision. Was it always strengths finder? Was it always people, teams, and culture? Like, what was that like in the early day when no one even knew what the strengths finder was?

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Yeah, that's really what it was because um back in 1999 was when I landed at Bethel University to administer a grant that they had received. And it just so happened that the grant stipulated that we were to use some psychometrics and assessments to work on building a cohort for distance education. Someone within the Gallup organization heard that we had received money to go after a certain uh demographic, and uh they actually approached us and said, Would you be interested in partnering around this new tool that we have called Strengths Finder now? And did you say yes, please? Absolutely, or were you skeptical? They were gonna ask me about some kind of survey or some polling thing because they were Gallup, right? Right, because that's what they asked. Who are you gonna vote for? How much exercise did you get today? Wasn't exactly what they were asking. I had never heard of Strengths Finder, I didn't know that it had just been released. So part of the story is in those very early days, uh, we entered into a partnership with Gallup on the delivery of Strengths Finder, and uh that began in 1999, and we were truly focused on students between the ages of 18 and 32 years old who we wanted to recruit for distance education. And it was through that effort that um we began to be asked to talk more about strengths. You get asked to talk about strengths, people pay you some money. I cash those checks, and the guy that was doing my taxes at the time kind of asked me where's this money coming from? And I was like, I don't know, these speaking kicks. Like, dude, can you believe it? I'm talking about strengths and they're getting paid for it. He's like, you have to file differently. And so he recommended that we incorporate some accidental.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

So leadership vision was founded out of simply an accounting situation, a desire to have better accounting practices. Exactly. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

So we incorporated in 2000, and then we specifically began to look for opportunities or just respond to the asks. And you know, for seven, eight years we had that parallel relationship with Gallup, and then we decided at one point to really take a turn to emphasize more than just focusing on individuals. But for a long time, that individual focus was primarily what we were doing is just getting the language of strengths out, just having people go through an experience together with others. That was basically it back in the early days. We didn't know much more than that.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

No, there was much else. Do you do you remember when the shift happened from just focusing on individuals to wait a second, this might be better in a team setting or better when you have other people around you that are actually looking into who you are, who I am, how do we work together?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

I have a very team mentality to how I approach things because of my background with uh playing team sports my whole life. So I always had this team thing in the back of my mind. But the moment at which um we really did make a turn to kind of go from the presentation on individual uh strengths to moving more towards this idea of how do we get this into teams and culture, that happened with some of the research that Gallup was doing before prior to the release of Strengths Finder 2.0. And just the understanding that when you focus on your strengths, um when you know what your top five strengths are, and then you do the best you can to engage in a strengths-based way, the level of improvement could go up six, seven, eight percent. And that statistic to me, um, just I had this like response of that's just not good enough for me. I think like if I'm moving the needle by single percentage points, right in the best case scenario, that's just not it's not what I'm here for. Right. Then I had to step back and look at it and say, where do you want to go with this? Sure. And that's really where we began to say this idea of moving the word of strengths out. How do we take it from there to make it really sustainable or just engage people more? That's where the idea began to surface of I think I need to build a team. So it's not just me and somebody else. Like we need to build a team of people to do this and also emphasize that team focus.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

Yeah, because I think it's hard to teach people that team is important if you're a solo talking head up in the front of the room, and they'll say, Well, where your where's your team, Hacha?

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Who are you working with? Right. And I had no one I could say it's these people. Right. Um, so I I just that was a big shift for us.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

So the objective of leadership vision, using strengths finder work with people, teams, and cultures, and also that we believe that knowing your top five is only the beginning. Talk about that a little bit because we were just talking about that that's only the beginning, and then it shifts into that team. Is there is there more to that statement than Yeah, there's a whole lot more to that statement? I I think one of the fun things, so this is our first podcast. We're gonna be unpacking these in greater detail down the road. Today's just meant to be a snapshot, but talk a little bit more about that. Knowing your top five is only the beginning. And why I want to focus on that is because think of over the years, how many people have we talked to who are like, yeah, I took strengths finder, I got my top five. What like what else do I need to know? Like those five words, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Which is funny because a lot of those conversations begin then with my response saying, Well, what are your top five? And they're like, ah adapt to something or like donation things. Like they have a hard time remembering the the words. I'm a talker. I like to talk. That's one of them, right? In Strengths Finder, the the 34 strengths are representations of the talents, the very building blocks, the behaviors that go into what that strength actually looks like, what it sounds like, how it gets work done. So we know that just knowing your top five strengths, that's a great start. But how do you understand what that strength actually looks like to others? How is it that you use that strength? And that asks us to dive deeper into the understanding of the talents, those identifiable behaviors. What's a talent? Now you're using terms I don't know. Yep. Really? Things you don't know. Um, talent is the building blocks of strengths. Talents are the identifiable behaviors of how a person thinks, how they form relationships, how they get work done, how they influence other people. Those identifiable behaviors are the things that you actually see with the strengths. You don't see the name of the strength, you actually see the behaviors of the strength. A lot of that information is embedded in some of the materials that Gallup has produced. Um, a lot of the behavioral definitions that we are using for the strengths have come through the tens of thousands of interviews that we've done over the last 18 years. In the last week. In the last week, we've been working really hard. So that's where the the talents are coming from. So we want to get into that, that level and any engagement that we begin with somebody, whether it's an hour and a half or whether it's a long-term relationship over years, it always begins with a behavioral understanding of the strengths that happens throughout every single level of what it is that we're delivering. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

And that I think is different than maybe how other people are using this tool, looking at those behaviors and not just looking at the high level and saying you have achiever, that means this. Yeah. It's getting into much more nuance than that, which we'll get into in much greater detail later in a different episode here. But it's both of them. It's important to note that.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Yep, you have to recognize you need to recognize what it is that a person is bringing the the five strengths. Um, and all we're asking is, well, then what does that look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? And all of those sensory reactions to strengths are then attached in some way to the behaviors of strengths.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

So why is that important? Like if I can say, oh, this is Brian's futuristic when he does this behavior, that is his futuristic, why is that helpful? Like, why is it important for me to know that to be able to recognize oh, my team member is doing this thing where he's wandering around aimlessly looking at the sky. That's connected to this strength, it's behavior in that theme.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

It's really important for us to begin to understand how an individual is approaching any given situation, what it is that is their unique perspective on how they're interpreting relationships, how they're perceiving that they're being understood, how I'm interacting with you. It's extremely important for us to know that kind of approach that a person is bringing to the table. Because what that's also doing is then it's engaging some of our assumptions and presuppositions. Good old assumptions, right? Which tend to always get in the way, but they certainly can be great ways to understand each other better, is if we also name those assumptions.

Third Statement

SPEAKER_01 11:16

There's a third statement here. A person's greatest potential lies in their ongoing exploration of talents. We we've just talked about talents. What does that mean? How do you continue to explore your talents? How do you do that in a way that's really productive? Yep, that's helpful, that's you know, not done in a two-hour workshop.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

One of the things that we also want to introduce this concept that's that strengths are dynamic. Strengths are not set, uh, they are a dynamic entity of how it is that we can understand each other, meaning that those talents, the the very elements that are coming together to bring strengths alive, those are changing, those are adapting. Some are are growing, some are recessing. And when we understand that there's a dynamic there, I think that we begin to give ourselves the room to understand each other in a greater way because we give people the kind of flexibility that's what they need to be understood. When you focus on the behaviors, you're looking at how maybe two or three behaviors are working together. At another time, it could be three other behaviors that are working together, but they're still coming from the same strength. Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

I I think one of the biggest mistakes I've seen. Well, I'll just personal example, this mistakes I've made is, you know, with our team saying, Oh, well, that's so-and-so's focus, that's so-and-so's activator, and just getting stuck in, well, that's why they're doing that, and not realizing the, like you said, the dynamic nature of how things might change, how when they're in a different setting it could change. And so, I mean, it's it's difficult hard work, right? Like you're constantly having to learn and well, correct. I mean, just like, you know, any any sort of relationship you're in, you have to learn like, well, what does that mean here? What does that mean there? And so I like how we've phrased this the ongoing exploration of talents, not only in yourself, but in in others. Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

But in this example, the ongoing exploration starts with your naming the identification, or saying that's someone's focus. And then my first response to that is, well, what are you seeing? I want to ask, how did you get to that deduction? This is a person's strength of focus. And so by asking you, what do you see? I'm enticing you or inviting you to actually begin to name the behaviors that you're seeing, right? That you're associating with your understanding of focus. The ongoing exploration then occurs with you maybe then broadening your understanding of what the strength of focus actually is. And then when that can be attached to an individual, then that can open up a whole gateway of ways to better relate to someone, to better understand someone, how we can use strengths as a way to inform how we partner with each other and when are the different appropriate partnerships that we should or should not be involved in. Because there are times when, you know, depending on whatever it is we're working on, certain people maybe are better partnered together than others. Right. Which is an ongoing process as well.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

It's a whole nother thing. Conversation involving individuals and teams. But it's good. Yep. So our fourth statement here is it is our objective to shape culture that intentionally aligns people around a strengths philosophy.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Right. When you wonder like what's going on in the control room of things, we may be involved in like a 90-minute engagement somewhere. We could be involved in an all-day, and people often ask us, like, what is it that you're going for here? And it's captured in this statement. Our objective is to shape the culture for a culture to begin to entertain the possibility of taking a strengths-based approach to how it is that they work with their people, how it is that they're teaming, and actually the environment that they're investing in to create the kind of health that they're looking for. And I just think that we're coming to the table with that objective in mind. So we're never simply focusing only on one event or just one person, whatever it is. There's always something greater that's going on there because we also know that the long-term sustainability comes through the organization's ability to shape culture that can support individuals.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

So does that mean that we don't come and do the 60 to 90 minute like presentation? Does that mean that we don't come and work with individuals in a coaching level? How do how does that impact the other stuff that we that we do? If our objective is to shape culture, what what does that mean for those I'll call them one-offs?

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Well, whether it's it's a one-off or if it's simply a beginning, we're looking at as the start of a pathway. And I think it's really important that we understand the direction that we're going. We are going in a direction to have an influence on culture. And I look at the different operational or the different offerings that we have, the different professional services are merely stepping stones to get there. But each of those stepping stones, as they're laid in front of each other, are having an effect on the culture. Right.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

So even just exposure to strengths, buying the book, taking taking the assessment, getting your codes back, it increases self-awareness and everything else by X percentage. Even just that, I think that we would encourage people to do. Like if that's all that you can do, right? But our end goal isn't simply, oh, you know, these five words attached to your name, it's much bigger than that.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Oh, it is, but it all begins with the same thing. Right. We're introducing a common language. And we also know through our own research and research that we're using to support the work that we're doing, that when you introduce a common language, that's one of the key elements to shaping culture. Sure. And in the work that we do, we have a vocabulary that we use, which is the introduction of a language. We are also obviously using the language of strengths as a common language for people to gather around. That's just the beginning. So that that language is there to seed it out. We and we know that there is a way to increase engagement, productivity, uh, personal satisfaction just through this idea of common language. There are many other things that can be layered on that, but that's always part of the initial introduction to strength. So here's this common language that we have.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

When you're learning anything new, it's just learning the language and understanding those different things, I think, is the largest, the greatest barrier for people to overcome. Like you think about people who are getting into wine or beer or technology or sports, they feel so out of it because they don't know that language. Once you understand it, you may not be anywhere close to an expert. Or once you know the language, you might not be an expert, at least you understand a little bit more of what's going on. I think that's the same with strengths. Like until you it it feels like this huge, you know, hill that mountain you can't climb, but you know the language, and now you're like, okay, maybe it's starting to make a little bit sense. And without that initial exposure, there's no way to get that.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

Part of that is, and I say this all the time, I believe this for years. If through the introduction of the language of strengths, if I simply can create a pause in someone's interaction with somebody else, where they may be um working with someone and and the work is difficult or it could it could even be frustrating. If I can cause someone to begin to think, is that a strength? You know, like they're taking conflictual or challenging or even great collaboration. And then for someone to turn that corner and say, I wonder if that's an area of someone's excellence, of someone's expertise, then I think that we're beginning to move the needle more sure than what people actually realize. That's one of the pauses that I'm always working for is that questioning, whether that's with a coworker or a family member, or just simply observing someone who's like in their zone and they're totally on, things are going right, and you're thinking, is there something that reflects a strength in there? Like, what am I actually seeing?

SPEAKER_01 19:13

I think it also helps to reframe just the way that we think about people. Instead of being like, that's annoying what they're doing, to think of more like I wonder what strength is at work there. And just because it's different than you are, it kind of helps, you know, talk about positive intent a lot. And assuming positive intent, I think it can even just reframe the way that we interact with people. Yeah. Even at the most basic level.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

I want to help shift the focus. Right. And we have a phrase that's part of our part of the language that that we bring, and we say there's a beauty and brilliance to everybody. And if I just introduce that, like there's a beauty and brilliance with people, and just to to cause someone to pause and just wonder what's beautiful about that person, what's the brilliance that they bring? And then on the other hand, we give them this language of strengths, and we we give them a lens through which they begin to interpret that beauty and brilliance. Just those two things now that can come together to create a stronger bond between people. It's saying somebody has something to offer that's unique and distinct from me. There's a beauty and a brilliance to them that no one else possesses, right? And then you kind of then then ask yourself, then how can I help make that more beautiful? How can you elevate it more brilliant? Yes, and help find a place where that person is best fit for that beauty and brilliance, not only be appreciated, but to be understood. Yeah, everybody wants to be understood, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Everybody does. We have a deep desire to have people understand and know who we are and where we're coming from. I mean, how many conflicts are just purely based on misunderstanding? Few, few, just a couple. It's just rare to find them. But what do you do? That never happens

5th Statement

SPEAKER_01 20:53

when you do it. Yeah, exactly. Our fifth statement here, and we we've kind of been talking all about this, but I just love the way that we have this so concisely written is that we believe that ultimately it is within a team where people gain insight into others while sharpening their own strengths, potential, capacity, and influence.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

We encourage everyone who is asking us to work with them to bring a functional team to the table. So we believe that from the first presentation throughout whatever process someone chooses to work with us, that there is a functional team that's coming together. Functional team meaning a team that's actually working on some shared objectives, or there's something organizational that brings these people together on a regular basis. We believe that it's this it's within that small grouping, that small ensemble where you begin to know people in a way that you couldn't know, even if you're sitting next to someone. Even if you've known them for years, knowing them for years, but not on a functional team. We believe that in this environment where there's a functional team, there is a way that you can work off each other and see things in yourself and in someone else that you may not see in any other context. Because you're repeatedly with that person day after day. We believe that in those relationships, there's a mirror that's held back up to you. You can see yourself more clearly.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Sometimes I hate that mirror. But that mirror is a helpful mirror. It is a helpful mirror, and especially if you're willing and open to see what's reflected. Yeah. I'll keep holding the mirror up to you. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. Likewise.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Yes. But we believe that there's also an imbalance to this too. No matter how much I gain in my understanding of you, we believe that there's more to understand in ourselves through the interaction with someone else. That's why we say that within a team context, if you're sharing the language of strengths, if you share common experiences on the work that you're doing, it's within that context that if you're willing, you can have a better understanding of what are my true capacities. Um, where is it that I need to be more dialed in because I have more potential over here. And also we believe that it's within the team context that you can begin to truly understand with accuracy your influence, how you influence other people. We think that there is a safety to teams, there's a a protection that can happen there because we also know that within that that team construct, within that small group, that we can learn things there that can at some point be more influential out towards the culture. Because we know that within that that team, you can practice things there that you wouldn't be able to try somewhere else. You can take risks. You can take risks in that setting that you might not be able to do another one. Yeah. Yep. And if there's a mutual respect on that team, you know you're all kind of doing the same thing, you're helping each other out developmentally, then there's a way that I can help you and that you can help me become more effective in what it is that we're trying to do as team members, as individuals, and as influencers beyond that team structure. We really believe there's something catalytic that happens when a team is focused on understanding each other and aligning that understanding towards how can you work together towards a common goal. There's something that's happening there. We spend a lot of time working with teams in brief sessions. And on our own team. And on our own team. In our own team. Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

I want to read this statement again because I think it's powerful. So Leadership Vision uses strengths finder to work with people, teams, and culture. We believe that knowing your top five strengths is only the beginning, and a person's greatest potential lies in their ongoing exploration of talents. It's our objective to shape culture that intentionally aligns people around a strengths philosophy. We believe that ultimately it is within a team where people gain insight into others while sharpening their own strengths, potential, capacity, and influence. So, Ryan, as we close this out here, I'm curious. So I want to end these by giving something away. Uh, some knowledge, wisdom. We're not gonna raffle off a car or anything. This is an Oprah. This is hard. Like, this is difficult. This isn't something you can just do in an hour and two hours. What do you think in all of your years doing this? Is the how do you start? Is what I'm gonna ask. So, what I'm thinking of is as people are listening to this wondering, this sounds great. I love, I love that idea. Our team needs that, but maybe buy-in is difficult, maybe it's hard to like get people excited about this. What would be your advice to people on how to how to start this? And I'm even thinking, like, you know, well, just hire us and we'll do it for you. But like, there's like a whole other process of even getting people excited about doing this work, regardless of who might come in and do it for you, or if you do it for self. So, what would be your best piece of advice, your free advice of like how do you get people excited about even entering into this difficult work?

SPEAKER_00 25:48

I think a very easy way to begin to engage this wherever you're at, whatever your interest is, if it's just like an icebreaker thing, or if you're really trying to start a conversation on building a strengths platform, take your strengths, have each person read through the five descriptive paragraphs on what those strengths are. Then here's a simple assignment. Choose one strength, the one you probably know the best, and is tell a story on how that strength is seen by you or is used by you. Or just tell a story of why it is that you connected with that strength so strongly. Because we know this too. Sharing a story is a great way to remember what it is that someone's trying to communicate. It adds a deeper level of meaning. And then you're not getting into like explain this strength and go on the table, but it's sharing something that you know personally. You know yourself, you know your own story. Tell a story about how you see that strength working in your life on a day-to-day basis.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, our show helping leaders discover the certainties within us to navigate and lead in the uncertainty around us. That's our new podcast intro, which you will hear in September. If you listened all the way to the end, I would love some feedback about what you think that that means. You can click the link in the show notes to get more information about this episode and everything that Leadership Vision does, or visit us on the web at Leadership Vision Consulting.com. My name is Nathan Freeberg, and on behalf of our entire team, thanks for listening.