We recommend you start by watching the video above to find out more about your Strengths Cards and the resources on this page.
Your guide to using the Premium Edition Strengths Cards
If you're a people professional using the At My Best approach in your work, welcome, you're in the right place!
1-1 Exercises
Personal Reflection
Purpose: To identify personal strengths.
Ask them to reflect on: How does each strength show itself? How often do they use each one? How does this mix of strengths work together? How might they use each strength even more effectively? How do these strengths relate to what is important at this point in life?
Repeat the exercise, thinking about a different context (or time) in their life: What are the consistencies? What are the differences? Are there strengths from one part of their life that they could make use of in another area?
Tip: The blue cards may add some helpful structure when reflecting on different contexts or times. Encourage people to take photos or make notes of the strengths they identify.
Strengths 360
Purpose: To help people increase self-awareness and understanding of the strengths others value in them.
Other people often provide hugely valuable insights about someone’s strengths. This can be an impactful exercise for both the giver and receiver of the feedback. Together with the person you are working with, identify a few trusted colleagues, family or friends to approach. Ask each of them to look through the cards and pick out the 5-8 strengths they most value in this person. Ask them to explain their choices, so you can gather concrete examples of these strengths in action.
Tip: if you are working 1-1 and suggest this exercise, either you could facilitate the feedback conversations or ask the person you are working with to do it and report back to you.
Planning an approach
Purpose: To identify how someone can put their strengths into practice.
Identify the situation the person wants to focus on (e.g. project or piece of work). Ask them to sift through the strengths cards and pick 5-8 words that represent strengths they think they have that could be useful in the situation. Take each strength in turn, think about the challenge in detail and ask them: How will this strength be useful? How specifically will you use this strength in this situation? When specifically will it be useful? Why? When you’re demonstrating the strength, how will that be visible to others?
Move on to reflect on any concerns about the challenge. Ask: How can you use the strengths you have identified to help you overcome those concerns? How can you keep the strengths you have reflected on front of mind when you are facing your challenge?
Project Successes
Purpose: To identify where someone is using their strengths in practice.
Identify what the person you’re working with wishes to review. E.g. a project that has recently finished. Ask them to sort through the photograph side of the cards and select up to 3 images that best represent what went well in this project/experience. Ask questions around each of the chosen pictures to draw out what worked well, e.g: Why did you choose this image? How does it remind you of the success/experience? What role did you play in making this happen?
Next ask them to sort through all the cards, looking at the words to pick out the strengths they demonstrated. Aim for 5 to 8 strengths. Then ask about the strengths they have chosen: Can you describe each strength? How did you demonstrate each one in this situation? What impact did using your strengths have? Which strengths would have been evident to other people in that situation? Why? Draw out the key lessons learned and plans for the future as relevant.
Team or group exercises
Team Strengths
Purpose: To build team connections and help a group to identify how they can work best together.
Using the image side of the cards, get the team together around a table and place the green card ‘At our best we are…’ in the centre. Spread the photos over the table, photo side up. Ask each person to choose an image that they think reflects the team at its best, then take it in turns to share the image chosen and why. Facilitate the group to build on the discussion and relate it to current circumstances or challenges, e.g.: How can the group use their strengths more as a team? How can they help each other be at their best more? Which one image represents the collective strengths of the team?
Tip: You could use the blue ‘past, present, future’ cards and ask the group to reflect on images that might best represent their strengths over time and where they need to progress to.
Guess Who?
Purpose: To build gratitude and appreciation between team/group members.
This can be a fun exercise to use with a group that knows each other well. Each person picks a name out of a hat (not their own). They then need to think about that person at their best and pick 3 Strengths Cards (words) that they associate with them. Taking turns to share, the group try to guess whose strengths are being described.
Tip: Encourage more discussion by asking people to work in pairs.
Quick-fire Feedback
Purpose: To help a group to share what they value in each other.
Sit everyone around a table or in a horse-shoe shape; give a pack of strengths cards to each person. Explain that they are going to give feedback to each other in turn. Begin with the person to your right – ask everyone to think about that person and quickly sort through the words on their cards, choosing a word they associate with that person at their best. Go around the group and ask each person in turn to explain, in one sentence, why they have chosen that word. Once everyone has shared their word for the first person, repeat the exercise for the next person and so on.
Tip: This is a good exercise for part way through a session when everyone is feeling comfortable but you want to raise energy levels. It should be fast-paced, focusing on generating a lot of appreciative feedback and positive energy and emotion quickly.
Team Project Successes
Purpose: To focus a team on building on strengths and what is working.
At a project review session spread out all of the Strengths Cards, photograph side up, on a table. Ask everyone to choose a photo that, for them, represents what went well on the project. Get each person to share their image and explanation with the group. Facilitate a discussion to draw out the key themes and points raised. Ask questions around each of the chosen pictures to draw out what worked well, e.g: Why did you choose this image? How does it remind you of the success/experience? What specifically contributed to that success? Next, turn all of the cards over and facilitate a discussion to identify 5-6 strengths that they group feel they showed as a team during the project. Explore how each of those strengths was shown in practice and how the team feel they contributed to the project successes.
Tip: You could combine this exercise with the Quick-fire feedback exercise as a way of everyone receiving some individual feedback on how they contributed to the project success.
Some other things you might find useful...
Strengths Cards development process
More detail on how we developed the Strengths Cards can be found in this report.
FREE self-reflection tool
Online self-directed exercise based on our Strengths Cards. Useful for personal development and coaching.
Newsletter
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User guides
Visit here for exercise guides written for end users of the Strengths Cards
Using the Strengths Cards with groups?
Our Essential Edition Strengths Cards are designed specifically for giving away on training programmes or as part of wider initiatives.
Introductory At My Best slides
For presentations and training - download these slides to use when introducing At My Best to others.
Our workshops
Download a summary of our available training here.
Other At My Best tools
Keen to know what else we offer? Find out more about our other tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
I've lost one of the cards from my Premium Edition deck - can I get a replacement?
Yes of course! You can buy single cards for your Premium Edition deck in our shop.
Do I need to be accredited to use the At My Best tools?
No. The Strengths Cards (as well as our other products) come with everything you need to get started. But if you would like some training to help you to get the most out of your At My Best products we have a range of workshops available.
I'd love to give strengths cards to everyone taking part in the leadership development programme I'm running - what would you recommend?
Our Essential Edition decks are designed for just that! Smaller and more cost effective than the Premium Edition, they are perfect to give away.