🎙️ Strengths on Fire — Season 2 Finale: Reflection, Highlights & The Episodes That Lit Us Up

In this season-closing conversation, Bill and Sarah celebrate the end of Season 2 with a reflective, funny, heartfelt recap of the most memorable episodes, biggest surprises, standout guests, and the lessons that reshaped their coaching work. From maximizers vs. perfectionism, competition, parenting through strengths, and navigating workplace conflict, this finale is full of insight, laughter, and the signature Strengths on Fire chemistry.

🔥 Main Takeaways

1. Presence vs. Future-Tripping Is a Real Struggle

Sarah shares the tension between wanting to stay present and the mental load of holidays, hosting, travel, and planning kids’ summers months in advance. Bill, meanwhile, struggles with thinking ahead at all — especially in business planning.

2. Family-Run Businesses Bring a Unique Energy

Bill has been coaching more multigenerational companies and finds the trust dynamic inspiring — a reminder that strengths work lands deeply when families are involved.

3. Jamal Cornelius’ Episode Was a Masterclass in Maximizer

His MVP (Minimum Viable Product) approach and honest conversation about marital dynamics around perfectionism created one of the most powerful episodes of the season.

4. Tara Grohovec Redefined Strengths in Conflict

Her “intent vs. impact” framework helped coaches understand that CliftonStrengths isn't “too nice” for conflict — it’s one of the best ways to navigate it effectively.

5. Pamela Nelson Brought Empathy to the C-Suite

Her Inside Out analogy and therapeutic background showcased how empathy can be a strategic superpower for leaders, not a liability.

6. Woo vs. Relator Was a Surprise Fan Favorite

Sarah and her grad-school friend Anna unintentionally created a mini-therapy session about friendship, pursuit, energy, depth, and how these two themes collide beautifully (and awkwardly) in real life.

7. Brandon Miller Made Competition Make Sense

He reframed competition as preparation, excellence, and drive — not “stab-you-in-the-face energy.” Even low-competition folks (like Bill and Sarah) walked away with new appreciation.

8. Melissa Ortiz Delivered the Best Pivot of the Season

With full command energy, she changed the episode topic minutes before recording and delivered a clear stance: “Don’t retest.” Her bold clarity showed why she’s such a strong coach and podcaster.

9. Parenting Through Strengths Hit Home

Both Kelly Dries and Liz Volker (from Season 1) modeled what it looks like to use strengths language at home: recognition, emotional validation, seeing kids’ natural talents, and aiming strengths early.

10. Simon Hurry Possibly Broke Everyone’s Brain

His psychology-driven approach showed why strengths is a high-performance lever — used by elite teams and leaders. His “influencing equals energy” framework redefined how the hosts coach.

11. Recognition Is the Antidote to Today’s Deficit Culture

Sarah’s “soapbox moment” made a powerful case: the world is overwhelmed by negativity, disengagement, and doom. Recognition — water, not champagne — is how leaders rebuild wellbeing.

12. Strengths on Fire Works Because It’s Real Talk

Unlike polished corporate content, this show offers real stories, banter, personal honesty, and practical insight into how strengths actually show up in real lives.

🎧 Sound Bites

1. “It’s officially Season 2 — and officially our Season 2 wrap party!”

2. “It’s okay to strive for excellence… but let’s avoid exhaustion.”

3. “CliftonStrengths isn’t too nice for conflict — it’s your best tool for navigating it.”

4. “Just because I made a mistake doesn’t mean I am a mistake. If I think I’m a mistake, I’m mistaken.”

5. “Woo needs Relator, and Relator needs Woo — that tension makes relationships meaningful.”

6. “The first word of Woo… is winning. Competition is everywhere.”

7. “Influencing themes? They’re all about energy in the room.”

8. “Don’t retest. No. Don’t.” (Melissa dropping the hammer)

9. “Your CliftonStrengths results aren’t a personality quiz — they’re your DNA.”

10. “Recognition is the antidote to today’s deficit culture.”

11. “Parents: start strength-spotting now. What you notice becomes their confidence.”

12. “If your strengths feel boring — they’re probably brilliant.”

13. “We don’t want strengths to sit on a shelf. We want you to manhandle them in real life.”

GET MORE FROM BILL AND SARAH
Bill's info: https://billdippel.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamdippel/ https://www.instagram.com/billdippelcoach/

Sarah's info: https://www.wearecollinsco.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahcoachcollins/ https://www.instagram.com/sarahcoachcollins/

Creators and Guests

Host

Bill Dippel

Bill Dippel is a certified, professional Strengths coach with a 35-year career in nonprofits and higher education. His passion is working with organizations, teams, and individuals to ensure they are performing and communicating at the highest levels. As president of Bill Dippel Strengths Coaching, he travels frequently for large events and public speaking, as well as working with whole companies through their management teams.

Host

Sarah Collins

Sarah Collins is a certified CliftonStrengths coach and founder of Collins Collective, with over 12 years of experience in strengths-based coaching and leadership development. Her passion lies in empowering businesses, teams, and individuals to communicate and perform at their best by focusing on what they do well. As the leader of Collins Collective, Sarah combines engaging workshops, high-impact keynotes, and in-depth coaching to foster growth and connection. Based in Nebraska, she partners with businesses to drive meaningful change and create high-performing teams.

What is Strengths On Fire?

Strengths on Fire is where dynamic strengths coaching meets real, relatable conversations. Hosted by Bill, a Gen X with a wealth of experience, and Sarah Collins, an elder millennial with fresh perspectives, we bring together our shared CliftonStrengths—WOO, Activator, Developer, and Harmony—to ignite engaging and entertaining discussions. Whether we’re laughing, learning, or diving deep into our guests’ top 10 strengths, we’re here to show you how to turn strengths into your secret weapon at work and in life. Expect professional development with a twist—because growth should be fun!

Bill Dippel (00:02.29)
It's official, Sarah. It is official. Can we say it's officially season two? We're at a season two rap party. Can we go there? We are at.

Sarah Collins (00:05.518)
Bum bum bum.

Sarah Collins (00:12.44)
We are at a season 2 rap party.

Bill Dippel (00:17.112)
Hahaha

Sarah Collins (00:18.86)
What would a party be without a little song?

Bill Dippel (00:21.206)
I don't know. you know, season two requires some singing from Sarah. We had a couple singing moments from Sarah. I love it when Sarah's voice is resonating and out there and singing. So I love it that you bring it. I doubt that. I seriously thank you. Underestimate the wonderful power of your singing voice because no matter what, you are committed and that is what it requires.

Sarah Collins (00:36.996)
Well you might be the only one.

Sarah Collins (00:49.572)
So true. Never say that I didn't show up with the full force.

Bill Dippel (00:50.712)
So.

Bill Dippel (00:57.816)
you showed up. You showed up all season. And I love that we even cold open with a singing moment from Sarah this year. That was a wonderful cold open. And by the way, for our listeners, I did not tell Sarah I was going to put that in the cold open. So so I I did say you just when you listen to the episode, don't don't don't hate me, I think is what I said. So, yeah.

Sarah Collins (00:59.171)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (01:13.044)
No, no, you didn't. What a surprise.

Sarah Collins (01:21.316)
It was fine. It was fine.

Bill Dippel (01:24.088)
How about we'll start with a couple of different questions today for our arsonists, and then we'll jump into some notes around the season. So I'm really curious about highs and lows for you right now, Sarah. Let's wrap the season with an understanding around where we're at from our highs and maybe what maybe some of our lows in our professional personal lives are.

Sarah Collins (01:36.164)
And then, okay.

Sarah Collins (01:48.354)
Well, a high for me is it is fall time in Nebraska and we are having some stunning weather today. Now this could change drastically tomorrow, but I walked my kids to school today and it was a crisp fall air, you know, like those low 50s, all the leaves are changing colors and falling off, but the grass is still green. It just feels like quintessential fall.

And I love that. it was just beautiful. It's beautiful outside. So I think my high is just loving where I'm at, being present in the moment of a beautiful day. Bill, what about you? What's high in your life these days?

Bill Dippel (02:25.838)
Perfect. Absolutely perfect answer. And I can't steal it because it's not what I would think was my high. But I will tell you, I absolutely love fall in Reno, Nevada. It is the time of year. So I echo that. I feel it with you. I understand why you would feel that way because it is spectacular here. But for me, kind of the high that comes to my mind right now from a work point of view, I'm working with a bunch of families.

And I didn't you know, it wasn't really something I was aiming at it just turned out that a couple of family-run companies showed up and then they kept recommending other family-run companies And I'm really finding that dynamic energizing because there is that you know, we had Jessica on from full tilt logistics and and when you and I Interviewed her we were talking and and you said it so well you came on and said man listening to you surrounded by your

Sarah Collins (03:10.456)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (03:14.275)
Right?

Bill Dippel (03:25.484)
Husband your sister-in-law your brother-in-law and your mother-in-law Absolutely frightens me it it you you brought up the fear frightened word and she said yeah, we've been making it up as we go along and so I but I feel really fortunate that I think there's an added amount of trust when a family hires you because the whole family has to feel like hey I can trust and rumble in that way

Sarah Collins (03:36.866)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (03:54.166)
And that's been kind of a high for me. It's been a it's been a good one. So the other the other high subtle high for me is I really appreciate that my cats broke into the podcast studio twice this season to to step in. So yeah, one of my cold opens was my cat shutting down my system. And, know, I have friends that have asked me since listening, why don't you own dogs? You go chucker hunting, you know, you have dog like events in your life. And I love dogs. I absolutely love them. But I like to travel and I like to get away.

Sarah Collins (03:56.644)
yeah.

Sarah Collins (04:07.683)
There you go.

Sarah Collins (04:23.421)
Do you? Because you don't like when they go to the bathroom in your front yard.

Bill Dippel (04:26.37)
don't know that, you know, but my backyard, you know, if it was my dog, I'd totally in and I love a good I love great dogs. But I want to travel and move and do stuff. And cats are so easy to do that with. So I have them here. But one one shut down my cameras for a little while. And then the other one absolutely assaulted Kerry Chandler in the studio on the on the on the microphone, like Mattis face showing the whole thing. It was pretty it was pretty I actually left it in pretty positive. So.

Sarah Collins (04:31.754)
Okay, okay.

Sarah Collins (04:53.059)
That's funny.

Bill Dippel (04:53.336)
for any of you interested in seeing what a cat looks like when they get on a podcast, check out Carrie Chandler's episode which is pretty funny. Taylor would be all over it. Alright, so those are my high-how about a low? Something in your world, your life that man, you wish you could change right now.

Sarah Collins (05:00.429)
Taylor Swift would love that. She's a big cat fan. She would love that.

Sarah Collins (05:12.961)
Well, I think it is funny enough if I was saying being present in today and the fall day is a high, I think the low is we are in November and as a mother, it is very hard to stay present because I'm going to be hosting Thanksgiving, right? So I got to think about Thanksgiving and then we get to the Christmas. I am hosting at my house. I have the last few years. I usually smoke a turkey, not to brag.

Bill Dippel (05:35.128)
Are you hosting it at your house? You're doing it?

Sarah Collins (05:41.721)
but yes, I am the smoker of the family. But I'm gonna be hosting Thanksgiving and then it's the Christmas, right? Making all of the magic happen, thinking about, okay, we've got to get Elf the shelf, we've got an Elf, we've got to get presents, we've got to get plans, the kids don't have school for two weeks around Christmas. And then my husband and I, we're gonna go on a little trip to Arizona at the beginning of January, but then it's my son's birthday in January and it's just...

Bill Dippel (05:56.152)
Hahaha.

Sarah Collins (06:09.102)
from November to the end of January, just as this whole doldrum of stuff to do. And it goes by so fast. And then I'm telling you, it is crazy because when you have children that are young but in school, you have to plan their summer activities in January and February.

So also I'm thinking, what are we going to do for summer of 2026? So my mind is so often in the future right now of Christmas, January, the summer that if I don't try to stay present in the moment, I'm going to miss it all because I'm so far thinking. So it's just like,

I get the Google photos of my kids when they were babies and then I get like, I miss those little days. And it's like, okay, just be present in the moment. Don't think about the past. Don't think about the future. Just like day by day, take it step by step so you can really ground yourself in what's happening today and not get the overwhelm of, my gosh. That's my low.

Bill Dippel (07:11.853)
Wow, well, Milo is exactly opposite of yours in a unique way. as we've pointed out, I'm not a good strategic thinker. I do not think in the future. I don't think in the past. I just think in the moment. And what I am finding is I have a couple of new contracts that are up right now, and we're negotiating and getting through them. And I think it's been my...

Kind of general for me, like I just finished a contract and got and got paid and I've got two more that I'm working on that, you know, how we work and for me I'll just concentrate on those and I'm not worried about it because I'm like, there's money coming in and everything's great and nothing's happening. I think for me the problem is I've had to retool how I think about what's next. I have to think what's after these and then what's after that and I'm not good at that. I am. I definitely struggle.

Sarah Collins (08:01.004)
Hmm

Sarah Collins (08:06.596)
you

Bill Dippel (08:08.759)
to do that. So I've had to retool my strengths in my mind over some responsibility and some developer of myself thinking about, these are great. When this is done, what am I going to be approaching then and who am I working with and how are we going to do it? Because I am not good at that. And I do have a strategist. She's been on the show with us, Ali Alden, first season. And my wife is incredibly good at doing those strategic things, but I need to do it myself.

Sarah Collins (08:20.612)
What's next?

Bill Dippel (08:38.527)
I feel the burden. I feel it. It's a it's a little struggle. Sorry for me. I don't know what's going on in my voice. So I know it's yeah, I choke up easy, but not over strategy. Me, I'm like strategies. So that's that's kind of my struggle right now. I kind of I kind of wish I could put the funnel, you know, the business funnel is my strategist would say in front of mind and think of the next next several things instead of just what's right in front of me. So.

Sarah Collins (08:41.348)
Get choked up, he's getting choked up folks.

ehehehehe

Bill Dippel (09:06.677)
And you, you're so busy thinking about what's so far in front of you. You wish you could be more right here, that's why. Right.

Sarah Collins (09:11.428)
Yes, but not with business. With business, I'm not thinking about what's in front of me. I should be. I, I, I feel that, uh, challenge and low that you're having business wise. It's just personal wise. I think about all of the future things because I have to, um, but I wish I did that a little bit more in my business. I am, I am also trying desperately hard to be more thoughtful and strategic and do more outreach. So if you're listening to this and you would like to hire either Bill or I, are open to it.

Bill Dippel (09:25.184)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (09:37.751)
Ha ha ha ha ha.

Sarah Collins (09:39.832)
We can come help your company with strengths. got a keynote for you. Like folks, call the action. We got it right here at the top.

Bill Dippel (09:47.714)
Yeah, we can we can we we have some openings on the calendar. Just let us know. Right. Since we're we're we're not going to be shooting a podcast for right for a while. So we've got we got time. You know, let us know. We're all set. Listen to the very end of the show. Sarah will tell you how to get a hold of us. And by the way, just as a as a good through line, get your thumbs out right now. Start liking, texting, giving us notes. Yeah. Thumbs up. Thumbs down. Help us.

Sarah Collins (09:52.004)
Yeah, that's right. 2026, Booking Now.

Sarah Collins (10:00.675)
That's right.

Sarah Collins (10:04.44)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (10:15.745)
No thumbs down. When we say we want feedback, we just want compliments. Only write nice things in those comment feeds, but we will go and read them. You can find this video on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or anywhere you get your podcasts. okay, today we have a purpose. We did come here to do something. This is the season finale of season two, and we thought it would be fun if we went over some of our highlights, best moments, best episodes from season two.

Bill Dippel (10:16.971)
No thumbs down. Yeah, that's a good point.

You

Bill Dippel (10:29.409)
Love it. Love it. Yep. Yes, we did.

Sarah Collins (10:43.895)
talked about what we liked, what stood out, what we go back to and listen to, what we recommend to people. So that's what we're doing here today is we are talking about season two, reflection, recap. And guess what folks, it's the end of the year. That's what you should be doing. Stop, reflect, think back on your year. What have you accomplished? What have you done? So that's what we're doing podcast style, right Bill?

Bill Dippel (11:04.843)
That's it. We're doing it right now. And while you're thinking of what you've done, think about what you could do next year. Think about break. Don't do what I'm doing. Get out. Yes. Hire us. And that way we're thinking where we're at, but also.

Sarah Collins (11:10.563)
in hiring us. When you're about what you've done this year and you think, man, I wish I would have reached that goal better. I wish my culture and my company was a little bit different or man, we lost some really good people this year. How could we have prevented that? I can tell you how it's us.

Bill Dippel (11:20.941)
How could I do it better?

Bill Dippel (11:29.825)
Yes, it's us. Let us help you do that. But in in that vein and in understanding how this season went, what was amazing, we had some amazing people on the show for the second season. We had we had some people that really brought some heat this year, some favorite moments, some episode components that that I really felt hit home for a lot of really good poignant talking points.

Sarah Collins (11:31.427)
Any? Yeah.

Sarah Collins (11:43.523)
100%.

Bill Dippel (11:57.991)
and help me sometimes in my own coaching too where I would be coaching with a group and say, hey, recently we just discussed this from another coach's point of view. And it was really insightful. One of those what? Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of my gifts. So first off, I'm just I want to talk about most surprising for me out of the blue. Like I had no idea. Right. There was a couple of them that really stood out for me. But Jamal Cornelius was

Sarah Collins (12:08.58)
Okay, so give me one. Stop teasing. Stop teasing. Yeah, give it to us.

Sarah Collins (12:25.518)
First one on my list.

Bill Dippel (12:26.868)
Yeah, right. we you and I we got Jamal you asked him to be on we we had barely listened to some of his other podcast stuff just to kind of get a feel for Jamal and and then he came on and and just blew us away blew us away.

Sarah Collins (12:42.584)
Yeah. Jamal's episode, Jamal Cornelius, Maximizer verse perfectionism. And I agree. We did not know him. He reached out to me cold on LinkedIn. You know, that's how you do it. Sometimes people, you just got to send a DM. Hey, heard your podcast. I like it. Can I be on it? I checked him out on a podcast. I thought, sounds good. We had him on and I agree. I agree. He talked about MVPs, minimum viable products.

Bill Dippel (12:56.426)
Right? Yeah.

Bill Dippel (13:09.547)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (13:10.722)
when he's working on things because he has that maximizer pull to do everything perfect. And I think one of my main takeaways from tomorrow's episode was it's okay to strive for excellence, but let's avoid exhaustion.

Bill Dippel (13:25.776)
Yeah, yeah. And Jamal was so honest about his relationship with his wife and what that well how she sees his excellence and his maximizer and perfectionism versus how he sees it and where it plays for the two of them. I I just really found that Jamal not only was incredibly honest and forthright in that episode, but he exemplified the maximizer versus perfectionism component in in the way he approached the podcast. I thought

Sarah Collins (13:33.764)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (13:55.137)
Man, when he stepped in and started running, going and speaking and giving us the sermon on where he felt that dividing line was and where it's really important for him, I just thought, man, I can hear Maximizer all over you. You are dripping with it.

Sarah Collins (13:55.236)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (14:12.642)
was a master's class in maximizer. So if you are out there and you have maximizer, you work with someone who has maximizer and you want to learn more about it, I would check out Jamal's episode because I think he did an excellent job of talking about both the things that have led him to success through his maximizer and the pitfalls that he has to avoid to make sure that maximizer doesn't push the limits and then really just get in your way as a detriment.

Bill Dippel (14:40.318)
Really well said. How about you? Do you have another one where you were like, hmm, what's another standout moment for you?

Sarah Collins (14:45.796)
Yes, one of the ones that I feel like I reference a lot and tell people to go listen to is Tara Grovod. How do I say her last name? I wrote it down and then I was like, have I ever said this out loud? Gro-hov-ed. G-R-O-H-O-V-E-D. Anyways, Tara. Yeah. Yeah.

Bill Dippel (14:55.112)
Mm-hmm. I don't know. I don't. I started to look at it and I was like, I actually avoided Gronn Hoved, right? I avoided it because I didn't want to have to say her last name. That's why I didn't want to.

Sarah Collins (15:10.722)
So Tara's episode though was, CliftonStrengths too nice for workplace conflict? And you want to talk about another masterclass in this. She really talked about intent versus impact, which I use a little bit in some of my coaching, but the way she articulated it, I have brought into so many groups since then and into coaching sessions as just clarity on the communication.

And I think the way she was able to articulate that CliftonStrengths and the language of it help you navigate conflict better and are not making excuses for people, are not saying, well, they're just a woo, so it's fine. No, but it actually is a language to a tool in your tool belt when there is conflict present. mean, so many great frameworks, tips, tricks.

Bill Dippel (15:47.286)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (16:04.204)
Everybody on LinkedIn, made some, we always post clips. People were loving everything Tara had to say. So just if you use CliftonStrengths in your work environment with a team, that is an episode to not miss. Go and listen to it and listen to it again because Tara delivered and you can see the impact of the people who get to work with her because she really has been using it strategically with Teams for Conflict.

Bill Dippel (16:11.498)
Yeah, yeah.

Bill Dippel (16:32.278)
Yeah, very well said the We pointed it out in that episode as well how often we make the point at least I do for sure but I think we both make that point pretty regularly that if you want to have an easy discussion and Be recognizing right make it water instead of champagne is one of your constant comments about recognition and Identifying people if you want to have those discussions Gallup Clifton strengths is a great way to do it

However, if you want to have hard discussions, if you want to have a moment where you need to break something down with somebody that didn't go well, Gallup CliftonStrengths is a great way to have that discussion. Let's lead in with what I know you do, what I know you do naturally and reoccurringly. How can I help you do more of that because it didn't happen in this situation? What on your I-Bring I-Need am I not giving you from the I-Need point to make sure that we're doing this?

In other words, how can I help you be better at the things we know are natural and reoccurring for you? And Tara just rocked that. She had so many good instances and ideals around how you can think about that, bringing it to a group or bringing it even to a really small group. I just, yeah, Tara's a great episode and a great experience on.

Is it too nice for real workplace conflict if you still have that thought after listening to terrors shut down our podcast I think we're we did a really good job with that one. So yeah Love it. I mean I could just go on I I think Another surprise guest for me. I've always known she's pretty amazing I've met her a couple of times but all the times we've been

Sarah Collins (17:57.59)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (18:00.897)
Absolutely. What else you got on your list there?

Bill Dippel (18:18.987)
Together it's been kind of personal just you low-key chat talking Pamela Nelson when she came on this show I You know, I was just blown away by it's it's almost like you Watch somebody blossom on a podcast and I know she has another podcast with somebody else another great guest we had But just I mean having more

I guess intimate, you small time conversations with her face to face. And she's a little soft spoken and she's, you know, very kind and very generous and always nice. And then, man, you get her on a podcast and she just lit up. She brought so much great information. Hers was all about empathy in the C-suite. You know, can empathy be in the C-suite or is it killing C-suiters and

Sarah Collins (18:49.55)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (19:02.339)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (19:09.742)
Yep.

Bill Dippel (19:16.831)
You know, her ability to compare that empathy to inside out and to talk about the movie and to bring up all the characters and to make that connection and how we need that from a C-suite point of view just was, it blew my mind. It was just so good. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (19:22.625)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (19:29.496)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (19:34.723)
Yeah. And she is not only a CliftonStrengths coach, but she's also a therapist. She is an author of books. She said the thing, let me make sure I say it right, because my kids know it now, because I have been saying it to it. When I make a mistake, if I think I'm a mistake, wait, no. Just because I made a mistake doesn't mean I'm a mistake. If I think I'm a mistake, I'm mistaken. I am mistaken. That was just

Bill Dippel (19:48.171)
yes, yes.

Bill Dippel (20:00.433)
I am mistaken. Nope, you are correct.

Sarah Collins (20:04.714)
amazing again I have told my children they know it now they know it better than I know it and that's what she writes children's books around that and so to have someone as articulate and knowledgeable about empathy as she was on here in her beautiful voice that's soft but like sincere just you could listen to her voice all day excellent

Bill Dippel (20:08.927)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (20:30.72)
Excellent. Pamela Nelson, which is Tara, who she has her podcast with. So those two go listen to their podcast friends because it's the two of them on there all the time.

Bill Dippel (20:37.995)
Yeah, give it give it a listen. Yeah, if you need if you want more Pamela Nelson in your ears, um, go there go, uh, go listen to that because Again, the two of them right on some of our top fives that you and I want to talk about and they were phenomenal They were just really fun to have on and and really um Really impactful, I think for uh, the the tougher topics that they kind of came on to address so

Sarah Collins (20:54.542)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (21:04.674)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (21:06.699)
I mean I I could go on give me one more of yours and then I'll give you another one of

Sarah Collins (21:12.376)
Well, I feel like this one is very selfish of me, but my friend Anna Pressler came on and her and I and you talked about woo versus relator because I'm woo and I'm woo, Anna is relator, you have both. I did not know, so I went to grad school with Anna. We've kept in touch since then. I did not expect.

Bill Dippel (21:15.989)
So selfish. So selfish. And golf. We talked about golf.

Sarah Collins (21:39.877)
to do a entire episode on the evolution of our friendship with the woo versus relator. You know, we are not super planful in our episode. So we have a topic idea, but we basically tell our guests, like, let's just riff, come in, say what you want. We're just gonna follow the conversation. And I'm not a real thoughtful person when it comes to like planning. So I had no plan. And her and I really did a deep dive on that episode of how woo and relator show up in relationship.

Bill Dippel (21:43.915)
Hmm

Bill Dippel (21:52.991)
Have fun.

Sarah Collins (22:09.61)
It was, honestly unlocked some things for me that I know about myself, some things I like, some things I don't like. And just, I've had a lot of people who have listened to that episode and really appreciated that. I think those are two themes that are very popular. I think in relationship, whether it's the workplace or in your personal life, they show up different and it can cause hurt feelings or conflict or different things.

Uh, because, and I will go back to what Tara said, the intent versus impact. like my woo is comfortable having a broad range of friends. Whereas those relate. They're more comfortable with that close knit group of friends. And so just being able to explore them when you're in relationship with each other, those things that happen and how they happen and how they evolve and what it takes to get close to people. It was really interesting. So I was actually very surprised.

and delighted in that episode and not knowing which way it was going to go. But it was it was for me personally, like a little therapy session. So I very much appreciated it.

Bill Dippel (23:16.459)
Popular popular episode for us. think whenever you're gonna talk about woo Which is one we get asked about all the time and fortunately we had a bunch of woo on so we had that moment popular episode for us and she was really Thoughtful engaging and she she had a little edge to her which I thought was really Which came in really? Well, if you want to know what it's like sharing a room with with Sarah overseas

Sarah Collins (23:25.454)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (23:36.345)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (23:45.375)
while you're out and about. That is the episode to check into and to find out. Hey, I wasn't sure I liked you right at the beginning, but I'll tell you what, if you want to if you want to decide if you like somebody share a room overseas and where you have to get to know them and how we built that framework and how suddenly I realized, wow, actually, I kind of like that shininess part instead of the pure depth that a relator would normally feel.

Sarah Collins (23:52.385)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (24:01.412)
That's right.

Sarah Collins (24:08.004)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (24:13.096)
And look at what it's turned in for the two of you, right? It has turned into a very long-term, fruitful relationship for how you guys have decided to be adults. And that's amazing.

Sarah Collins (24:15.437)
Yum.

Sarah Collins (24:22.372)
Yeah, and I think a lot of woos need relators and relators need woos. We explored that in the episode. She has a lot of woo friends and it's because she is attracted to that and she likes that and they are pursuing her and she needs that pursuit. And she was talking about sometimes it might be hard for two relators if they're not forced in proximity to get to know each other because who's going to be the one to reach out first because they're being protective.

Bill Dippel (24:43.817)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (24:49.055)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (24:50.82)
So I think it's really interesting to explore those dynamics and it was fun to almost talk about it in a more professional lens as opposed to, or personal lens as opposed to professional lens, which is so much of what we talk about.

Bill Dippel (25:04.19)
Well, I also would think talking about it from a professional lens made it a little more therapeutic front for you and I would yes well actually the professional side because if you talk about it from the personal side I may not be super open to explaining all of my feelings but on the pro side we're on a podcast so I want to be honest and like we can I know I realize but I as I hear it and and another

Sarah Collins (25:10.21)
the personal lens, yeah.

Sarah Collins (25:25.944)
yeah, that's not what I was meaning, but yes. Yes.

Bill Dippel (25:31.923)
I guess revelation that came from Anna's episode for me was that I think I tend to separate friends into my woo category and my relator category, right? Because they are very different in how they associate with people. And so there are definitely friends I woo. There's definitely friends that I tend to have very deep relators with. And I'm just that odd, dude that happens to have both of them. So, yeah.

Sarah Collins (25:39.044)
Mmm.

Sarah Collins (25:50.18)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (25:59.715)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (26:00.786)
She was impactful. She was really good. Plus I got to hear great stories about going to college with Sarah, which I mean for me that you know, I mean not knowing yeah, I You know, I I got a lot Two time like two time person been on quite a bit with us Somebody we both know really well from the coaching community in respect Brandon Miller came on and did a competition episode about his competition really

Sarah Collins (26:08.404)
That's right. That's right.

Sarah Collins (26:27.523)
Mmmmm

Bill Dippel (26:30.856)
Go go. Is it necessary or is it you know, is it killing certain things? And you know, I get brand and all the credit in the world for having no ambiguity. Competition is all and everything. It's we need it. We need to have it all the way to hitting us with lines like, know, the first word of woo is winning. That's a competition, right? We need to have that and build into it. And I really appreciated his take on.

Sarah Collins (26:45.944)
Yep.

Sarah Collins (26:52.77)
Yup.

Bill Dippel (27:00.276)
the competition where it succeeds, where it doesn't always have to be stab you in the face, but there I have to have that edge and I need to keep moving on it. I would also tell you a little bit about what I was talking about earlier today on my my misses lately is I'm not thinking far enough an advantage of my own business. Listening to Brandon's episode and then thinking of being competitive has helped me understand I need to think further out.

Sarah Collins (27:26.275)
Mm. Yeah.

Bill Dippel (27:28.146)
And I need to feel into that because competition is low for me, but his his wonderfully articulate way of providing why competition is very, very pertinent for him and his business and instilling it in the people around him really meant a lot to me. So I really appreciated hearing that.

Sarah Collins (27:48.857)
Yeah, I totally agree with you. That episode was so good. It made me so excited for this season to do the great strengths debate because I feel like I got so many good tidbits about competition from Brandon Miller. He talked about how people with high competition are often very prepared because they want to do really well. So they often will when it's working in a mature state be super prepared for what they're doing. You could see that looking like a cheaper, right? Like that prep.

preparation and or responsibility even and just like the need to win. Like if I know I can't win, then maybe I don't even want to play. Like I want to win everything. And I, I just appreciate that because I meet so many people who have competition, their top 10 and they're almost embarrassed by it. Initially, sometimes they're like, Oh, I have competition, but I'm not competitive against other people. I'm competitive against myself.

Bill Dippel (28:47.014)
Right, great.

Sarah Collins (28:47.924)
And it's funny because that's typically achiever typically achievers competitive with yourself. So you could have both achiever and competition and I'll say, sure. But if you have straight up competition, I know that you're just probably trying to be nice because the truth is you probably are competitive with other people. You're just in an environment or a situation, or you've been groomed to say that it is not okay to want to win. And, and

Bill Dippel (29:10.948)
And and you're using your competition right at that second to get a leg up, right? Well said. Well said. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (29:14.605)
Yeah!

That's right. That's right. Yeah. So that you're absolutely right. That, that episode on competition, if you have that, if you work with someone who has it, if you're in relationship with someone who has it, I would, I would go listen to it personally for me. My husband has competition at six. My son who is seven has to have competition. He is the most competitive. and it's really hard cause it's very, very low for me. And so it's

Bill Dippel (29:36.748)
Ha

positive.

Sarah Collins (29:43.128)
That episode from Brandon was really helpful and just even in my own house of how I think about those men in this household.

Bill Dippel (29:50.568)
Yeah, no, I love the fact you brought up it's low for you. It's low for me too. Hold on.

32 for me. So it's amazing what we take from an episode on something that is so low for us because we just don't possess it. It's fascinating to watch somebody that has it and how they are willing to utilize it and when it when it's really a strength for them as they're stepping into it naturally and reoccurringly and how we just don't do it. What could we do to make that happen? So I've had to up my responsibility to think about business, I'm I let Brandon's

Sarah Collins (30:11.012)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (30:28.123)
words of competition spur me on to do that. And we point out frequently how our strengths look to us through our eyes is very, very different than how it looks to other people that are watching you. a big part, a big component of the learning phase of Gallup and CliftonStrengths is understanding that difference. Right? When are you in a blind spot that you think, man, I'm really, really doing well here and everybody else is like, nope.

Sarah Collins (30:30.498)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (30:49.624)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (30:56.504)
Right. And that's where I would go back to that intent versus impact. And one of the reasons I love CliftonStrength so much is because it gives us understanding of people's intent because I'm not competitive. So when I see sometimes people going after that win so hard, I see the impact of that. And I think, whoa, you my relationship building themes are like, you're hurting people. Why are you doing this? When I can open up and go, they have competition.

Bill Dippel (30:57.629)
Nope.

Sarah Collins (31:23.15)
So their intent is probably different than what I'm thinking it is. It gives me empathy and understanding for where they're coming from. And then think about that. If I manage that person or they're on my team, I'm experiencing their competition through my relationship building themes. I'm gonna be judgy. I'm gonna have opinions. If I open it up to say, they are highly competitive. How could this be coming up?

That doesn't mean I'm reprimanding them, but it means I can have an actual honest, empathetic conversation with more curiosity, more understanding, helping them also see the other side. So we can honor their need to win and also the impact that that could be having on the group, the team, the organization.

Bill Dippel (32:08.189)
I think you just wrapped up Rachel Kigay's entire episode in that little in that Sarah soapbox moment, the one we just had, right? Rachel came on to talk with all three of us having Wu. Can Wu be annoying? And she actually pointed out in that episode where she realized somebody in a meeting she was in was definitely not giving her like did not was pushing her away, didn't like didn't like dealing with her. And she came up after the fact and said, hey, what was that about? What's going on?

Sarah Collins (32:15.448)
That's right, that's right.

Bill Dippel (32:38.449)
And he said, you're so fake right now from the way we all know you.

Sarah Collins (32:40.856)
Yeah, I think that was from high school when she was at, she was, yeah, she was at a competition or something, speech drama thing or something. Yes.

Bill Dippel (32:44.297)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (32:48.519)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so very fascinating to hear it. And your take on it just reminded me of Rachel's episode where she really felt, and it was so good to hear it, but hard to hear it. Right. And we we want to point out where they where they feel like they need to be honest with us. Right. When can we have those moments or are they not going to be honest? And we just have to live in the blind spot and suss it out ourselves. And those are.

Sarah Collins (32:57.156)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (33:01.731)
Right.

Sarah Collins (33:15.556)
That's right.

Bill Dippel (33:17.063)
Those are coaching moments that you and I both do with many of our clients, right? How do we get you to see them and feel comfortable about them, but also to know them better. yeah, yeah. Another great comment from Rachel. I'd love that honesty from.

Sarah Collins (33:20.654)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (33:26.968)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (33:31.202)
Yeah, that was a great story to really highlight that point. I'm going to tell you an episode I got so much energy from that I was just tickled by Melissa Ortiz.

Bill Dippel (33:38.685)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm. Yeah, it's on my list. It was the next one I was going to talk to.

Sarah Collins (33:44.977)
She came in, we had a, I don't even remember, we had a topic picked and then on the pre-show call, as we're talking about things, we decide to just bloop, change it, put a bunch of activators on a podcast. We changed the topic mere minutes before hitting the record button. And that energy could sustain me for life. If I am ever on life support, you just bring that kind of energy to me and I will sit right up and be like, I'm back in the game.

Bill Dippel (33:50.216)
Ha

Bill Dippel (34:02.481)
Yes, we did. Yes.

Bill Dippel (34:12.361)
The beginning of that episode you came in just resonating it was like the we couldn't turn your mic down far enough you were just in love with the fact that we hey we've talked about doing this other thing which is take it again or one and done was Melissa's and I I put her down I nominated her as best pivot we've ever considered her had because we literally just at last minute as through that together

Sarah Collins (34:22.177)
Yup.

Sarah Collins (34:28.398)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (34:35.16)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (34:42.145)
And she was epically great about it. And one thing I know about Melissa, she will always be honest. She will always tell you everything, whether you want to hear it or not. And she did. She was perfect in that.

Sarah Collins (34:42.19)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (34:50.657)
Yes.

Sarah Collins (34:55.032)
And that's why she's a great podcaster because I'm going to be honest and no shade to anyone. Cause I do this too. If you're going to on a podcast and say, well, it is and it's not, it depends. Okay. Thank you. That is so boring. Melissa Ortiz came on and said, don't retest. No, don't. And I love that. That's why she's a good podcaster. Cause she has an opinion and she has clear thoughts and she is very good. I think she has command, right? She is very good at just laying it down.

Bill Dippel (35:16.606)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (35:21.353)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (35:23.852)
And that makes a good podcaster. That makes a good coach. That makes a good business owner. So she has nothing but my respect and admiration. now like hashtag goals want to be Melissa Ortiz.

Bill Dippel (35:35.687)
Yeah, Melissa's phenomenal. Great friend. We're doing some other work together, Melissa and I, and it's I cherish the moments I get to hang out with Melissa because you always know you're going to hear what you need to hear. She's going to be really open and honest. And you're absolutely right. In the podcast, she brought a energy that I found surprising when Micah was on our podcast season one, which is who cares? Right. Who cares what the order is?

Sarah Collins (36:00.421)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Bill Dippel (36:04.349)
Who cares why you want to take it twice or it doesn't matter what really matters is that we've started at a baseline Let's use this to build a better you and I think you have been phenomenal at that component of it in saying Don't don't let the assessment tell you who you are. Don't you tell the assessment who you are and I think you're your Threw line on that has been really consistent and it's echoed in some of the best episodes we've had

Sarah Collins (36:13.218)
Yes, as a tool.

Sarah Collins (36:34.306)
Yeah, and from the people who used to work at Gallup. So, you know, it's got to be true.

Bill Dippel (36:37.009)
Yeah, that's true. All the Gallup employees are like, stop. Everyone relax.

Sarah Collins (36:43.172)
And they're like, I don't know my top 10. don't know. It's whatever. This is a tool we're going to use to do better. And that's what we want people to know. Like, is this an assessment that you can take and it's funsies? Sure. Like, I'm never going to stop you from having funsies. Okay, people, like get out there and learn about yourself. Hurrah. But if you desire to go deeper, to do more as an individual, as a team, as an organization,

Bill Dippel (36:46.707)
Everyone re-lax. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (37:07.652)
the water is warm. Come on in, baby. We can go places with this. We can change the way that you do performance reviews. We can change the way you give feedback. We can change the way you deal with conflict. We can change the way you deal with recognition. We can change your culture for better through an assessment. It really is amazing. And that's going to lead me to one of the most recent episodes, Simon Hurry.

Bill Dippel (37:11.698)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (37:36.381)
Yeah, I was just going to go there when you brought it up because I I'm giving Simon on I might I might I actually wrote his award on this thing. Simon might have been the best episode of this year. Just what what he did. There's so much great stuff we did all year. But the way Simon put it together and the way he he.

Sarah Collins (38:00.677)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (38:03.122)
brought so much great energy and it took us multiple times to get him on the podcast from a technical point of view. We had to jump through a lot of hoops. guess we didn't. Simon did. And he he was overjoyed to do it. Loved being on it, validated the work that we do and then added a whole nother layer to it. Right. And we're like, man. So, yeah, Simon's episode, you know, for me.

Sarah Collins (38:07.544)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (38:12.174)
Simon did.

Sarah Collins (38:22.061)
yeah. yeah.

Bill Dippel (38:31.302)
You know, as we record this, it just came out this week for us. Right. So I just it's really fresh in my mind and listening to him do it. And I already know people that have reached out to sign up with Simon for coaching based on his podcast. So I find that, you know, if you're if you want to move the needle, listen to Simon's as a master class in how to present in a way that that will get the needle move by getting people towards you.

Sarah Collins (38:35.812)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (38:46.082)
Mmm, yeah.

Sarah Collins (39:00.81)
Absolutely. He, I don't know how or why, but like broke my brain. I am enamored by what Simon does and how he uses the psychology twist of taking Clifton's strengths to the next level. So impressive. And the way, you know, he's doing it right because he has elevated this to work with some very high profile teams, sports teams, coaches in the world. I mean,

using CliftonStrengths as a competitive advantage. mean, seriously, a master class in that this is more than just an assessment. This can change your life. This can elevate you to levels of success you didn't even know were possible by unlocking your DNA, folks. I mean, literally Gallup has a little DNA thing at the top of the assessment for your results. This is an insight into your DNA. Listen, I'm not a science person. I don't know exactly how they were able to get those

200 questions on a Likert scale to figure you out so exactly, but I can tell you from the countless people that I have coached and from the thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people that all the coaches have coached out there that we've met with, it gets you down to an exact science. The amount of times of people that I work with that say, my God, I can't believe it. It knows me so well. So imagine you have this insight about yourself. You can unlock your excellence.

Bill Dippel (40:21.244)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (40:29.61)
And if you want to know more about that, check out Simon's episode because he has, guess, honestly, keys that I don't even possess yet.

Bill Dippel (40:38.824)
I I don't possess them either and I I am fascinated by everything that Simon is doing and the revelation in the middle of the episode something I did not know about Simon. He's like in Gallup Gallup hates me. I'm not even certified And I was like what what wait back up right and and just it goes to show that if you really invest in something and you really want to learn and you're in

Sarah Collins (40:55.182)
Get all these rogue coaches.

Bill Dippel (41:07.952)
You know, he has so much influencing in his themes and so much significance and self assurance and command and all of that influencing shows not only in the episode, but the way he approaches the differences in how he looks at Gallup and how he teams with people to make them understand more the psychology component around what he does. It was a fantastic episode. I absolutely love.

Sarah Collins (41:11.406)
my gosh, yes.

Sarah Collins (41:26.5)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (41:32.185)
Yes. And you know, he said something on that episode that has really stuck with me. And I feel like I've kind of said it and used it in the past, but not as directly. He talked about how influencing themes are all about energy. And I feel like I typically would say relationship building themes are people and influencing themes are people, you know, where executing and strategic are more of like the doing and to

Bill Dippel (41:41.468)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (41:58.697)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (41:59.853)
To make that small caveat that the influencing themes impact the energy in the room with people, again, I feel like I was so close to it, but that sort of language has really helped me, even in some of my coaching sessions I've had with people, just really twist the key more of the impact that those themes can have.

Bill Dippel (42:19.642)
Absolutely. Yeah, and when you see it in other people just think of it from the energy point of view not necessarily from what the theme says about it But think of the energy that person is bringing if you convert it in that way and look at the psychology slash energy It really was insightful. So I I agree with you and if we're judging episodes like Simon's on

Sarah Collins (42:24.74)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (42:31.554)
Right.

Sarah Collins (42:38.5)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (42:45.158)
Let's say let's just use a metric of time because you and I are free flowy. We'll do whatever we want up until Simon's episode. We had one other that was that long. It was very long. Simon's went one hour, 16 minutes. We had one prior to that. That was one hour, 14 minutes. So I think if if we're going by that metric, we got to think that was a pretty good episode. And I would agree she was pretty phenomenal. It Kelly Dries.

Sarah Collins (43:03.438)
Who was it?

Sarah Collins (43:11.436)
Yes.

Bill Dippel (43:12.364)
And she came in to talk about parenting and using this assessment from a from a kind of a parenting point of view. But she started it somewhat a little ways into it, talking about how crippling relationship themes are sometimes in parenting and how when she first took it, how, my God, this is going to kill me. I can't bring these relationship themes. It's it's going to be a terrible, you know, parenting moment.

Sarah Collins (43:15.67)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (43:28.654)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (43:35.755)
Mm-hmm.

Bill Dippel (43:42.194)
that I'm coming in with all this blue and how she flipped that around, right? How she, it's now as a parent, how these are strengths for me and I know how to make them a strength. So I'm going to use these to make that happen. I thought Kelly's insight was hyper-focused on the subject we had from the parenting point of view. And it was super, super spot on.

Sarah Collins (43:46.626)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (44:05.624)
Yes, I remember that she said she reads her kids like five books a night. I was like, my gosh, could like that.

Bill Dippel (44:09.659)
Yeah. Yeah. I think your pen ran out of ink four times on Kelly's because you were writing so many notes. Like, how do I, what do you, how do I do that? Right. So yeah.

Sarah Collins (44:18.696)
Yeah, I was like, that is another level. I don't have the energy or stamina to do that at nighttime, but you're right. Kelly, Kelly really brought it in thinking about and balancing a career between having a family, being a mother and building a business and what that looks like. And I know that this was episode.

Season one, the last episode, but we did an interview with Liz, who also talked about parenting and motherhood. And I still think that stands out to me as one of the best episodes we've ever done. The way Liz Volker was able to shed light. She's a stay at home mom. She homeschools her kids. She is so all in on strengths. Her husband has done her strengths and just the type of stuff that she does to. If you are a parent out there, both Kelly

Dries and Liz Volker's episodes, master classes and how to consider your Clifton strengths at home as a parent with your children because those women, they are doing it. They are using it. Talk about aiming your strengths.

Bill Dippel (45:23.899)
Yeah, yeah, really, really well said. I do and I take so much from the parenting ones because you and I have talked about I'm a I'm a I'm a married in parent, right? I'm a I'm a stepfather and step grandfather, which has a different relationship. But at the same time, I'm all bought in. Right. And listening to it from that parenting point of view really allows us to allows me as a stepparent to feel the emotion and

Sarah Collins (45:42.915)
Of

Bill Dippel (45:53.762)
how maybe I could up my game a little better from the step side. yeah, really fascinating to hear that side of it. I know, you know, I appreciate you as a mother of three and, you know, and as a wife and having so much of that parenting acumen that it's really been good that you've brought on several of these people that really feel insightful about the strengths that they have and the strengths their children have. And they're spotting them early, right?

Sarah Collins (46:19.358)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah.

Bill Dippel (46:21.327)
You brought up competition for your son as I think he's, I'm pretty positive he's already competitive.

Sarah Collins (46:24.292)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (46:28.344)
Yeah, I'm just chomping at the bit to do the strengths explorer with my children. They need to get a little bit older before we can take it, but I am strength spotting now. And that's so important, the recognition. And just think of what we can do to the world. Sorry, I'm going to just do my pitch for Miss America here. You start as a parent making the switch to focus on recognition of what they do well, because your kids are going to do a lot of stuff that annoys you, that gets in the way that...

Bill Dippel (46:44.806)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (46:56.886)
spills milk all over. but you start to say, wow, you're really competitive. You know, it is not pleasant when my son is showing his competition at seven years old because he loses a game of memory and he has a complete meltdown and freak out. Or even if there is the slight chance that he might start losing, he hasn't even lost yet. It's just, you know, his sister went on a run of three matches before him.

Bill Dippel (46:59.079)
Ha

Bill Dippel (47:15.077)
Hahaha.

Sarah Collins (47:24.438)
I mean the literal devastation this little boy experiences is next level. So it is not a pleasant experience. But as a strengths coach, I recognize, wow, Henry, you are feeling so competitive right now. Winning this game was so important to you. That is much different than, you need to get over it. Okay. You know, and so we can start doing that. That teaches our young people to be looking for the things they do right.

Bill Dippel (47:45.327)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (47:52.966)
to be focusing on what they do well. Imagine how they're gonna go into that first job, that internship, that corporate world. And then if we reinforce as managers, as supervisors, noticing what they do well, and not always just don't do that, don't do that, do this different, not this way, a different way. But we go in there and we say, hey, I see the way you're doing that. That's really nice. That was really smart. That's not the way we've done it before, but I love what you've brought to it. Think of how much healthier the people in this world would be.

how much better their mental health would be. Mental health is on a decline. Engagement is on a decline. Life satisfaction, we are declining in all the things right now. The statistics out there are not great. The world is doom and gloom, okay? And you can open up your little doom box at any time and see every bad thing happening in the world, and you will, okay? I am telling you, the antidote is recognition. The antidote is feeling good. It is focusing on

Bill Dippel (48:23.185)
now.

Sarah Collins (48:51.289)
what is right in this world. This assessment allows us to do that because it's not just a thing you do on your computer for 40 minutes. It is a mindset shift to not let the deficit culture that we are in take control, but to take power over it. Focus on recognition. It is water, not champagne.

Focus on noticing what's right with people, connect with people in the real world and have a little bit of fun. Wow, I just did it. I just did the Sarah soapbox moment. Sorry folks, to just leave you with it.

Bill Dippel (49:18.639)
You did it. It's OK. I love this. I love my Sarah soapbox moments. I'll take them all day long. And, know, I I point out I coach I have a men's group. Right. And when you talk about mental health and recognition and acknowledgment of people and it's it can be bad out there. It is right. I meet with men regularly and we joke it's because we don't understand women.

Sarah Collins (49:46.565)
Mm-hmm

Bill Dippel (49:46.831)
not true, but we we do it as men because men tend to not be able to open in that way. So if you can hold that open for them and allow them to talk more about the things that are bugging them and the things that are there, it means it means so much to them. So I love that you brought that up. I want to I'm going to wrap on a I'm going to make a leap. You went to Liz Volcker, who was the end of last season to highlight your point on

On talking about what we're telling our kids and where we're making a difference i'm i'm gonna leap from the end of last season to the very first episode of this season not i'm sorry. Not the very first you and I did did our kickoffs, but our first guest was jen warner jen warner came on and talk about high high energy and honesty. she related exactly what you were talking about which was

Sarah Collins (50:28.579)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Bill Dippel (50:41.058)
I had a moment where I took the assessment and somebody told me yours are boring. Those are boring, right? And she said, well, yeah, and you're all lazy. Right. And so it turned into a it turned into a battle and not acknowledging people for what they do naturally and reoccurringly, not being coached to be able to have that stand up. You're right. People need to hire us, Sarah. They get on the phone and hire us right now so that we can.

Sarah Collins (50:45.957)
Mm-hmm.

Sarah Collins (50:52.164)
Yep.

Sarah Collins (51:06.629)
Yeah.

Bill Dippel (51:09.942)
stop that sort of interaction where we're going to use it to disengage other people and not have them come together from a team and a blending point of view. So Jen brought that energy right out of the gate. And I thought, wow, that was a lot of fun. That was fun to hear.

Sarah Collins (51:23.781)
Yeah.

Sarah Collins (51:28.995)
Yeah, she did. She also talked about just those moments where you're not happy with your strengths. You got to go through stuff that is hard. She talked about caring for aging parents and that sometimes you are faced with challenging situations and you look at your talents and you go crap. These aren't going to help me. You know, and so she she really did do a great job of talking about how to deal with your strengths when you're like, I really could use.

Bill Dippel (51:48.07)
Those aren't going to help. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (51:57.858)
some different strengths here in a variety of ways and coming to terms with what you have and leaning in and using what you have because we are born with these talents. And as much as we want to try to grow and develop, you're not going to take those things that are at the bottom of your assessment and bring them up. It's very unlikely. We've seen people do it, but it is not something that typically happens. We have to coach around it when it does happen. So you really are better off spending your energy getting to know those top 10.

Bill Dippel (52:00.091)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Collins (52:27.545)
getting familiar with them and figuring out how do you accomplish your goals or overcome your challenges based on your talents. And I'm sorry, you don't get a pick them. They were picked for you.

Bill Dippel (52:38.266)
Yeah, very well said. Well, you know what? I think on that note, we just we just literally talked about some amazing moments on season two. if you if you are one of our guests and you weren't mentioned in this particular podcast, you were amazing for us as well. I'm just going over some of the things that that and we loved having every one of our guests. Everyone brought so much good information and data.

Sarah Collins (52:58.946)
Absolutely.

Bill Dippel (53:07.398)
And personal feelings and honesty so I know personally for me I am honored and humbled that people choose to come on be really honest be open about it and then Share it with the world share it with our arsonists, so I'm very thankful for that

Sarah Collins (53:21.413)
Yeah, I agree with you. I'm so thankful if we didn't mention you, it's not because your episode wasn't great. It's just because we ran out of time. And imagine that we just started chatting too much. We run out of time. But you're right. I'm so grateful to everybody. You know, we send these requests out. Sometimes people send them to us and we we ask a lot of our guests. We have long episodes. We do know we understand these are long episodes.

Bill Dippel (53:28.998)
I know.

We talk, things happen.

Sarah Collins (53:46.018)
And we appreciate our guests taking the time out of their days to join us to give back to the CliftonStrength coaches and enthusiast community that is out there. It has been so much fun. I just got to pat ourselves on the back here, Bill, that to bring real life conversation to CliftonStrengths because there's a lot of really professional content out there. And I love that. I'm glad we have access to it. And what Bill and I sought to do when we created Strengths on Fire was to bring

some levity, some fun, some real human conversations, because we use this every single day in our personal and professional lives. We wanted to show people what that looks like, how you could also make it a little bit more approachable and not like a big assessment on a shelf way up high, but something that you can get down and manhandle and use in your day-to-day life. So we hope, I think we have accomplished it. I think that we accomplished what we set out to do.

Bill Dippel (54:32.453)
Right.

Bill Dippel (54:39.66)
I hope so. Yeah. Yeah, we we absolutely and I I felt I don't want you looking at a piece of paper and going, I now know everything right. I wanted you to be able to listen to some of the other opinions and breakdowns of how these themes come together. So you're absolutely right. I don't want you just, you know, confused or, man, I got all these reports and now I don't. Right. Where do I go to get some information? Well, one place you can go is hire a coach, but you can also check out.

Sequence of different podcasts talking about where they go not just ours There's a lot of good gallop podcasts out there ours is the best. I mean don't let's not you know

Sarah Collins (55:15.621)
I mean, I think we're just fine. think we're the most fun. If you're looking, if you're looking at a good time, which why would you not? I think that this is a great place to land.

Bill Dippel (55:21.486)
Yes Yes, come come hang out with us come have tea with us those watchers on YouTube notice I drink tea all episode all episode Pete even pointed out

Sarah Collins (55:31.939)
And I sometimes make my noise through my straw.

Bill Dippel (55:35.044)
Yeah, Pete even pointed out he was like, I can hear you drink on the podcast when he was on and I was like, well, OK, I'll try to tone it down. So well with that, you know, fascinating, amazing second season, Sarah, thank you so much for the co-hosting. Loved every every person we had on so many great moments, so many people we got to experiment with and bring some ideas with that that were different and highlighted.

Sarah Collins (55:40.431)
Some people hate that, yeah.

Bill Dippel (56:03.046)
personalities and strengths and the way that we all view this. So thank you for a wonderful season two.

Sarah Collins (56:09.881)
Well, thank you. You are the tech God. You have figured out all the behind the scenes things. You do all the tech setup. You do all of the editing and posting the videos. Hallelujah. Cause I could never. Okay. So thank you for allowing me to show up and just bring what I can bring with my talents and post it on the internet. So people listen to it. I appreciate, appreciate your technical expertise, sir.

Bill Dippel (56:37.008)
doing it. Love doing it. And Simon, if you'd listen to this one, your episode was a nightmare to edit. So I'm just I'm so glad it worked out because it turned out to be such a great episode. So well, with that, you know, again, Sarah, wonderful season. Love our second season. Love our arsonists. Love the people that listen to us. Leave us some notes. Leave us some some thumbs up. We'd love to hear from you. And in that vein, I guess we'll talk soon.

Sarah Collins (57:07.173)
Bye!

Strengths On Fire

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🎙️ Strengths on Fire — Season 2 Finale: Reflection, Highlights & The Episodes That Lit Us Up

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