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Daniel Almeida, PhD, also known as the “Strengths Professor,” visits us this week on the Faculty Factory Podcast.
Dr. Almeida is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California. As mentioned throughout this interview, he works diligently to incorporate Clifton Strengths into his teaching, coaching, and research.
He is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and the founder of Strengths Deep Dive, LLC. You can learn more about his work here.
As a podcaster he hosts the Culturally Informed Strengths Podcast, which is now available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Leaning into the Authentic Self
Whether through his coaching work with clients or in the classroom with students, Dr. Almeida encourages everyone to fully embrace their authentic selves—though this may mean dimming it down from time to time, depending on the context and environment.
He cites examples of how someone can “dim down” their authentic self, such as being optimistic at a funeral. In his example, he discusses how someone whose strength is positivity could make subtle comments of optimism during a funeral without losing their authenticity, even in a more somber environment.
There are also many valuable nuggets of wisdom when it comes to mentoring throughout this stellar conversation.
We thank Dr. Almeida for opening up to us during this world-class interview, and for being honest and vulnerable as he uncovered his own learning journey of utilizing strengths to empower himself and never being afraid to lean back into his authentic self.
When you are done listening to this episode, you can further explore the Faculty Factory Podcast archive here.