The Appreciative Window of Strength

The process of appreciation, in which the consultant, coach, or counselor plays a central role, expands the size of the public window by providing an opportunity – through feedback – to learn more about our observed strengths. It also offers an opportunity for reflection on the nature of our strengths. The private window becomes smaller in an appreciative culture. We begin to feel more comfortable in sharing personal insights based on our distinctive strengths and talents. The obscure window also shrinks with appreciation: We access clearer information regarding our distinctive strengths when the climate allows people to feel comfortable in providing one another with such observations.

Finally, with both the private and obscure windows shrinking in size, the potential strength window grows smaller and feeds into the public one: Potential strengths are recognized for the first time both by the human service client and his colleagues. Convocation-based human services relate directly to this process of expansion of the public domain of our acknowledged strengths. This appreciative process provides the human service provider with a framework and the client with resources and processes to reflect on their own strengths and receive feedback from other people regarding the strengths they most want to leverage for their growth and the accomplishment of important goals.