Understanding R-I-S-E: Discover Your Team’s Potential using CliftonStrengths
Have you ever wondered why some teams just click? The kind where everyone seems to know their role, momentum builds naturally, and even challenges feel like shared opportunities? I’ve been a part of teams like that. I’ve also been a member of teams where the opposite was true.
What made the difference wasn’t talent or experience. It was alignment.
That’s where R-I-S-E comes in.
If you’ve used CliftonStrengths before, you’re probably familiar with the 34 strengths and how they can shape personal development. But when it comes to team dynamics, it’s easy to get lost in the details.
The R-I-S-E model offers a clearer lens: it groups strengths into four key domains that reflect how we show up in a team:
Recognizing strengths
Integrating strengths into everyday life
Shaping positive culture
Engaging employees
In this article, I break down what each domain looks like in action, why balance matters (and when it doesn’t), and how you can use this model to build stronger and more effective teams, starting with your own.
R-I-S-E: An overview
The R-I-S-E model offers a clear and energizing path for bringing strengths to life at work. First and foremost, it starts with Recognizing strengths (rather than simply listing them!) and learning how they show up in daily conversations, decisions, and across team dynamics.
With this understanding, teams can start Integrating strengths into their daily workflows. That might mean leaning on your Strategic Thinking strength during a planning session, or relying on a teammate’s Relationship Building talent to navigate a tricky client interaction.
As strengths start becoming a key part of how we work, they begin to Shape the culture. For example, team members may notice and name each other’s contributions more specifically. Or feedback might become more constructive. Most importantly, though, people will start to feel more valued.
This is where true Engagement happens. When colleagues get to do what they do best, they become more present, collaborative, and committed to short- and long-term goals. In fact, the University of Warwick found that workplace bliss leads to a 12 percent increase in productivity.
Okay, so let’s break each component of the R-I-S-E framework down a little further.
R – Recognizing strengths
This initial foundation is where the magic begins. Recognizing each other’s strengths is an easy thing to overlook, but that’s exactly the point.
Our strengths often feel invisible to us because they’re so ingrained in how we think and relate to others. Plus, we often take our natural strengths for granted. We assume that what is easy for us is also easy for others. That’s just not true.
That’s why taking the time to name and understand them is so powerful. According to a joint Gallup and WorkHuman report, doubling recognition at work causes a 9 percent productivity gain for the average SMB. It also results in a 22 percent decrease in absenteeism.
I worked with a manager recently who was struggling to understand why her team always came to her in a crisis. After taking the CliftonStrengths assessment, she discovered that “Restorative” was one of her top talents (she was naturally drawn to solving problems).
What felt like just part of the job to her was actually a key strength the team relied on. Once she recognized it, she could set better boundaries and also coach others to develop their own problem-solving skills.
What does it mean to recognize strengths?
When it comes to recognizing strengths, there are two key parts. First: know your own. You can’t truly recognize or appreciate someone else’s strengths if you haven’t taken time to understand your own.
Start by taking the CliftonStrengths assessment, reading your report thoroughly, and reflecting on what stands out. I even recommend printing it out—underline, circle, doodle—whatever helps you absorb it.
Prefer audio? Season 5 of Gallup’s Theme Thursday podcast is a great way to dive deeper into each strength. Here’s a handy list of all 34 to get started.
The second part of recognizing strengths is getting to know the strengths of others—especially if you're a leader. Start with your direct team. Encourage them to take the assessment as well, then get curious: ask what resonated most, what surprised them, and how they think the team can lean on their strengths.
Once you’ve done this with your team, bring that same curiosity to your peers. These conversations build trust, deepen collaboration, and help everyone play to their strengths.
I – Integrating strengths
To turn strengths into something actionable, you need to integrate them into your everyday working life. It’s one thing to know what your top CliftonStrengths themes are, but it’s another to actually use them in a way that improves how you collaborate and lead with others.
To do this, make strengths a part of the daily rhythm at work, rather than just something you reflect on during a team offsite or coaching session.
I once coached a team lead whose top strength was “Arranger”. She was a natural talent for managing complexity and moving parts. However, she was always juggling priorities and supporting different functions, and until she recognized how this strength played out, she often felt stretched too thin.
Once we talked through it, she realized she thrived when she could bring order to the chaos. Firstly, she started blocking time each morning to map out shifting priorities. And then she began playing a more active role in cross-functional planning. Her role didn’t change, per se, but her approach did. She began leading with intention, using her strengths on purpose.
Integrating strengths doesn’t require a new job description. It’s about working smarter with what you naturally do best. When we use our strengths as tools, not just traits, we show up with more energy, clarity, and impact.
What does it mean to integrate strengths?
Here are some of the most effective ways I recommend teams integrate strengths into your day-to-day workflow:
Incorporate strengths into 1:1s: Use them as a lens to understand motivation, feedback, and support between one another.
Use them in performance conversations: Tie strengths (and blind spots!) to wins and areas for growth during reviews.
Make it a team habit: Use strengths regularly in team-building moments like quarterly/annual retreats, project kickoffs, retrospectives, or even a “Strength of the Month” conversation using your team grid.
S – Shaping positive culture
Okay, so next we come to how our individual strengths can begin shaping the collective culture at work.
Let’s start with what culture really is. Culture isn’t a list of values posted on the wall, it’s what you consistently reward and what you tolerate and what you actually do.
When a team or organization adopts a strengths-based lens, something changes in the culture. Conversations become more constructive. Recognition becomes more specific. People start noticing what’s working, rather than fixating on fixing what’s broken. And it’s this that creates a culture where people feel safe to contribute, grow, and take ownership of their work.
I’ve seen this happen on teams where strengths became part of the everyday language. One team I worked with created a simple habit:
Every Friday, they’d call out a teammate’s strength in action during their wrap-up meeting. Language like “I saw your Analytical strength shine this week when you questioned that report’s assumptions,” or “Your Empathy helped defuse a tough client call.” would become an integral part of the call. And guess what? Over time, this built a culture where people felt truly seen and heard, which motivated them to bring their best to work every day.
It’s important to note, though, that creating a positive work culture doesn’t happen by accident. It’s intentionally shaped by the everyday choices we make. This includes how we give feedback, how we assign work, how we celebrate wins, and so much more. When these choices are grounded in strengths, culture becomes more than values on a poster. Instead, it becomes something people feel.
E – Engaging employees
Finally, we come to E, or Engaging Employees.
This is the outcome of everything that comes before it. It’s where strengths-based work really proves its value to the organization (and the individuals inside it). When people are empowered to do their best every day, they become more energized, more committed, and more importantly, more likely to stick around for the long haul.
Engagement isn’t about flashy perks or feel-good slogans. It’s about feeling trusted, challenged, and aligned with the work you’re doing.
I coached a leader once who was frustrated by a lack of initiative on his team. When we dug deeper, it turned out his team members wanted to take more ownership. But here’s the thing: they weren’t being asked in ways that matched their strengths.
One teammate had “Responsibility” and “Belief” in her top five strengths. She craved meaningful work and clear expectations. Once she was given a project that tied into the company’s mission and trusted to lead it, her engagement shot up. She wasn’t doing more work, she was doing the right work for her.
The most powerful way to engage people is by encouraging them to use their strengths, recognizing and praising those strengths in action, and offering respectful, constructive feedback when blind spots show up. The goal isn’t to fix people, it’s to help them build an action plan to manage their blind spots and channel their strengths more effectively.
R-I-S-E: An intentional employee retention model
The R-I-S-E framework is a blueprint for building teams people want to stay on. And in a world where retention is top of mind for every leader, investing in strengths is one of the most intentional, human-centered strategies we have. Because when people feel seen, valued, and energized by what they do, they don’t just stick around… they rise!
If you’re ready to take the next step in your leadership journey, or want to explore the applications of emotional intelligence in management further, take a look at our 1:1 coaching offerings.