Posted on 31 May 2011
Senior Commander Andrew Davison (far left) and Dr Gary Pritchard (centre) with firefighters from White Watch Bridgend.
How do we become the best possible version of ourselves? This is the age-old question which has troubled thinkers in a whole range fields from academia, business, psychology, sociology through to the world of sport.
Traditional thinking holds that our strengths will take care of themselves and that we need to work mainly to improve our weaknesses in order to reach our potentials as individuals. However Dr Gary Pritchard of the University of Wales is adamant that this thinking is outdated and incorrect.
‘Maximising Your Talent’ is a new programme designed by Dr Pritchard which aims to bring out the best in individuals, teams and organizations through employing a strengths-based approach to development. Dr Pritchard takes the view that people already have within them a group of talents that are key to reaching high levels of personal achievement.
Contexts for this strengths-based approach can include team building, personal coaching and organizational change. By the end of the training session, each team member is given a customised personal strengths profile and strategy to develop it.
The School of Arts and Humanities - where Dr Pritchard holds the post of Senior Lecturer - was recently commissioned by the South Wales Fire Service to help train their top firefighters and Commanders in developing their talents.
The training day included the firefighters being given a personal talent audit using a psychometric test and explored strategies to utilise these unique strengths in tackling everything from emergency call outs to developing team bonding with colleagues.
Speaking of the training day, Senior Commander of the South Wales Fire Service, Graeme Smith, said;
“I really enjoyed Dr Pritchard’s session today. I'm looking forward to building on my talents and helping others to develop theirs. I was hugely impressed with Dr Pritchard’s performance. He held the attention of the audience through his confident, upbeat delivery and his passion for the subject matter was contagious. All in all I had a fabulous day.”
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Notes to Editors:
For more information regarding the University of Wales’s newly-formed Faculty, click on: http://www.wales.ac.uk/en/Faculty/FacultyHome.aspx
For more information on The University of Wales please visit: www.wales.ac.uk
For press and media information, please contact Tom Barrett, Communications Officer, University of Wales: t.barrett@wales.ac.uk