What Strengths-Based Matching Really Looks Like

I’ve used a lot of leadership tools over the years—frameworks, rubrics, 2x2 matrices—but none have made more of a lasting impact than CliftonStrengths(R).

It’s easy to say “match people to the right projects,” but in real leadership practice, that gets messy fast. We often don’t know our team members well enough. We don’t always have time for long onboarding. We need to move.

And that’s where strengths-based matching has changed everything for me.

When I first started working at Rio Salado College, we used the MBTI with our faculty teams. It was helpful. It gave us language for preferences, communication, and collaboration. But when we started using CliftonStrengths later on, something clicked. The conversations got richer. People lit up when they saw their themes in writing. It wasn’t just about what they could do—it was about what energized them.

In the story I shared on our podcast—the international student exchange project I led early in my career—I was matched based on a combination of resume skills and deeper insights. My department chair (now my co-host Vernon) knew I had lived in Uruguay, worked with youth, and loved cross-cultural learning. But he also had us take MBTI. We sat down and talked about the results. And that helped him see how I might lead, how I might collaborate, and what I might need to succeed.

That experience shaped how I now lead and coach others.

I’ve had team members who were strong strategists but needed more time to process before presenting. Others had incredible relationship-building strengths but were always placed in roles requiring task execution without collaboration. When we adjusted their roles—even slightly—the results were immediate. Morale went up. Ownership increased. Projects moved faster.

Strengths-based matching isn’t about assigning everyone to their comfort zone. It’s about knowing when a stretch will be energizing versus overwhelming. It’s about designing teams with diversity of thought, motivation, and contribution.

So when you’re building a team or assigning roles, don’t just ask, “Who has capacity?”

Ask:

• Who brings energy to this kind of work?
• Who has the strengths to move it forward?
• Who needs a stretch—and who needs a win?

Those are the questions that build agile, resilient, and high-performing teams. That’s the heart of MACRO Leadership. And that’s the “M” in action.