Deb Menke is the ultimate hype person.

“I just really try to be there to pump people up,” said Deb, a community relations specialist at Sandia.

You don’t have to talk to her long to realize she that she is absolutely the kind of person you’d want in your corner. So, it tracks that Deb teaches a course at Sandia focused on discovering and celebrating individual strengths.

CliftonStrengths

Deb discovered CliftonStrengths more than 20 years ago. Originally called StrengthsFinder, this Gallup-developed personal assessment tool helps people identify their different strengths and talents across 34 themes. The methodology is based on the idea that people and teams achieve greater success by focusing on their strengths rather than trying to improve their weaknesses, building the collaboration and teamwork necessary for Sandia mission success.

Deb’s husband had taken the assessment with his leadership team at work, and when he came home and shared his insights, Deb was immediately intrigued. “I read the book, ‘Now Discover Your Strengths,’ which accompanies the assessment, and it was fascinating,” she said. “I’ve always loved learning about myself and what makes other people tick.”

At the time, Deb was working in Employee Health Services at Sandia. After finishing the book, she approached her manager and asked, “Can we do this?”

The answer was yes.

“My group did it, then my center, and soon all the program coordinators we worked with participated too,” Deb said. “I started leading the course at Sandia, and it evolved into a word-of-mouth phenomenon, with different organizations reaching out to conduct the assessment with their teams.”

Lifting others up

While Deb has been teaching CliftonStrengths for nearly two decades, she has been uplifting others since childhood. “I’ve always been passionate about this,” she said. “As a kid, I played every kind of sport and was part of many teams including swim team, basketball, volleyball, softball, summer tennis and cheerleading. Once I got to high school, I had to narrow down my interests, but I was almost always team captain because I loved to energize the group, motivate my team and help my teammates tap into their strengths.”

In her friend group, Deb played a similar role. “I was the one they called when they needed a pep talk, reminding folks that whatever it was, they could do it and that they were awesome,” she said.

Career journey

In college, Deb considered becoming a teacher or a nurse — something where she could help people. Ultimately majoring in community health at the University of Wisconsin while working part-time jobs lifeguarding, teaching aerobics, swimming lessons, and coaching middle and high school volleyball and basketball.

In 1995, Deb moved to Albuquerque and joined Sandia through a field experience for college credit, then student intern in Employee Health Services and went on to pursue a master’s degree in health promotion. She has been with the Labs ever since, working in various roles, including team lead, manager, medical case management, drug testing program administration, preventive health professional, executive health coach and now community relations specialist, where she manages the K-12 STEM outreach program that allows her to engage employees and career exploration opportunities for students.

A common theme throughout Deb’s career has been her drive to understand others, “speak the same language as engineers and other Sandians,” as she puts it, to better serve her customers. “Years ago, I signed up to be mentored by a director because I wanted to know what it was like to be a technical director,” she said. “I’m always trying to learn more — not just about the work we do, but about the people who do it.”

Deb’s impact

Sandia has offered CliftonStrengths at the request of teams since 2008, reaching 100 teams across the labs. Last year, the course was made available to all employees through Organizational Development and Talent Management, reaching nearly 150 people. She also teaches the course to high school students attending Sandia’s Quantum, Computing, Mathematics, and Physics Summer Camp (QCaMP) and New Mexico’s Consortium Summer Physics Camp.

“I think it can be hard for people to talk about themselves, especially their strengths,” she said. “This is true for both students and Sandians. People can be shy or may not fully understand or feel comfortable articulating their strengths, but this program helps them see how working in their top strengths allows them to find their stride and be their best.”

Deb has witnessed numerous ways CliftonStrengths has impacted Sandians, from inspiring career shifts to improving team collaboration and understanding. “Sometimes people realize their current job isn’t aligned with their strengths, and this course gives them the push they need to make a change,” Deb said. “Other times, it helps teams align around individual strengths to produce better results. But what I love most is how it helps people understand each other while better understanding themselves.”

Coach, captain, motivator, champion — Deb is working in her top strengths when she is helping others find theirs, and we are all better for it.