Beta cohort now open · 5 spots available
Discover what you do when you’re at your best
A structured four-session learning experience that surfaces your strengths through stories from people who have seen you at your best.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Professionals at a turning point
The Strengths Story Sessions are designed for people in transition — whether that means you are finding a new path, adapting to a big change, shifting sectors, moving forward after a layoff, or rethinking your current work.
This is for you if:
You are beginning a new phase of life and want to ground what’s next in your unique capabilities
You’ve been laid off or taken a package and want clarity before committing to what comes next.
You’re moving between organisations or sectors and want to lead with what’s most authentic about how you show up.
You’re staying put but feel misaligned and want language for the strengths you know you have but can’t quite articulate.
You’re building something new — a consultancy, a portfolio career, a pivot — and need a grounded foundation to build from.
WHAT YOU’LL LEAVE WITH
A best self portrait, a transition action plan, and lessons learned
The Strengths Story Sessions are structured so that insight leads to action, and action leads to learning. By the time we finish, you'll have three concrete things.
A Best Self Portrait that you can use for years
Not a generated report. A hand-crafted document grounded in real stories from real people who know you. A creative synthesis that names your signature strengths, the conditions under which you do your best, and the patterns others consistently see in you that you've likely been undervaluing. This portrait can become a touchstone document you'll return when you find yourself facing a transition or choice point.
A Transition Action Plan connected to what matters now
Most self-knowledge work produces good insights and no clear next step. These sessions are designed so that doesn't happen to you. We keep your transition, your goals, and your context front of mind throughout — and by Session 3, we build a specific action plan that connects your strengths directly to what you're navigating.
A set of tested lessons earned through experiments and action
This is what most programmes skip. Between Sessions 3 and 4, you put your plan into practice. When we meet for the final session, we review what you actually learned through experience — what worked, what shifted, what you now know about yourself that you didn't before. You leave not just with a document but with evidence from your own life.
HOW IT WORKS
Four sessions, spaced over three months
The programme is structured as a facilitated learning journey. Each session has a distinct purpose, and the work between sessions is where much of the learning happens.
Our work together
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We meet for an hour to walk through the process together. You’ll leave knowing exactly who to invite as contributors, how to make the request, and how to set up your story collection.
Between sessions: STORY COLLECTION (platform-supported)
Over two to three weeks, your chosen contributors — colleagues, collaborators, mentors, family members, friends — send you short stories about a time they witnessed you at your best. Contributors submit their stories through the RBSE online platform. I can provide light email support as needed.
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We analyze your stories together and create an outline of your best self portrait. I facilitate a structured close-reading process to surface patterns, name themes, and help you see what others consistently experience when they are with you — including things you’ve likely been undervaluing.
Between Sessions: PORTRAIT CREATION (on your own)
Over two to three weeks, you take the outline we start in the session and create a best self portrait. You'll draft your portrait in a form that suits you after reviewing several examples. Past participants have created portaits that take many forms: a narrative, artwork, poetry, or a presentation deck.
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We review your Best Self Portrait together and work to flesh out an action learning plan aligned to your transition. You leave with at least one or two concrete experiments or actions you will take to move forward.
Between Sessions: ACTION LEARNING (on your own)Over the next one to two months, you will take action and intentional experiments to move forward. I am available to provide brief on-demand support as needed.
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We meet to review what you have learned through navigating your transition and taking action. You will walk away with a set of lessons learned and a decision on your next steps.
THE METHODOLOGY
Grounded in two decades of positive organisational research
The Strengths Story Sessions are built around the Reflected Best Self Exercise™ (RBSE), a research-based methodology developed by scholars at the University of Michigan’s Centre for Positive Organizations. Over 26,000 people have completed it at institutions including leading business schools and companies worldwide.
What makes the RBSE distinctive is its source material: unlike personality inventories or competency frameworks, the RBSE draws on real stories from people who know you and have worked with you, making the insights both specific and deeply credible.
“The positive and motivating jolt of energy I felt as I read fifteen stories of how people who mattered to me saw me at my best was better than any assessment report, workshop, or coaching session I had ever attended.”
— My own experience with the RBSE, 2019
I am a certified RBSE facilitator through EnlivenWork, the University of Michigan Centre for Positive Organization’s social benefit venture to support people and organizations to thrive through ideas based on positive organization scholarlship.
YOUR FACILITATOR
David Rubeli
I’ve spent my career working with professionals who are navigating transition in institutional settings — academic leaders advancing organizational change, faculty reconsidering their roles, staff finding new direction after change. The Strengths Story Sessions draw directly on that experience.
I come to this work as a process facilitator. My role is to help you see clearly what’s already there, to surface the pattern in the evidence, and to help you build something durable from it.
In 2019, during a period of organisational upheaval in my workplace, I completed the RBSE myself. The experience reoriented how I understood my own professional identity, and opened paths I hadn’t previously seen. That’s why I facilitate it.
Background
Independent consultant specialising in learning facilitation, educational development, and team dynamics and effectiveness
Former educational consultant at the Teaching and Learning Centre at Simon Fraser University. Prior roles at University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa
Multidisciplinary scholar practitioner with expertise in Adult and Higher Education, English Literature, and applied qualitative research
Certified RBSE facilitator · University of Michigan / EnlivenWork
BETA OFFER
Five spots. Reduced rate. Real work.
I’m running a limited beta cohort of the Strengths Story Sessions to refine the facilitation process. Beta participants receive the full four-session experience at a reduced rate, in exchange for a short structured conversation at the end to help me improve the programme.
Beta Pricing
Beta facilitation rate: CAD $1,295
Includes Reflected Best Self Exercise platform fee (US$75 value)
All four sessions will be conducted via Zoom at times that work for you. I work with clients across Canada and internationally.
The beta cohort is limited to five participants. To reserve your spot, visit the booking page or send me questions using the form below.
Questions about the Strengths Story Sessions? Ask away:
The Reflected Best Self Exercise™ is a registered trademark of the Regents of the University of Michigan.