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Strengths finder activator description5/26/2023 ![]() When I get annoyed because someone isn’t doing something the way I would do it, I use my Ideation (my #3 talent that magically comes up with ideas all. I worked with a coach to better understand my talents and how to apply them with intention, it also helped me know which talent to employ at different times. I get annoyed, I’ll admit it, and I used to think: “How is this possible? He’s the smartest guy I know! Why would he turn left here, doesn’t he know that now he’ll have to go left across traffic on the busiest street in town?” Here’s another way I know I’ve uncovered something special in a client: When I ask them about how they feel when other people don’t think in the natural way they do, like when my husband drives us on errands and I have to bite my tongue because he doesn’t seem to have a route in his head, it feels like each turn he takes is an assault on my brain. They cannot own this natural talent because it wasn’t a struggle to get good at it… isn’t that kind of silly when you think about it? I can tell when I’ve identified a true talent when I ask my client to tell me about the most common compliment they receive and they tell me, and then qualify it by saying something like: “But everyone does that.” Or “Doesn’t everyone do that?” They dismiss the compliment because the skill or talent comes too easily for them. Here’s why: Those top two strengths are so natural, so innate, that we cannot even see how they’re unique or special. And I don’t always take stakeholders on the ride with me, causing communication issues and the appearance that I’m impulsive. The map is in my head and I’m taking the first step. ![]() When I worked as a Peoplesoft consultant with Federal agencies in the DC area, those skills are what made me successful in identifying solutions for the help desk, creating easy to understand training materials, and finding solutions to implementation issues around data collection.īut for most of my life I considered myself impulsive because I didn’t realize my brain was actually coming to the solution before I could fully process what that meant. I make decisions quickly, and the majority of the time, they have been excellent decisions. ![]() It guides me to the fastest, simplest solutions to complex problems. ![]() Most of the time this way of thinking is awesome. I take the first step and know I’ll deal with obstacles or consequences as I meet them… or hit them face first. And because my Strategic is immediately followed by Activator, I just GO. Many times it comes so fast that I’m not even sure I thought about it, the solution simply popped into my head. My strategic brain immediately comes up with a solution to a puzzle or problem. I’m such a visual person, I immediately imagined the tiny mouse running, like a blur, to the next village and running back carrying a huge block of cheese over his head.Īnd just like that (snap), I had a deep insight into how I sometimes get in my own way. This is one of the reasons I don’t like these personality assessments.” When I saw the word Strategic on the Strengths report as my number one talent I laughed out loud. I know that the more I know about my own talents and blind spots, the more effective I can be for my clients.Īs I mentioned, today you’ll hear how my top two strengths, Strategic & Activator, show up in my daily life, and some strategies I now use to make sure they’re working for me and not against me. Another reason is that to be a coach and to have a coach demonstrates my belief that this works, that working with a good coach adds value. This week I’m sharing about what my top two talents, Strategic & Activator look like for me, and next week I’ll share stories of how these talents, combined with Ideation and Adaptability, all of my top 5, show up in my life, for better and for worse.Īs a Gallup certified StrengthsFinder coach, I’ve taken opportunities to work with other coaches for two reasons, one is that I believe in this stuff, the idea that when we understand our own way of thinking, our natural, instinctive talents, and when we understand where we might be getting in our own way, we find more satisfaction in our lives. Last week I shared what it is like to have Command in your top talents using the StrengthsFinder assessment.
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