The Genius & Brilliance of Strengths - Part 8

This is our last in our series on the 34 Talent Themes. "Scribbles" will again resume in January 2011. Africanmosaic wishes you a great holiday and all the best for the new year.


RELATOR

The genius of your Relator talent is found in the fact that you can form relationships with virtually anyone. While you prefer relationships that are real and genuine, you have the capacity to form relationships with almost anyone. You can form relationships with people older, younger, or the same age as yourself. You can form relationships with people who have more, less, or the same status as yourself. You can also form relationships at different levels of closeness or intimacy. For example, you have at least four levels of relationships. At the fourth level, you have lots of acquaintances. On the third level are a group of relationships that are closer. On the second level, you have a group of friends. But you also have an even closer group of people, people in your “tight group”. While there are usually six or less in your tight group and many or few in the other three groups, the genius of your Relator strength is your ability to form relationships on these multiple levels of intimacy.

RESPONSIBILITY

The genius of your Responsibility theme is found in the depth and the quality of relationships you are able to form with people. Because you are a person of your word, people trust you. It is this trust that bonds you to others and bonds others to you. Your ability to build trusting relationships is foundational to any influence relationship. Therefore you tend to have a highly persuasive and influential impact on people. This talent can be used in leadership as people will only willingly follow those they trust, and trust is what you have the genius to generate in others. The final aspect of the genius of your Responsibility theme involves the level of commitment you can generate in others. This stems from the fact that you make such deep commitments to others and from the fact that you make such deep commitments to their full development and personal fulfillment.

RESTORATIVE

The genius of your Restorative talent is found in the way you can think and fix things. This is key to all problem solving. But your ability to fix goes beyond patching things together. The way you restore things involves bringing them back to life. Accordingly, you can have a restorative effect on relationships and in fact, entire organizations. The genius of your Restorative strength is that you are so good at figuring out what is not working, resolving that, and then guiding people to a way of being healthy and highly functional.

SELF ASSURANCE

The genius of your self assurance talent begins with your confidence. You have a quality that is often called resilience. This means that you can “bounce back”. Accordingly, you have an attitude that no matter what happens to you; you will in fact “bounce back” and quite probably reach higher heights even If you momentarily fail. The genius here is that you not only have confidence, but an inner compass for deciding what you need to do and how you need to do it.

SIGNIFICANCE

The genius of your Significance talent begins and ends with the difference you are determined to make. You cannot stand the thought of living and dying and there being no difference. You are bound and determined to make a difference and you want that difference to be significant. There is great energy, power, determination, and motivation within you to make a significant and lasting difference in the world. While others may consider you egotistical this is not your motive. You want to make a significant difference because there is a lot wrong in the world and you are trying to make the world better. At the same time, you want to be recognized for the difference you make. But the difference you make is the driving force.

STRATEGIC

The genius of your Strategic talent involves the way you think and generate alternatives. When faced with a problem or a dilemma you can quickly generate multiple alternatives to circumvent obstacles that prevent your progress. Sometimes you think in a backwards manner by first visualizing the outcome you want to produce and then generating multiple alternative paths to get to that objective. But your genius of Strategic doesn’t simply begin and end with generating alternatives. The real genius of this strength is found in the way that you can quickly sort through the various alternative paths and determine the one that will work best and most efficiently.

WOO

The genius of your WOO talent involves the impact you can have on other people and the ease with which you can win them over. You have an incredible ability to meet new people and almost magically know what to say in order to draw others out. Other people love the attention you give them and the way that you can affirm a person so quickly. Of course you love the process and the challenge of meeting new people. And people love it when you connect with them. The genius of this talent is that you can not only quickly connect with people but you can be a catalyst in helping people connect with one another. Make no mistake about it, when you enter a crowd the crowd will be different because you were there. In fact, you have the capacity to transform a crowd of disconnected people into a group and this is no small accomplishment.

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The Genius & Brilliance of Strengths - Part 7

We continue our series by Dr Chip Andersen.


INTELLECTION

The genius of your Intellection talents stems from the quality of your thinking. You think about ideas, concepts, and principles in great depth. It is as if you hold discussions in your mind about ideas, concepts, observations and new learnings. This results in deep learning, deep understanding, and deep appreciation for the best knowledge. Out of this deep processing, you often come to new insights and understandings. But the greatest aspect of the genius of your intellection is the wisdom that you gain from your in-depth thinking and internal discussions. You can think by yourself for hours, but never doubt what results: wisdom, clarity and a firm foundation for action planning and decision making.

LEARNER

The genius of your Learner talent begins with the fact that you love to learn in many areas. It doesn’t matter to you what you are learning, just so that you keep on learning something each and every day. But the genius of your learning doesn’t stop there. You have thought a lot about the learning process. You know how you learn and you know what best contributes to you learning effectively and efficiently. This self-understanding provides a basis for understanding and helping other learn. With little effort, you can analyze the learning habits of others and think through how they can learn most effectively. Based on this understanding of the learning process in yourself and others, you can establish ingenious programs and services to help others become better learners, high achievers, and be better prepared for the future.

MAXIMIZER

The genius of your Maximizer talent starts with what you can see in people. You can see the strengths and talents, the potentials and the capabilities, and you can see the emerging abilities within people even before they can see them. But this is only the beginning of the genius of your Maximizer talent. You can literally see what people could be like if they were to fully develop and maximize the talents, potential and emerging abilities within them. This results in you having an incredible impact in the lives of others. As you hold up pictures and mirrors of what you see in others, you help them form new concepts of themselves that build hope and motivation to achieve and be what they have the capacity to be. Moreover, you are a great “coach” in moving people to their greatest potential and in moving people into roles where their potential can be
lived out.

POSITIVITY

The genius of your Positivity talent is found in the impact that you can and will have in the lives of other people. You see the best in people. You want to bring out the best in people. You organize environments so that people can become what they are best capable of being. But you do not “sit on the sidelines” and simply hope that these good things will just happen. You get into the middle of things and stimulate people to strive for the best they can be. As a result, people became more productive, effective, and grow because of you. Your genius is found in the impact that you have on groups and individuals. Simply stated everyone gets better if you are nearby and interacting with them. As a result, you are a most valuable part of any organization and you have the talent to be a great leader, a great manager, and a great supervisor.

(To be Continued)

The Genius & Brilliance of Strengths - Part 6

Continuing our series...

IDEATION

The genius of your Ideation talent begins with your love of ideas and the way you so quickly learn new ideas, concepts and principles. But you are not passive. It is as if you take ideas and then begin spinning them around in your mind. With each new idea you learn, you tend to think about it over and over - - - spinning it around with the many other ideas you already have. The result of this thinking, turning, and spinning around of new ideas with what you already know does two things. First, you generate new connections and insights about ideas and their implications. Second, the spinning of your ideas often results in new ideas. Therefore, the genius of the Ideation talent is the creativity of generating new ideas and insights as a result of contemplating and reviewing the ideas you have learned.

INCLUDER

The genius of your Includer talent involves your ability to see outsiders and those who have been marginalized. You can see people who are physically on the outside, but most remarkably, you can discern who feels left out even though they may be physically in the middle of a group. But your genius talent of Includer does not stop with just seeing those who are physically outside and emotionally marginalized. You take action to bring people into the group. In fact this talent seems to give you an enormous amount of courage to reach out and actively bring the outsider in. The beauty of your Includer talent is that you can build relationships with literally anyone. But your specialty in relationship building is with the “invisible people” and people who others ignore. You instinctively know what to say and how to include those who others ignore and leave out.


INDIVIDUALIZATION

The genius of your Individualization talent is that you see each and every person and a one of a kind, distinct individual. But more than that, you see the particular factors, qualities, characteristics, thoughts, and perception that make each person distinct. You see each person as a mosaic of highly individual factors each of which contribute to a person’s distinctiveness. This includes both personal qualities and past events that have formed the person. You are curious about their individual characteristics and you find yourself thinking and asking questions about what makes each person so distinct. This results in people feeling special and prized by your attention. But all of this simply lays a foundation for the genius of your Individualization. Your genius is that armed with all of this thinking and question-asking, you attempt to interact with each person based on their individual qualities. This leads to meaningful and very helpful relationships.

INPUT

The genius of your Input talent is based on your curiosity. It is as if your curiosity knows no limits. You want to know about everything. Question after question propels you to learn more and more. You want facts, information, concepts, and principles. You become excited by your own questions and even more excited when you find answers to your questions. Sometimes you turn your curiosity to people and want to learn as much as possible about them, but for the most part you are driven to learn in general and in specialized areas of knowledge. As you learn, you try to keep your acquired facts organized, but this is a challenge since you continue to collect more and more information, and there is simply much to learn. Finally, the genius of your Input talent wants to share what you have learned. You can be a great communicator of what you have learned, and you get really excited about telling others about the latest thing you have learned.

(To be Continued)

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The Genius & Brilliance of Strengths - Part 5

(...continued)

EMPATHY

The genius of your empathy talent involves your ability to form high quality, deep, personal understanding and relationships with others. You have an unusual and beautiful ability to feel into what it feels like to be another person You can often feel what someone else feels without them saying a word. As a result, you can form very close, intimate relationships with people. The genius of Empathy has profound effects on others because they feel so deeply understood. Many people feel like they come healthier and more at peace being in your presence because your understanding of people goes beyond the words they can find to express themselves. While it may be hard on you to hear the pain of others, they will feel deeply indebted to you because you can understand them at such profound levels. The genius of empathy makes you a great lover of other people and they are fortunate to have you as a friend.

FOCUS

The genius of your Focus talent begins with what you can do with your mind. You can focus your attention to an unusual level of concentration. That concentration enables you to amass facts and information, read with clarity of understanding, and solve problems with great precision. You can concentrate to the extent that people may come into a room you are in, and you may not hear or see them. While others pride themselves with their ability to multi-task, you know that for you, you are most productive when you concentrate on one thing at a time. Your focusing talent results in prolonged concentration to address and solve complex problems and planning processes. You learn in great depth, and because of your focusing, when you learn, plan and solve problems, your recall is remarkable.

FUTURISTIC

The genius of your Futuristic talent begins with your incredible ability to see the future. Your ability to envision the future provides an unusual and creative way of planning and problem solving. When confronted by a problem, you will envision where you are heading and then structure your problem solving so that each solution provides a stepping stone into the future. Likewise, all planning is done in light of the visions you have about the future. Of course your futuristic talent genius gives you a powerful basis for leadership. As Robert Greenleaf noted long ago, the great leader has a ready answer to the profound question: “What are you trying to do?” You know what you are trying to do because your futuristic talent gives you clear pictures of the future you want to build. Never forget that your visions of the future will excite the imagination of others and they will be inspired because of what your genius of Futuristic can help them see. Make your visions known to everyone because they give others hope and optimism.

HARMONY

The genius of your Harmony talent stems from what you can see and how you respond to what you see. First, you can see where people can come together when they are in conflict. Often those in conflict are absolutely blind to how to resolve their conflicts because their differences seem so insurmountable. But you can often see where people in conflict could come together and resolve their differences. The second aspect of the genius of your Harmony talent is found in the way you work with people who are in conflict. Usually, one on one and one at a time, you will meet with those in conflict and help each person to clarify their own position and come to see the point of view of the person with whom they are in conflict. In so doing, you help conflicting people move to reconciliations. The genius of your Harmony talent is greatly needed in families, small
groups, and large organization. It is as if you are the “glue” that hold relationships together. Unfortunately you sometimes do not receive the credit you deserve, as much of you best work is done behind the scenes. But know that even if no one knows but you, you make a significant and a very positive difference in all of the groups and relationships that you are in.

(to be continued...)

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The Genius and Brilliance of Strengths - Part 4

Here is the fourth part in our series by Chip Andersen:

CONTEXT

The genius of your Context talent is found in the way you think about the past and use that form of thinking to learn, plan and solve problems. The present is important to you, but in your mind, the present is best understood by seeking to understand what has led up to the present. Thus, your mind often goes backwards and looks for what has caused what we are experiencing today. This look to the past gives great wisdom for understanding the present and forms a basis for making informed decisions and plans in the present and for the future. The genius of your Context way of thinking provides you with a basis for making high quality decisions and plans and for problem-solving. In addition, as you apply the genius of your Context way of thinking when you learn, you will learn with great understanding which results in high achievement.

DELIBERATIVE

The genius of your Deliberative talent is found in the quality of your decisions, choices, values, and the directions you decide to pursue. Your deliberative genius involves thinking and the fact that you will take multiple things into consideration every time you make a decision or a plan. The genius of your Deliberative talent allows you to look at an issue from multiple sides. You will “play the devil’s advocate” as you think through alternatives, values, and propositions, and you will look at multiple sides as you are learning. You will slow down the process whenever you are learning, planning or deciding. But this does not mean you are “slow minded”. Quite the opposite. This is part of your genius and results in very high quality decisions and a depth of understanding.

DEVELOPER

The genius of your Developer talent begins with what you can see in other people. You can see talents, strengths, and potential in others that they often cannot see in themselves. But this is just the beginning. You can also see what people can do to develop their talents, strengths and potential. It is as if you see “stepping stones” for moving people from where they are to higher levels of development. But it doesn’t stop there. You become energized and determined to stimulate people to move, grow and develop to higher and higher levels of personal effectiveness. Next, you are particularly perceptive in noticing even the smallest amount of progress people make as they grow and develop. This leads to your mirroring back to people their progress. Accordingly, you are a great source of encouragement and a stimulator of personal progress as you can see ahead of time what people can become and as you note their progress. The great

thing about all of this is how alive you become as you stimulate others with your Developer talent.

DISCIPLINE

The genius of your Discipline talent involves your level of personal productivity and the accuracy with which you produce things. Your level of productivity and your level of accuracy stem from the way you can structure tasks and your environment. This ability to structure is key to you being productive and to your accuracy. You can take complex tasks with multiple stages and identify the steps needed to complete the tasks. Next, you structure the environment and organize the actions needed to complete the tasks. Finally, you begin organizing, re-organizing and structuring each action step that must be complete in order to produce things accurately. Finally, the genius of your discipline talent identifies the fastest and mot efficient methods while maintaining the highest quality.

To be continued....

The Genius and Brilliance of Strengths - Part 3

We continue our series by Chip Anderson:

COMMUNICATION

The genius of your Communication talent is found in the profound fact that you can find words for your thoughts and your feelings. Whereas many people have lots of good ideas, they often stumble in finding the words that capture and convey their good thoughts. Even more people suffer from not being able to find the words that best describe and transmit their feelings. Yet, you can do this with ease. But the genius of your Communication talent doesn’t end with your ability to find words for your thoughts and feelings. You can find words for the thoughts and feelings of others. This means that in interactions, you can help other people express their thoughts and feelings as is seen in the way that you can often complete people’s sentences or find the word that they cannot find in expressing their feelings. As a result of these aspects of the genius of your Communication talent, you can form deep, meaningful and bonded relationships and help others do the same.

COMPETITION

The genius of your Competition talent begins with the tremendous energy, drive and determination within you. You want to succeed. You demand success for yourself and you measure that success in terms of where you stand in comparison to others. For you, second place is sometimes seen as another word for “loser”. But the drive to win, succeed and achieve isn’t focused on you alone. This can be a basis for leadership and impacting the lives of others. First, your “win attitude” is a model for others. Second, your competition is often turned into being a source of inspiration for others. And finally, you can use your competition talent to stimulate others to strive for higher levels of performance and productivity. You are someone who grabs the attention of others and they begin to believe that they too can achieve.

CONNECTEDNESS

The genius of your Connectedness talent provides you with a very unique way of seeing events, people, and the world. To you there are no accidents. Your way of seeing events is to recognize that everything that happens is caused by something or someone. Likewise, what is happening right now will have a “ripple” effect into the future. Similarly, you see people in terms of the accumulative events and interaction that formed them and moved them to this moment. Accordingly, this moment and the attitudes that people take to their circumstances will form their future. Extending this way of seeing to the world in general, you see the past, present and future as connected and you see that there is a “master plan” or “Master’s plan” at work at all times. Your genius talent of Connectedness provides a way of “making sense of the nonsense” around us and generating meaning and purpose for yourself. When you share what you can see with the genius of your Connectedness talent, you help others gain hope as you help them see the past and “connect the dots” of their past in a more meaningful way. In like manner, you

help people see possibilities for the future by making choices now that build a positive future.

CONSISTENCY

Your genius strength of Consistency involves both the way you think and process information and the way you see what is fair and equitable. Whereas others often take a long time to determine what is fair and equitable, to you it is obvious. You can quickly determine what should be done so that problems are solved in ways that treat everyone in a just and equal manner. This process of determining what is equitable often involves processing a great deal of information. But the genius of your Consistency talent sorts through information and comes to equitable decisions so quickly that you may not see anything special about what you do because you do it with such ease. In your relationships, you strive to treat everyone equally and consistently. This helps you win the confidence of others. You are a great, fair and just thinker because of your Consistency talent.

To be Continued.....

The Genius and Brilliance of Strengths - Part 2

Part 2 in our Series by Chip Anderson on the Genius and Brilliance of Strengths:

ANALYTICAL

The genius of your Analytical talent begins with the way your mind works as it automatically formulates penetrating questions. Your questions have a common theme in that they are always “truth seeking”. Your genius analytical questions seem to drill down with question after question until the truth is uncovered. Questions of “How you know . . .?”, “Why?”, “What evidence do you have . . .?” and “Can you prove it . . .?” are constantly in your mind. But these questions only lead to the deeper aspects of your genius Analytical talent the ultimate genius of the Analytical talent involves the quality of your decisions, problem solving and planning capabilities. Armed with the

information generated through your penetrating questions, you get to the rock-bottom issues that form a basis for the highest quality of real decision making, problem solving, and strategic planning. Moreover, your questions give you the facts and information needed for excellence in decision making and planning.

ARRANGER

The genius of your Arranger talent begins with what you can see and perceive. You can see patterns and perceive how things go together or could go together. Whereas most people only see things as isolated items, you see groupings and connections. The genius of your arranger perception comes to light in that you can take many different items, bits of information, factors, people, and/or events and then see patterns among and between them. This enables and empowers you to arrange items, facts and information, people, and the many things that must come together for successful events and activities. You are a genius at coordinating people and events because of your Arranger talent. Accordingly you can “multi-task” like few others. You can deal with chaotic situations by seeing how to combine and coordinate as you will see connections and linkages. But the ultimate genius of your Arranger talent is seen in what you do after you have completed a project. You go back and arrange and rearrange in your mind what you did. This results in increased effectiveness and efficiency each time you use your arranger

talent.

BELIEF

The genius of your Belief talent starts with the fact that you have some very deeply-held beliefs about what is true, what is unchanging, and what can be, and always will be, dependable. These beliefs go very deep. They provide personal power to stand strong no matter what. This is central to your character. But the genius of your Belief strength is what results from those beliefs. From your beliefs, you generate meaning, purpose and direction for your life and all you do. This meaning, purpose and direction translate into a tremendous amount of power, drive and motivation within you. So long as you revolve your life around your deepest values and beliefs, you will experience motivation, drive, and determination to make monumental impacts in the lives of individuals as well as groups and organizations.

COMMAND

The genius of your Command talent begins with the fact that you can and will impact others, and you will do so with great power. Your genius strength of Command gives you great courage to boldly enter into a crisis and dangerous situations. It is as if you have even more clarity of thought about what needs to be done when there is an emergency. You have the courage to step in and take charge when people are threatened and when there are threatening circumstance. In emergencies, you have clarity, a willingness to voice your ideas and people appreciate your willingness to step up and confront dangers. In these situations you will impact all around you. Similarly, you are willing to see the way through conflicts and misunderstandings by bringing to light what is often hidden. While some get nervous because you can be so powerful, everyone is

grateful when your strength of command addresses emergencies, crises, conflicts, and

danger.

To be Continued....

The Genius and Brilliance of Strengths

This week we start a series by Edward “Chip” Anderson, Ph.D., Professor, Doctoral Studies in Educational Leadership at the Azusa Pacific University. Enjoy!

From my experience, each of the themes of talent identified by the Clifton StrengthsFinder Inventory has a stroke of genius within it. The genius of our talents reflects what those talents enable and empower us to do to potential levels of excellence. The concept of genius refers to an extraordinary ability to do certain things, and as such ther

e is great beauty in seeing what is done by the genius within individuals. Accordingly, what follows is the genius I see in each of the themes of talent identified by the Clifton StrengthsFinder Inventory.

ACHIEVER

The genius of your Achiever talent begins with your tremendous motivation, drive and determination. You are in constant motion to reach your goals. The second aspect of your genius is found in the types of goals you set. You have daily goals in the form of lists of things to do. Then you have future goals tied to your daily goals. Finally you have ultimate goals. Your ultimate goals are always tied to excellence. So the genius of your Achiever talent is the tremendous amount of motivation and drive you have to reach your goals and to move your goals toward being excellent in terms of performance, productivity effectiveness and efficiency. No wonder this talent is called Achiever.

ACTIVATOR

The genius of your Activator talent begins with the concept of action. You want

action and you can make things happen. Most of all, the genius of your activator talent

gives you the ability to see how to make things happen. Whereas others have ideas that

only swim around in their minds, you can quickly see how to turn ideas into actions,

programs, and services. This points to the greatest aspect of the genius of your Activator

talent. You are creative and very innovative. Finally, you have a tremendous amount of

motivation, energy and personal power when it comes to taking an idea and then putting

it into action. You are particularly motivated to be innovative in turning your ideas into

action, programs, and services. You are a dynamo in turning ideas into actions that

generate revolutionary changes.

ADAPTABILITY

The genius of your Adaptability talent begins with where you “live” in terms of your mind. You live in the present - even the present moment. Whereas others live their lives in their “rear-view mirror”, always looking to the past and being tied to the past, you are a right here – right now person. The genius of this perspective means that you can change and change quickly. Rather than being rigid, you are flexible; and rather than being tied to some pre-set plan, you can quickly change to meet immediate demands and circumstances that require attention. But the real genius of your adaptability is seen in circumstances that make others scramble and cower into some safety zone for security. Your genius talent of Adaptability comes to light in chaos. In fact, you not only deal with chaos, you get energized, come alive and get a thrill out of chaos as you “ride the wave” and quickly make the changes that chaos requires. This then points to another genius aspect of your Adaptability talent. You can learn and change so quickly.

To be Continued.....

The 4 Most Important Words

If you subscribe to newsletters, are on Twitter or buy magazines, you can identify with the fact that you have come across many articles that gives you advice starting with the following words: “the 4 most important this or the 5 most important that.” It is as if there is a formula for success, a formula for weight loss, a formula for rising up the perfect kids. But life is not a formula, is it? So, if the heading of this post is, “the 4 most important words”, what would formula are we referring to?

Thankfully, there’s no formula. Tom Peters (www.tompeters.com) says that the 4 most important words is “WHAT DO YOU THINK?” What does “what do you think” mean? It means YOU ARE A PERSON OF VALUE WHO HAS AN OPINION THAT I WANT TO HEAR! How many times, in the course of a day, do you ask people “what do you think?”

One of the ways to be effective, is by asking the right people “what do you think?”. What are some subjects that you can categorize your question in?

If you want to get something done, ask the Do-ers “what do you think?” The Do-ers have talents like Achiever (hard workers), Arranger (organizers), Consistency (producing standard operating procedures), Discipline (produce structure and routines), Focus (setting priorities for the goal) or Responsibility (committing to getting things done). Who are the Do-ers in your world?

If you want to influence people with your ideas, ask the influencers “what do you think?” Influencers have talents like Activator (getting people to start something), Command (selling your ideas), Communication (getting the message out there), Maximizer (making your ideas better), Significance (striving to make it a success) and Woo (strategic networking). By getting input from your influencers, your ideas will grow into something larger than yourself.

If you want to build better relationships, ask the relation builders “what do you think?”. They have talents like Developer (investing in people), Empathy (feeling what others feel), Harmony (creating peace), Includer (including those that feel left out), Individualization (making people feel special) or Relator (building close and trusting relationships). Who are the relation builders in your world?

If you want to think differently about a problem or an issue, ask the strategic thinkers “what do you think?”. These are the people with talents like Analytical (brings data and facts), Futuristic (how will the future look like if you act), Connectedness (what will the consequence be of your decision), Ideation (thinks outside of the box), Input (resource giver), Strategic (what is the best option). The strategic thinkers in your life will help you to make better decisions.

BOTTOM LINE: Look at your world. Identify those that are do-ers, influencers, relation builders and strategic thinkers. So, in what category do YOU fall? What will YOU answer when someone asks you “what do you think?”

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Its not all about Talent

Talent is extremely important when pursuing your goals or dreams. Nobody will dispute the fact that your talent awareness and talent development are key to both performance and to fulfilment.

But talent is not everything, or the only thing.

There is much more at play when you pursue your dreams. Being talented (in terms of having the natural pattern of behaviour, thought and feeling) will never guarantee success - as important element as it is. hard work is also a critical factor.... we wrote about the factor of 10'000 hours of hard work previously on Scribbles. (Read about it here).

Then there are the factors of adding skill, knowledge and experience to talent also. Yes, there are many factors apart from talent that helps you achieve success. One factor that is not always addressed, is the one of you physical abilities. A huge amount of your physical abilities are simply inherited. It's in your DNA. The way you are built, how good you can hear or see, if you have a voice for singing, if you are a natural athlete.... all this is part of natural physical abilities.

Some of these physical abilities can be developed and strengthened. You can get fitter, faster and stronger. But then, sometimes certain physical abilities might simply be outside of your reach - because you do not have the genes for it.

I know someone who dreamed about becoming a professional pilot all his life. He had the drive, passion and yearning for it. He worked hard on his theoretical studies, and really performed good - it seemed like he was going to be a 'natural'....until he had to pass the physical examination. Tests revealed that he had a specific eye disorder that made him colour blind at night. There was no cure for this. He failed the test. His dreams were in shatters.....simply because he did not have the physical abilities needed.

The tables are turned with other people sometimes. You can get someone who is just naturally fit and athletic - but has no desire to achieve through sports, for instance.

When your talent, hard work and physical abilities align with a specific passion, you will see sparks fly! This combination is what is needed for excellence and high performance.

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Talent Dynamics: A Never-Ending Learning Curve

In the last couple of weeks I have had the privilege to Talent-Coach numerous leaders of different types of organizations. Working with leaders excite me. My "Core Theme", Maximizer, really gets energized by the self awareness and experience that most leaders have. But most of all, I think its my "Leaner-Input-Intellection" combination that thrives on everything I learn when I spend quality time talking to leaders.

Most of all, I am intrigued by how experienced leaders tap into their talents with relative ease... Not only in their Top 5 Themes. Leaders tap into their Top 10 Themes like most people do their Top 5. And even "deeper". This is also why I find it almost impossible to coach leaders on simply their Top 5 StrengthsFinder Reports. I need their Full 34 to really understand them, and add value to the conversation. You will never really impress a leader by simply confirming what they already knows are "floating on their surface". Leaders are deep-sea divers. They do not snorkel around the surface and admire the beauty. They like the pressure and excitement of going deeper.

One of the leaders that I coached a couple of weeks ago, had an interesting make up in his Top 10 Themes - mostly all very strong Influencing and Executing Themes. I could clearly pick it up in our conversation also. But then he mentioned to me that he finds it very strange that his Relational Themes aren't in his Top 10 at least, as he perceives himself as being very relational. As I did not know him at all, I could not confirm nor deny this. But I did notice that nearly all his themes from number 11 - 15 was relational in nature.

Later we had a Team session, and in the discussion the other members of the team also commented on the lack of relational themes in the Top 10 that did not make sense. I then suggested that, in his case, we add the next 5 themes and work with his Top 15 like we do with everybodys's Top 10. The moment I added the next 5 to the mix, everybody, including his face lit up. Affirmation and celebration entered the room.

Thing is: nobody denied the intensity of his Top 10 themes. No one wanted to take it away. But it was not complete until the next 5 - Relational Themes in this case - was added. Only then was his profile "complete".

I realised that day that some people really "dive deep" when they tap into their strengths. I do not find a mix of 15 often at all. Nearly never. But, like in this case, it is possible.

Talent dynamics cannot be contained and minimized. We are everyone much too unique.

And how cool is that.

[by Dries Lombaard, CEO Africanmosaic]

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

Capacities Every Great Leader needs

Expert Blogger Tony Schwartz writes: “When I was a very young journalist, full of bravado and barely concealed insecurity, Ed Kosner, editor of Newsweek, hired me to do a job I wasn't sure I was capable of doing. Thrown into deep water, I had no choice but to swim. But I also knew he wouldn't let me drown. Over the last dozen years, I've worked with scores of CEOs and senior executives to help them build more engaged, high performance cultures by energizing their employees. Along the way, I've landed on key capacities that show up in the most inspiring leaders I've met.

1. Great leaders recognize strengths in us that we don't always yet fully see in ourselves.
Kosner provided belief where I didn't yet have it, and I trusted his judgment more than my own. It's the Pygmalion effect: expectations become self-fulfilling.
Both positive and negative emotions feed on themselves. In the absence of Kosner's confidence, I simply wouldn't have assumed I was ready to write at that level.
Because he seemed so sure I could--he saw better than I did how my ambition and relentlessness would eventually help me prevail--I wasted little energy in corrosive worry and doubt.
Instead, I simply invested myself in getting better, day by day, step by step.”

Africanmosaic: “We get better and gain more confidence if we practice those things in which we are talented. This pushes us to give more and achieve better success. Our fellow strengths travellers will see that in us and encourage us to grow in our talents.”

2. Great leaders take the time to clearly define what success looks like, and then empower and trust us to figure out the best way to achieve it.
One of our core needs is for self-expression. One of the most demoralizing and infantilizing experiences at work is to feel micromanaged.
The job of leaders is not to do the work of those they lead, but to serve as Chief Energy Officer -- to free and fuel us to bring the best of ourselves to work every day.
Part of that responsibility is defining, in the clearest possible way, what's expected of us--our concrete deliverables. When they do it effectively, the next step for leaders is to get out of the way.
That requires trusting that employees will figure out for themselves the best way to get their work done, and that even though they'll take wrong turns and make mistakes, they learn and grow stronger along the way.

Africanmosaic: “It is key that employees know what their talents are. When they are aware of what they are capable of, based on their natural occurring thoughts, feelings and behavior, they can sort out very quickly what the best way is to get the work done. If they know where their colleagues are strong, they can partner with them where they might lack. In this way you will have a well-rounded team that will deliver on time, with success.”

Taken from: http://www.fastcompany.com/1695382/the-four-capacities-every-great-leader-needs-and-very-few-have?partner=rss

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

Stop Being so Nice...

If you have the theme of Harmony in your top 5 StrengthsFinder talent mix, you can identify with the fact that conflict is very difficult for you and that avoidance is usually the way you handle conflict.

But, steering clear of disagreements and leaving things unsaid creates unnecessary complexity and needless anxiety. To get better at confronting conflict constructively, follow these three steps:

1. Reflect. Ask yourself whether there are times you should've spoken up but held your tongue. Do you avoid certain types of conflicts? Is there a pattern?

2. Get feedback. Ask trusted friends and colleagues how they perceive your readiness to engage in constructive conflict. They might see patterns that are less obvious to you. Do you need to see the situation from the other person’s perspective?

3. Experiment. You don't have to change overnight. Try pushing back on a request or speaking up in a meeting and see how it goes. Preface your comment with an admission that you are working on getting better at conflict. This will help demonstrate your sincerity. If you have to confront one-on-one, is there someone else in your team that can assist you with the wording and confrontational style? The talent themes of Command and Empathy can assist you. Can you identify what the common ground is in this situation?

Taken and adapted from
http://web.hbr.org/email/archive/managementtip.php?date=101910

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Command: Leading with Presence

Are you experienced as bossy, opinionated, a "lover of conflict"? Then you might have the talent theme of Command as one of your signature themes.

Here's how Catherine explains her Command theme: "Command is in my top ten. It is a strong naturally occurring pattern for me, although I don't think I have built it into a strength. Even in school this talent theme showed up as I was always the one who took the leadership role in group activities. At work, now, I am the one who is labeled opinionated, the one who speaks up. I enjoy debates and never shy away from confrontation, unless directed not to. And when I am directed not to (my boss has harmony and consistency/fairness in his top five so this happens a lot) I feel thwarted. It feels wrong for me to just let things go. So, if I have to let them go, I really let them go. I detach nearly completely. I think people with a strong sense of Command like to be in charge and if/when we are not able to take the reigns, we yield totally until we find a place where we can take charge. It is an interesting contradiction. I used to always just say, "I am the oldest of seven--I'm bossy!" but now I know that this natural urge within me is my Command talent. It helps to view it as a talent and potential strength.”

Mattias says: “Command has helped me in many ways in my life and I would not want to miss it. Most importantly, it has given me the courage to reach out for help and advise (including people higher up in the hierarchy, or strangers in other companies) and to ask for what I need. In my career, I have often openly pursued my career objectives, I believe this has helped me a lot. I used to think that this is normal until my Strengths "epiphany", and ever since I realize how many people can not bring themselves to spell out what they want or to ask other people for help.”

Jasmine says: “In living in connection with my Command strength, I have gained confidence, empowerment, and focus to be honest and direct while moving forward in my life and accomplishments.”

We might experience Command very negative, but if we start to see how this talent can help us in our team, we can learn to appreciate the people that have to live with it.

Source: www.linkedin.com The StrengthsFinder Group

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Belief - Values that Endures

If you possess a strong Belief theme, you have certain core values that are enduring. These values vary from one person to another, but ordinarily your Belief theme causes you to be family–oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics — both in yourself and others.

These core values affect your behavior in many ways. They give your life meaning and satisfaction; in your view, success is more than money and prestige. They provide you with direction, guiding you through the temptations and distractions of life toward a consistent set of priorities.

This talent of Belief also causes you to see things as "black & white", either right or wrong. No gray areas. People with Belief don't see everything this way, but what they do see in black and white is clear, based on something easily articulated and unshakable.

It's helpful, when working with people embodying this strength, to understand the depth of this conviction. They tend to admire and appreciate people who also have strong convictions - even if they are the same convictions. People, who have the talent of Belief, tend to stand up for those things that they feel strongly about. This may cause friction in the office if they don’t agree with a value. People with Belief can be a valuable part of a team in this way. They're clear, consistent and act with passion about those things they do believe. Just as surely, they'll "check out" when that belief is not respected or supported. They can't work for something they don't believe in.

If you work with someone who has the talent of Belief, make sure that you understand that person’s values. More often than not we don’t know what our values are. Someone with the talent of Belief will feel strongly about things, but might not be aware of those things. They will become aware of it when the value is challenged. This then causes them to act, which sometimes can be seen as causing conflict. Find out what those values are. What do you consider to be important to you in your life?

What gives your life meaning? By identifying your values, you are able to pursue what matters, for you and the person with Belief. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Understanding each other’s values will result in clear expectations in your work environment.

Get clear on Values: "Displayed", or "Driven"?

by Dries Lombaard

In his book "Leading Outside the Lines", Jon Katzenbach tells the story about two organizations with strong values.

The first has the values of Communication, Respect, Integrity and Excellence. These values were posted on the company Website, included in the employee manual, displayed on the wall in the foyer, and proudly repeated at company events.

The second organization has the values of Honour, Courage and Commitment. Every member of this organization openly talks about these three values, and uses it to make, mostly, life and death decisions. The organizations?

The first is the shamed Enron, famous for its corrupt scandal a decade ago. The company is closed down and their CEO in jail.
The second? The U.S. Marine Corps. It has endured now for more than 200 years.

A critical difference between these two organizations is in the way they make their values come to life... or not.
Enron was a values-displayed organization.
The USMC is a values-driven organization.

The difference? No window dressing. Living the values in everyday decisions, discussions, situations and actions.

Values are both formal and informal. Formally, the can be written down and displayed, and this is a good thing. But the formal side of values means absolutely nothing if it does not connect informally in the offices, hallways, boardrooms and interactions between staff and with clients.

A way to test values, is to informally ask staff and customers about it.
 See if, firstly, they know what it is.
And secondly, if they walk the talk.

How to achieve value-drivenness? Only one sure way: an example set by management or leadership.
Informally.
Daily.

Remember: "There is no use in walking somewhere to preach, if your walking is not your preaching."


Dries Lombaard is the co-owner of Strengths Institute South Africa, and has more than 7000 hours of Strengths Coaching experience over the last decade.  He is leading a vibrant and growing network of Strengths Coaches in Southern Africa, and works with corporate and multinational leadership and management teams and C-level leaders as a Strengths Coach and training facilitator. 

Talent cannot replace hard work... or vica verca

In his brilliant book "Outliers", Malcolm Gladwell tells numerous stories about successful people in life. His make one very important discovery in his research: that it seems that almost every success story has a lot of very hard work, and long hours, behind it. To be specific, Gladwell found that at least 10'000 hours are spent working at something specific, in order to become a success. 10'00 hours. That is 8 straight hours a day, five days a week, for 5 years... a lot of practice in any book.

Gladwell found that the exceptions are so few and far between that it really is exceptions to this rule of 10'000 hours.
But, contrary to how some people interpret this, Gladwell never once claims that this 10'000 hours replace the value and importance of natural talent. On the contrary! Someone with no talent within a specific area, will simply run out of energy and 'fuel' long before the 10'000 hours is reached. Or, they might spent 20'000 hours for that matter, and never be recognized at all.

Talent cannot replace hard work, in the same way that you cannot fill up a car with fuel, and then expect it to go anywhere without starting it, and driving it. The key to fulfillment and success lies in the balance between the two. Working hard at developing your talent. Turning it into a strength. Perfecting it....if 'perfect' exists at all.

Aligning the effort and hours you invest in any activity with your continuous pattern of thought, behaviour and action (talent), is exactly what is proven by most people over history as the recipe for how they built not only success, but real fulfillment.

As you invest in this precious day, be sure to try and push towards your natural abilities. Be sure to do what comes naturally to you, most of the time. Be sure to work hard at it. Invest. This way, the most important thing of all will happen: you will find that today will have meaning and fulfillment beyond expectation. And that is already the achievement of success.

Visit our website at www.africanmosaic.com

Give Me Training or Give Me Death!

I say: take no thought of the harvest, but only of proper sowing. –(Famous Dead Poet), T.S. Eliot, Choruses from The Rock

You want to be better! It’s not a question. If you’re reading this article, you have a desire to perform on a higher level—at work and in life. You’re the fraction of the workforce and society that is ready to perform, learn, and live a better tomorrow than what you’ve achieved today.
But how do we get better? How do we really make worthwhile contributions to our family and friends, our organizations, and our clients, day in and day out?

WE TRAIN!

And I’m not talking about that old dinosaur called Two-Day Seminars or Workshops. The days of one- or two-day classrooms as “training solutions” are ineffective and dying. That’s teaching; that’s not training. I’m talking about a consistent effort to purposely get better at your job through a series of activities, experiences, and acquisitions of knowledge, skills, and competencies that are integrated into your workflow as the actual learning process—not a 15-minute follow up to some mountaintop experience you had last week. Training is a long distance race! It’s not a few toe touches and jumping jacks.

While the classroom itself still holds some meaning, the idea that you only get better in a classroom simply is not true anymore. There era of Dead Poets Society has moved beyond standing up on your desk and shouting about seizing the day, it’s a continual effort outside the classroom, in the real world, actually seizing moments. You can learn theories and skills in a classroom, but you can’t be trained to use them. You can’t create a habit in a Two-Day Workshop. With technological advancements, the idea that Soft or Off-the-Job training takes place outside of your normal workflow (in a classroom, away from your desk, pontificating some abstract leadership philosophy on a mountaintop) is Dark Age thinking. Seminars may be events, but they’re only events. Seminars and workshops don’t make us better; they only make us think about getting better.

Your colleague who is going to run in a marathon this fall doesn’t go to a one-day motivational seminar, or runners’ workshop, and think that he’s prepared to run 26.2 miles tomorrow—he trains for the event by exercising daily on a strict schedule, eating the right foods, getting the proper rest, and shedding a few drops of blood, sweat, and tears as prepare for race day.
If you’re not training, you’re dying from a slow and painful mediocre contribution. It’s not meaningless work, but it could become so much more if we take the leadership, the people, and the technical skills seriously enough to put them into action and apply them directly to our everyday real work and real lives. The next generation of leaders and learners want training, real sustained training, and through that training they want to make great contributions to the world and the workplace.

Jason Diamond Arnold
Co-Author of Situational Self Leadership in Action

(Article appeared on www.whyleadnow.com)

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Embracing Uniqueness

We all want to be seen and appreciated as being unique. Some of us do our utmost to express this uniqueness openly and positively. Other might be more reserved, but cherish their uniqueness within their privacy.

No matter what your personality might be, being unique is absolutely human. In fact, in is natural - as nature intended - because nature never clone anything. Be in a leaf on a tree, a stone in the field, a seashell on the beach, a snowflake or any animal or bird, in some specific way everything that is part of nature is also unique - even if it might look exactly the same on first observation.

Humans have two significant traits of uniqueness: outer and inner. Our outer uniqueness lies in the fact that no two people look alike - even identical twins has their own fingerprints. Inner uniqueness is even more fascinating! Your personality, character, talents, emotions and spirit is absolutely and completely unique. Nobody could be you, even if they try.

Whenever you turn up at any meeting you bring something to the mix that nobody can clone or even fake sustainably. That is simply: being you. Adding your own mix of energy, character, experience, skill, qualification, passion, point of view, values, likes and dislikes, dreams, abilities, physical presence.... this all adds up to something no salary can buy if the fit is right.

Be more confident in your own skin. Never try to fake or be what you are not. But always do try to better who you uniquely are meant to be. Keep growing. Keep challenging yourself. Keep on embracing your own uniqueness. And in doing so, you will earn the respect of others, and also realize how natural it becomes to respect those around you for who they are.

Embrace yourself today. Then grow by becomming more of you.

Visit our website www.africanmosaic.com

Misunderstanding Talents - "Empathy"

The Talent Theme of "Empathy" is directly linked to the two words: "feeling emotions". People with this talent theme explain that they can sense and feel the emotions of other people. Sometimes this feeling of emotions is literally physical to them. It hurts them to feel the pain of others.

But "Empathy" is often misunderstood as being too soft or too emotional. This is not necessarily the case at all. Remember that talent themes is all about the management of it. So, yes - a mismanaged talent theme of "empathy" could lead to someone being very emotional. But again, one must not tag someone with empathy in this way.

People with Empathy are extremely good within both one on one individual and within group or team situations. They often seem to be a lot more emotionally intelligent than the rest. It is exactly because they can sense emotions so well.

If you know someone with this theme, celebrate it! It is an awesome ability.

This concludes out series on "Misunderstanding Talents."

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Misunderstanding Talents - "Harmony"

Although the Talent Theme of "Harmony" is strongly associated with the avoidance of conflict and the yearning for peace, it should not be misunderstood as simply and only this.


Harmony is about the desire to "see things run smoothly". This is why Harmony does not usually like conflict - it is a sign of things not running smoothly. But you might be surprised how Harmony could choose to engage with conflict exactly in order to restore the functionality that is causes disharmony.


Harmony could also be associated with a level of trust and confidence. I once coached someone with the Nr 1 Theme of Harmony. He shared with me how he is often invited to get involved in meetings where people cannot agree or come to a conclusion. Very often, he says, he sits in at the meetings without even having to say a word. It is as if the level of confidence and trust within the process of negotiation is lifted to a next level with the presence of harmony in the room. This to me, is exactly what the Harmony Theme does - it restores harmony through trust and confidence.


Do not undervalue your team members with a high Harmony Theme. Do not exclude them from conflict, even if they seem uncomfortable or if they are avoiding it. Having the Talent Theme of Harmony present could be exactly what is needed to get things to run smoothly again.



Next Topic: Misunderstanding "Empathy".

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Six Fundamental Shifts in the Way We Work

Our Series on “Mis-Understanding Talents” is briefly interrupted to place this great article by John Hagel III and John Seely Brown, as posted in the Harvard Business Review this week.

The Red Queen was optimistic.
Nearly everybody in management is familiar with the Red Queen effect, taken from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass: this is the notion that "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."

It turns out the Red Queen represents an optimistic view of the world. Despite long-term increases in labor productivity, the average return on assets (ROA) of US companies has steadily fallen to almost one quarter of what it was in 1965. We're running faster, but still losing ground.

There is no sign of this long-term erosion flattening out, much less turning around.
The conclusion is inescapable: our management practices and corporate institutions are fundamentally broken. The good news, if you can call it that, is that this isn't sustainable for much longer: the trend line on ROA approaches zero in 2020. If you believe that markets spur innovation, however, it does bring up a conundrum: Why haven't companies yet figured out how to compete more successfully? One reason is because...

Value ain't where it used to be.
Competition is not only intensifying, it's changing the source of value creation from stocks to flows of knowledge, and the means for value creation from push to pull. These changes require such fundamental shifts in mindset and approach that most executives are unable to make the leap from their current ways of seeing and doing. Thus their companies remain mired on the downward slope of performance.

Asia is the new global center of innovation.
But some companies and executives are figuring it out. The bad news for the US is that these leading-edge companies and executives tend to be in China and India. Westerners generally have a narrow view of innovation, limiting it to breakthrough technology and product innovations. We need to expand beyond product, process, and even the management innovation called for by Gary Hamel to a broader notion of institutional innovation, which redefines roles and relationships across large numbers of institutions.

Where is institutional innovation most advanced? In China's open production and design models and in India's open distribution models. We've written about both of them before. Unfortunately, the concept of institutional innovation — as yet anyway — is all but invisible to most Western executives.

The collaboration curve supplants the experience curve.
We may, for the first time, have an opportunity to turn diminishing returns performance improvement into increasing returns.

The BCG experience curve is one of the most enduring ideas in business. Unfortunately, it's characterized by diminishing returns: The more experience accumulated in a specific industry, the longer it takes to get the next increment of performance improvement. As competitive intensity rises, these diminishing returns are a serious obstacle to performance.

As it becomes increasingly possible to scale the number of connections and interactions between participants in a given environment, however, a new kind of performance curve is emerging: the collaboration curve. This is characterized by increasing returns: the more participants — and interactions between those participants — you add to a carefully designed and nurtured environment, the more the rate of performance improvement accelerates.

The collaboration curve helps explain the rise of network-centric efforts ranging from open source software development to "crowd sourcing" to "creation spaces." In nearly all of these group efforts, rapid leaps in performance improvement arise as participants get better faster by working with others. The evidence for the collaboration curve is still admittedly fragmentary, but one place to look for it is in the online game World of Warcraft.

The "Dilbert Paradox" holds the key.
Companies will not be able to fully harness the potential of collaboration curves until they resolve the Dilbert Paradox.

Here's the paradox. Ask CEOs about their top priorities and inevitably they will cite talent as one of their top priorities. If this is the case, how do we explain the enormous popularity of Dilbert and The Office, which so eloquently describe the stultifying effect of our work environments on talent?

In part, the paradox arises because executives tend to focus on talent acquisition and retention, but do not invest much time on talent development throughout the firm. When they think about talent development, they spend time designing training programs rather than re-thinking the work environment to accelerate talent development. If they took on-the-job talent development seriously, they would reassess all aspects of the firm - strategy, operations, organization and information technology platforms - to find ways to foster even more rapid talent development.

Passion is everything.
Management can only do so much. All of us are responsible at a personal level, too — for reintegrating our passion into our profession. What is passion? More than simple satisfaction, passion is when people discover the work that motivates them to achieve their potential by seeking extreme performance improvement. Their job becomes more than a mode of income.

Yet our survey in the 2009 Shift Index showed that passion levels are low across all US industries. In most of them there are fewer than 20 percent of employees that say they are passionate about their work--and no industries have more than 25% that say so. Furthermore, passion levels are inversely related to the size of the employer: the larger the company, the lower the passion levels.

Why is passion so important? Because it drives a questing disposition that is essential to employee performance as they react to the inevitable unexpected challenges today's work environment presents. It also drives more connection. Our Shift Index found that passionate workers participate much more actively in knowledge flows that are the new key to value creation. If you can help make your employees more passionate, you can create value in today's economy.

Book writing has many purposes, but surely among the most important is to spark conversation, and maybe even controversy. What did we get right? More importantly, where did we go wrong? What can we do to sharpen and refine these propositions?


Next time we continue our Series on "Mis-Understanding Talent"

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Misunderstanding Talents - "Responsibility"

Are you responsible? Most of us would like to think that we are. But, if you do not have the Talent Theme of "Responsibility" high in your talent mix, I can assure you that you do not understand what responsibility really means....

The Talent Theme of "Responsibility" means that you have the natural tendency and inclination to take emotional, psychological and even physical ownership of a situation. To the high "Responsibility" people, it is much more than even a value of a virtue. It is something within their deepest core that just drives them to take responsibility of the outcome of a situation, task or project.

I have nearly never encountered someone with this theme high in their Talent Mix, that immediately fully embrace this theme. Most people with this talent will describe it as a "burden", a "challenge", and even a "curse".
Wow. This is especially true when this theme combines with other specific themes like discipline, belief or deliberative. Still, I am convinced that it is not the theme itself that is the burden - it is the management of that theme that is difficult, and therefor the feeling of strain under that theme comes from the mismanagement of the responsibility.

People with this talent has one specific thing in common: they find it very difficult to say the word "no". They will keep on piling up more responsibility, always making more time to get things done, and (even more so should they have something like "Achiever" in their mix) they will burn themselves on all ends in order to fulfill the expectations... expectations that is mostly set by themselves.

I always urge people with this theme to get their hands on the books by Henry Cloud and John Townsend in the "Boundaries" series. To work on the important skill of setting healthy boundaries, is an absolute must for people with the responsibility talent. They mus learn to stop holding the gun to their own heads. And they should not allow others to hold the gun either.

The beauty of responsibility is tremendous. They are timely, accurate, precise, hard working, and... well, responsible! But we must understand that this is an emotional responsibility. It is a driving force within them. This talent theme might well be the strongest of all the so called "Executing Themes", meaning that someone with this theme will simple GET THINGS DONE. But, it comes at a cost, if mismanaged.

Should you have this theme, or work / live with someone with this theme, be aware of the beauty of it, but also of the shadow side.

The key word here is "well managed".


Next time: Misunderstanding "Harmony"

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Misunderstanding Talents - "Deliberative"

"Why are you always so negative? You only seem to see the dark side of things. Why must you ask all these difficult questions?"

To someone strong in the Talent Theme of "Deliberative", this feedback will sound all too familiar. Because the "deliberatives" are careful, always counting the cost so to speak, and very diligent in looking at things from all angles, they often see things that others miss.

A team without this Talent Theme in the mix, has some problems. I like to refer to people with this talent theme as the "brakes" on a race car. For any team speed and progress is a good thing, but, just like on a race car, when there is no brakes, the first bend in the road might well be the end of the road. People with the "deliberative" theme can see obstacles when most others miss it. That is the reason why they could be misunderstood as "negative" or "pessimistic". All too often the preciousness of this theme is missed.

The best way to take full advantage of someone with this theme, is to give them two things: time and opportunity. Giving them time to think is essential, because they need time to process through all the dark spots that they see ahead. The also need opportunity to give feedback and to respond.

When I work with teams, here is my advice regarding someone with Deliberative: go through all the strategic planning, the ideas and the vision for the future. But, when you are done, simply ask the "deliberative" in the room this simple question: "Okay, so what did we miss?" Also then allow them time to first think about it - so it might even be a good idea to let them start the next meeting with feedback on this.

Again: like any other Talent Theme, "deliberative" can also be mismanaged. Having brakes on a racing car is essential, but brakes that is stuck and never loosens, is of no use. So a note to "Deliberatives": sometime you will need to "let go" and take the chance.

Take good care of the Deliberatives in your team. And if you are one, do not feel guilty or burdened by what you see and what others miss. That is your gift that you must bring to the party. Or else you might utter the familiar words later: "I told you so..."

Next time: Misunderstanding "Responsibility".

Visit our Website at www.africanmosaic.com

Misunderstanding Talents - "Command"

Do you have one of those colleagues who always bluntly speak their mind? No matter how direct, how insensitive or how confronting, they will simply state their opinion... This is the person who others often refer to as rude, insensitive or even arrogant. Always has something to say on a topic. Opinionated.

Chances are that you then have a colleague with the "Command" talent theme high in their talent mix. This theme makes people speak their mind. Always. Direct. They need to be in control.

Too often we misunderstand this theme's dynamic in action. Of course it could be mismanaged (just like any other theme), and character issues could well cause the person to be rude and arrogant. But all too often we label a person as being arrogant or rude or insensitive when they do not in the least intend to be. They simply say itlike it is, and step up to the challenge.

"Command" is about stepping up and taking control. It is a highly assertive and executing talent theme. Someone with this theme will engage in a conflict situation with ease - often even generating conflict and deriving energy out of it. They need to be in control for a reason - the are very sure that they could add value and lead in the right direction. They are very sure of themselves and would want to "make a mark" in a situation or challenge.

Misunderstanding this theme could remove someone from a team or project who is very needed, simply because they prefer to take on the strong wind directly in their faces. Every team needs such a person.

Your understanding of this theme will assure that you or your team are not offended by their directness or arrogant image. You will not back off when they challenge, but will take them on because you understand that it will bring out the best in them.

Still, you will also build up a trust with such a person that gives you the opportunity and the right to tell them - to their face - when the sometime ARE rude, arrogant or insensitive. They will take it, when it comes with facts and foundation.

With someone in your team having the "command" theme high, you can go to war. But misunderstanding it, will be like constantly declaring war...

Next time: Misunderstanding "Deliberative"

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