“
You
love to solve problems. Whereas some are dismayed when they encounter yet
another breakdown, you can be energized by it. You enjoy the challenge of
analyzing the symptoms, identifying what is wrong, and finding the solution.
You may prefer practical problems or conceptual ones or personal ones. You may
seek out specific kinds of problems that you have met many times before and
that you are confident you can fix. Or you may feel the greatest push when
faced with complex and unfamiliar problems. Your exact preferences are
determined by your other themes and experiences. But what is certain is that
you enjoy bringing things back to life. It is a wonderful feeling to identify
the undermining factor(s), eradicate them, and restore something to its true
glory. Intuitively, you know that without your intervention, this thing — this
machine, this technique, this person, this company — might have ceased to
function. You fixed it, resuscitated it, rekindled its vitality. Phrasing it
the way you might, you saved it."But a talent on itself is quite meaningless unless you develop and manage it. That is why we believe that "a well managed talent becomes a strength, but a mismanaged talent becomes a detriment".
How do you manage the talent of Restorative?
First, clarify where exactly this unique talent of your draws its energy from. Restorative has two major "directions" in which it can flow: healing people, or fixing things. Mostly Restorative connects with one of the two, but in some cases even with both. Your other top talent themes will play a significant role in this. If you are highly relational, chances are you lean towards healing people. If the other themes are more executing or even thinking in nature, maybe you will lean more towards fixing things. But ultimately it aligns with your passion and interest. Clarity surrounding the specific field your Restorative connects with, will help a lot when it comes to understanding how you should manage it.
How?
Are you drawn towards people-problems, or more towards fixing practical problems? Also, you might find that people come to you with their problems as they sense they can trust you with the advice and solutions you offer. same goes for the more practical applications. Do people near you with their tangible problems, and are you energized to fix it? That is significant.The, once you have clarified the area your Restorative is drawn to, focus your time and energy more towards that context. Surround yourself in the problem-arena. Give advice, fix, and heal in the way you do best.
A second important aspect is the skills you align with this talent. Restorative needs to tap into skills and knowledge. You need to keep in mind that talent is different than skill. A skill is a "how to". A talent is the energizing factor surrounding some specific pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving. With Restorative, you might become frustrated if you do not have the skills to fix problems or issues. You need to acquire those skills!
How?
Once you understand the arena your Restorative are drawn towards, you need to identify the skills you need to fix things in that arena. If you love fixing broken cars, then skills and knowledge in the mechanical field will be a huge accelerator to your talent. If it is more in the area of assisting sick people, maybe you should consider a diploma in nursing. If you are drawn towards the emotional and psychological hurt and problems, you might consider acquiring skills in counseling, therapy or even psychology. Align skills and knowledge with your Restorative and watch it explode into orbit!
A third important management principle when it comes to your Restorative, is to manage the fact that you cannot fix everything, or heal everyone. Your Restorative is not only drawn towards problems, but it also thrives on the results of fixing things or healing people. And those results is not guaranteed. It can become extremely frustrating and draining if you are constantly working on a specific problem, with no result and no end in sight. You need to apply healthy boundaries with this talent, in the same way people with for instance Empathy has to apply boundaries. The problem or brokenness is NOT yours. You do not own it. You can put all you've got into it, but sometimes you need to draw the line and walk away. John Wayne had a great quote: "If the horse is dead, dismount".
How?
Learn all you can about healthy boundaries. You might want to buy and read this book. It is brilliant and very practical. You should understand boundaries and practice to apply it. But also, you should make a point to learn form your experience with the events or people you get involved in.
A fourth important aspect is to realize that, of all 34 talent Themes, restorative is naturally drawn most towards "weakness fixing". You should manage that. It is not wrong to fix a weakness. But the principle of building on strengths should trump the weakness fixing factor. In years of experience I have found that from all people I coach or train in Strengths, the Restoratives find it most difficult to celebrate strengths. They are naturally focused on the problem, and therefor drawn towards weakness fixing by default. (Especially if it is your Core Theme. Read this post.) You should be aware of this so that you understand that what you see as essential in most situations is not necessarily how it should be approached - and this goes for ANY talent theme. Remember that Restorative is applied in remedial context. It needs to have an end where someone or something moves over to their natural strengths.
How?
Practice the principles: "If you understand it, you can command it, and if you know when you need it, you can feed it". Like any other talent theme, restorative should not be over-used. You should not try to see problem in every situation, project or person. Just like I explained in my previous post on Intellection, this talent of yours will need to be intentionally "switched off" in certain contexts. You cannot let it run wild, or overpower your other talents! Intentionally leverage your other talents to also play towards a balance of sorts. With this I do NOT mean you should suppress your Restorative or feel guilty for having it! (Read this post.) You should merely manage it well, and you will know from experience if this is necessary. Every person has a stronger will than their talents.
Your Restorative is there for a reason. Go ahead and fix, heal and point out the problems as only you can. Use it often, wisely and well.
- by Dries Lombaard, founder and owner of Africanmosaic and TALENTmosaic.
Important note when reading this: in this series, I simply focus on the specific talent in isolation. I do not take the crucial element of Talent Dynamics (two or more talent themes combining) into consideration. This is very important as any Coach should take that into consideration when coaching people in their talents. But you need to understand the challenges that the talent theme on its own might hold. Therefor the challenges in managing the talent as explained below might not be applicable to everyone, as the dynamics with some of their other talent themes might override the specific challenge and "make up for it". But, knowledge of the most common management challenges in every talent theme still is crucial in talent development and when turning the talent into a strength.
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