Managing your Talents [14] - WOO

According to Gallup, the essence of the talent theme of WOO is the following:

Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don’t. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet — lots of them.

But a talent like this 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 WOO?
  
First, your WOO talent is energized by your interaction with people, but it goes further than simply that. Your WOO needs to "win them over".  This means that there are always an agenda or goal when you gather people around you, or when you mix with them.  From a personality perspective - when you are extroverted - the interaction alone energizes you. But the talent needs more than interaction. It goes towards interaction with a reason. This reason need not be practical at all....like selling something.  It can be purely for the sake of sharing thoughts, for instance, and winning people over towards your ideas or opinions.  A WOO talent needs to understand their need for winning over, and how they actually naturally think, feel and behave in this manner.  This talent could go into "overdrive" and it can actually be to your detriment if mismanaged, as people might not understand your need or your agenda, and they might misunderstand your intentions, and then  actually even feel used in this manner.  You should manage your WOO well in this matter.

 How?

Openness and honesty are mostly the best way to win people over - and the lack of it always lead to trust being broken.  Manage you need to win others over with the values of being open and honest regarding your intentions.  People will respond with more openness then also.  Also, make sure people understand that if you have a goal tied to connecting with them, it does not de-value your respect for them.  People will always push back when they feel they have been used.

Secondly, aligning with the previous point, your WOO talent can be received as you being shallow, not being able to connect deeply.  This is not necessarily true, but people have different capacities for relationships.  Your WOO talent usually increases your capacity in this regard, and when others - with a smaller capacity in relationships - see this, they simply come to the conclusion that it cannot be real. This is not necessarily the case. Your capacity for having relationships, remembering names, interacting socially and connecting people are all part of your amazing WOO talent. But, you must know that others might not understand this.  Make sure they do.

How?

Again, explain your talent to them.  Knowledge about a talent and what it needs and contributes will also be a great help to those who do not have this unique ability.
 Be proud of your strength in this regard, and share the details about it with others.

Thirdly, a WOO talent demands healthy boundaries.  A miss-managed WOO because of a lack of healthy boundaries can be extremely annoying. You need to work on this, and understand that your WOO talent is by nature "audible and visible".  This demands healthy boundaries so that people do not feel overwhelmed or steamrollered by this talent.

How?

Healthy boundaries goes with respect for other peoples needs and wants.  It gives you the much needed skills to know when to engage and when to back off.  It helps you understand when to accept "No", and when not to.  This is a mature skill, and many people lack this ability.  Your strong WOO talent seriously needs to be balanced with healthy boundaries, as you should not disregard your talent or shut it down, but you need to manage it well.  I can strongly re comment the book "Boundaries" by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. Get it, read it and apply it.

Now go and offer this awesome talent to the world!

- 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.  All information is my own, acquired by years of Strengths Coaching experience, and not verified or scientifically tested by Gallup. The definition at the beginning is the intellectual property of Gallup, and well researched.

Managing your Talents [13] - Self Assurance

According to Gallup, the essence of the talent theme of Self Assurance is the following:

Self-Assurance is similar to self-confidence. In the deepest part of you, you have faith in your strengths. You know that you are able — able to take risks, able to meet new challenges, able to stake claims, and, most important, able to deliver. But Self-Assurance is more than just self-confidence. Blessed with the theme of Self-Assurance, you have confidence not only in your abilities but in your judgment. When you look at the world, you know that your perspective is unique and distinct. And because no one sees exactly what you see, you know that no one can make your decisions for you. No one can tell you what to think. They can guide. They can suggest. But you alone have the authority to form conclusions, make decisions, and act. This authority, this final accountability for the living of your life, does not intimidate you. On the contrary, it feels natural to you. No matter what the situation, you seem to know what the right decision is. This theme lends you an aura of certainty. Unlike many, you are not easily swayed by someone else’s arguments, no matter how persuasive they may be. This Self-Assurance may be quiet or loud, depending on your other themes, but it is solid. It is strong. Like the keel of a ship, it withstands many different pressures and keeps you on your course.

But a talent like this 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 Self Assurance?
  
First, your Self Assurance talent has the energy to handle high levels of risk. It actually needs risk, and therefor it might often choose to place you right in the path of risky situations.  You should understand that your feeling of confidence within risk is not shared by everyone. This could have a definite effect on your friends, team members or colleagues. You will push the boundaries.  To you part of the success lies in the level of risk you take....not in losing as such.
This need for risk might be the reason that you do not only seek it out, but often create risk.
Be sure to understand this need, but even more important - manage it in terms of those who needs to live and work with you.

 How?

Be intentional in having people next to you who you trust enough to give them the permission to "keep your risk meter in check". You will not like doing this, as your Self Assurance naturally does not like to be told to tone down or back off, but you will have to be wise in this aspect, as your need for risk might very well de-energize those around you, especially those who need certainty and safety more than you do.  If you cannot read your own risk meter, have someone close to you who can.  But they must understand you and your talent well enough not to keep you back. They must just step forward when they see that your risk factor gets up to a level that it works against you, and not for you any longer.

A second important aspect of managing your Self Assurance talent, is having the self-awareness that this talent defaults to "go it alone" with ease.  This characteristic will make the advice above - to have someone next to you as a guide - even more difficult, but such the more important. Your high level of confidence in your own abilities comes very natural, and it may sometimes steer you away from necessary partnerships or teamwork.You need to manage this.

How?

Form strong and trusting collaborative partnerships with people you trust. The fact remains that you are very strong in going it alone, but you should not isolate yourself with this ability. Although you will see that others admire your "lone ranger" approach at times, it may well also have people avoid you.  You are so determined and assured in your ventures that you might miss the strength in partnerships and teams. Seek it out, and stay close to people who understands your Self Assurance well.

Thirdly, see the need for planning further than the "here and now", if not for your own sake, then for the sake of those you care about.     Your Self-Assurance gets energy from takings risks in the present.  You engage with ease even if the outcome is uncertain. The problem with this is that, if miss managed, you can find yourself often in situations where you are okay with failure, and you can bounce back, but those around you are affected by it in a negative way, practically or emotionally.  This needs management.

How?

Have a "Plan Z". Think and plan ahead regarding the impact your risks will have on those around you - family, partners, team members etc.  Then make sure that they are informed not only of the risk, but also of the realities that may play out when things do not work out.  The best way is not only to have a "Plan A, B and C", but also have a "Plan Z".  This means that you contemplate and share the worst possible scenario that will happen if things does not work out.  Then have clear options in how you and those around you will handle that risk.  Let everyone be clear on it.  As long as you are clear and in agreement with this, your Self Assurance can keep on bouncing back between Plan A and Plan Y, and the line is drawn when it comes to Plan Z - so that you and those around you can rest assured that you have a safety net when all else fails.

Now go and offer this awesome talent to the world!

- 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.  All information is my own, acquired by years of Strengths Coaching experience, and not verified or scientifically tested by Gallup. The definition at the beginning is the intellectual property of Gallup, and well researched.