Managing Your Talents [19] - Analytical

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

Your Analytical theme challenges other people: “Prove it. Show me why what you are claiming is true.” In the face of this kind of questioning some will find that their brilliant theories wither and die. For you, this is precisely the point. You do not necessarily want to destroy other people’s ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound. You see yourself as objective and dispassionate. You like data because they are value free. They have no agenda. Armed with these data, you search for patterns and connections. You want to

understand how certain patterns affect one another. How do they combine? What is their outcome? Does this outcome fit with the theory being offered or the situation being confronted? These are your questions. You peel the layers back until, gradually, the root cause or causes are revealed. Others see you as logical and rigorous. Over time they will come to you in order to expose someone’s “wishful thinking” or “clumsy thinking” to your refining mind. It is hoped that your analysis is never delivered too harshly. Otherwise, others may avoid you when that “wishful thinking” is their own.

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 Analytical?
  

Managing the Analytical Talent means having a clear, sound and sober mind. As you will naturally delve deep and search wide for facts that relate to the issue at hand, it might become difficult to know when enough is enough. Analysis paralysis doesn’t help anyone and it won’t be a good marketing campaign for your Analytical skills either if it occurs often. Clutter in your mind is usually the biggest culprit that leads to analysis paralysis. It is therefore crucial that you schedule regular times to clear your mind.

HOW?

Mindful meditation, deep prayer, taking walks in nature, or sitting and writing down every thought that comes to mind are all effective ways to clear your mind. Practicing these disciplines will dramatically increase your mental capabilities as well as your overall health. Some people build these disciplines into their daily routines by washing dishes alone or taking long showers. Having clear values can also help to make decisions faster because behaviours and possible outcomes can be measured against these. Living a value-based life simplifies life and the choices we make in life.

Managing the Analytical Talent means letting others in on your thinking process. Your Analytical talent might cause you to take a bit longer than others to come to a conclusion. This is not because you are slow-minded, but rather that the amount of information and data that you take into account is multitudes more than the average person. It is therefore important to communicate to people when you are processing information. Furthermore, “thinking on your feet” might be a phrase that you don’t quite relate to because you need time to think things through before speaking. Realise that to think on your feet means you remain calm under the pressure, not that you will have all the answers.

HOW?

A simple “uhmmm” can show that you are thinking and that they should allow you time to think before expecting you to speak. Letting others know THAT you are thinking is great on its own, but to really win with this talent, you have to learn how to let others know WHAT you are thinking. People with Analytical as a talent that has built up the skill to communicate the detail of their thinking help others to give them the space they need to think. If someone can follow your thinking process you will also help them to see how you get to your conclusions, giving your conclusion the credibility it deserves. Sometimes, you might feel a bit too overwhelmed in the moment to be able to communicate clearly enough. In cases like this, create space for yourself by having the courage to put questions off until later. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I’ll come back to you on that” or “what do you think?”

Managing your analytical talent means learning how to communicate your analyses. Your analytical talent pulls you toward facts and truth. You can sense when you do not have the whole truth or when there are facts missing. Because of your Analytical talent, you seek facts and truth and you are pushed into asking the difficult questions that others aren’t willing to ask, but which are essential to bringing clarity, security and eventually success. Because you naturally see issues objectively and aren’t easily swayed by emotions, you have to be sensitive to how your messages come across to others if they are to fully reap the rewards that lie in your inputs.

HOW?

Hone this skill of being objective by learning how to listen actively and how to ask good questions. By doing this, the people you are listening to will feel that you care and it will also bring you closer to the truth which is what you ultimately seek. Seek out opportunities where it will be helpful to look at an issue from an emotional-neutral viewpoint. Not only will you help people make quality decisions, but you’ll love doing it.

A final word:

Your analytical talent naturally guides the development of your brain to become a high speed processing unit. Build on this by ensuring you keep your brain active. Remember that you get energized by analysing.

This is who you are.

Stop, drop, and analyse!

- by Stephan Swart, TalentMosaic Strengths Coach. 

• za.linkedin.com/in/stephanswart

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.