Compensating for my Weaknesses by living my Strengths

Weakness:  Adaptability

Today set the stage perfectly. I had my day planned, my agenda set out and just could not find the odd moment in between to "quickly" add my contribution regarding this non-pattern! Believe me I tried! LOL! I Just could NOT respond in the now! I had to PLAN when I was going to respond! 
With Strategic #1 I always thought I was fairly adaptable. Over time I have realized that I actually need to plan things, even in splits of seconds or minutes. Never agenda-less. I can react fairly well to the unforeseen, in logical planned steps!

Weakness:  Context

When we play strongly in our strengths-arena, we so graciously compensate for our non-patterns that looking at them individually and scrutinizing the aspects that caused them to be ranked so low is an unnatural act in itself. It is almost "non-patternish"

Anyway, today I had the unfortunate privilege to check the stock sheets in our practice. Our software system does not give me the information my strategic and analytical needs, and I created a new way (ideation) that would provide us with more information to analyze. For this, I had to dig up invoices from the past 18 months! I could feel the agony of dealing with the old to create something new in my bones. Fortunately, my achiever turned my moves into robotic actions and I gradually gathering all the information. Even though I am drained I am very chuffed for completing. I can see the value of the past but I am grateful that I do not have to play there every day!

Weakness:  Consistency

I often wondered why Consistency is a non-pattern for me. I teach others on Policies an Procedures, I loathe unfairness more than I love fairness, I teach my children that rules can protect more than it can harm but still it came out low.

I discovered my answer in the fact that it is an Executional theme. When I have to get things done, the aim is to get it done within my own set of high values. If I have to do it within a set of rules that don't make sense tome, I will be more than happy to bend, alter, or rewrite them completely so that it makes sense to me. 

With my strong Influencing themes it actually comes naturally to challenge rules in order to create better ones. Until the situation asks for a new set of rules. Changing it is much more creative than following them just because they are there. 

This makes it difficult for people to get me. The people that know me well also know that I operate from strong values and that, even if I challenge or rewrite the rules or set procedures, they will know that it is born from strong conviction.

Weakness:  Harmony

"What are you resisting"?  Harmony? Maybe. Silence? Denial? 

Yes. 

So for the sake of resisting the things I find hard to agree with I really battle walking away to keep the peace for the sake of harmony. Awareness has helped me wait until I react. It has also helped me choose how to react. Thus tapping into my Top 10 before I allow my non-patterns to define my actions, I embrace my strongest talents to motivate my actions. 

For me, trust is clothed in harmony. Harmony cannot exist in situations where truth has no voice.

I love my Harmony where it is. That is where I trust it. Ready. Not absent. Just ready.

Weakness:  Restorative 

I was busy fiddling with an oooold Blackberry phone that my youngest (she is 6..) wants to have as "her phone", while contemplating my contribution wrt my #34. I then asked my eldest if she thought I was good at fixing things. True to her 17 years she rolled her eyes, sighed and indicated (wordlessly of course) that I was asking her while I was busy fixing this old phone. I then rephrased my question and asked her if she thought I wanted to fix things.

Her answer was this: Well, maybe it's not so much because you want to, but because you can.
And that is just it. Since I can remember I have been labelled my father's right hand. Being practical and innovative (hopefully due to a healthy mix between my strategic and ideation), I have always been the fixer. The yellow pages of the family. "Ask Lizelle, they said" rings true. I fix everything, from broken school shoes to light bulbs to printers. But maybe not because I want to. Maybe only because I can. Then it is a skill, not a talent.

What I can say to support Restorative at #34 relates to my sewing abilities. I used to love designing and sewing dresses without a pattern but with a picture in my mind. Once something went wrong and I had to fix the problem, the design lost its appeal and I would leave it and store it, untouched for years in cardboard boxes. 

I never liked fixing those.

Still need some coaching on this one though!

Lizelle Loock is an Gallup Certified Strengths Coach

lizelleloock@gmail.com