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 

Being predominantly EXECUTIONAL

The 34 Talent Themes, as researched and defined by Gallup in the late 90's, was later "clustered" into four different groupings.  Although ongoing research is backing this specific grouping of Talent Themes, one should still realise that talents cannot be treated as a specific formula.  Instead, it is much more like art - mixing different colours bring forth a unique blend. The same with the art of cooking: you could formulate a recipe, but mixing unique ingredients and spices always has its own aroma and taste. And talents are about a unique mix...
Gallup research has shown that the 34 Talent Themes (and, note that it is called "themes" for a reason) are used within specific context most of the time. The 34 different themes of predominant thinking, feeling and behaving can be divided into four clusters, namely "Executing Themes", "Influencing Themes", "Relational Building Themes" and "Strategic Thinking Themes". (You can read more about the research on this in "Strengths Based Leadership" by Tom Rath (Gallup Press).

In the next series of posts I would like to elaborate on each of the four "clusterings", as I like to call them.  First, the Executional Themes...

Gallup sorted the so called Executional Themes as Achiever, Arranger, Belief, Consistency, Deliberative, Discipline, Responsibility, Restorative and Focus.

The first thing to keep in mind when studying these themes as being "executional", will be to keep in mind that each one refers to a predominant pattern of thought, feeling and behaviour. Interaction and dynamics between two or more talent themes has a definite and strong impact on each theme...thereby influencing and colouring the way the specific theme is manifested and used.

Overall, the 9 Executional Themes has shown to have a definite drive towards "getting things done".  You could relate it to the so called "task orientation", or, when referring to the DISC profile, towards the D and C quadrants (generally speaking, but not as simplistic). Again: this should be approach as dynamic and interdependent.

Within the drive towards getting something done - mostly something tangible - each of these themes has a specific strong element. This element can be explained as follows:

• Achiever - goal oriented; "ticking the to-do list"
• Arranger - multi tasking; organizing the bigger picture
• Belief - value driven results
• Consistency - meet the ends within fairness and boundaries
• Deliberative - questioning the outcome and facts
• Discipline - results through routine and structure
• Responsibility - driven towards results through ownership
• Restorative - the drive to fix things, make it work or restoring wholeness
• Focus - hitting the target; zooming into the details.

Should you have some of the above Executional Themes within the higher level of your Talent Profile, it is most likely that the specific talent(s) will be the dominant drive towards getting things done or you reaching specific goals.  A combination of two or more of these themes - especially within the top 5 grouping of your talents, will have a definite effect of an overall pattern towards executional (task oriented) thinking, feeling and behaving.

Sometimes you get it that someone has an overwhelming mix of a specific clustering - like 4 or even 5 out of 5 within their top 5 Talent Themes. In such instance someone will be an "do-er" or executioner to the extreme... they will be very strong in getting things done, reaching goals and hitting the target.

The cluster trap

Something that one must be very careful not to do, is to fall into the trap of generalization of these clusterings.  Not having specific Executional Themes high in your mix, does not mean that you cannot get things done, hit the mark, reach the goal or be responsible for executional duties.  Skills can be learned. That is the edge we have of being human.  But when it comes to sustainable energy, and outlasting the rest within a field, someone with strong Executional Themes will be more suited towards a situation of getting things done, in the same manner that someone with strong Relational Themes will be more suited towards a situation where people and relational interaction is predominant.

I would love to hear your views and experience on specifically the Executional Themes.  If you have some of them, how do you experience them in practice?  If you do not have them high, do you compensate? How?  If you are a coach or Talent Guide, what is your experience of this topic?  Please post your comments.

Next time I will elaborate on the so called "Influencing Themes".

- by Dries Lombaard
Founder and Owner: Africanmosaic

Visit our Website:  www.africanmosaic.com