Managing your Talents [30] - Developer

By Dries Lombaard

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

"You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them experience success.  You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of growth — a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments — invisible to some — are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel. They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.  Your patience in developing others is one of your strongest virtues."

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 Developer?

Your need and ability to patiently develop potential from something most people won't even recognize as potential is what makes you so special.  One of the strongest virtues that goes with this talent themes, is probably patience.  You have tons of it.  But, sometimes that could be to the detriment of the person you develop, if you do not manage it well. 
Patience is a virtue. When patience is applied in the right situation and environment, it achieves more than urgency ever will.  But patience could also "hijack" you.  I have often found that developers so loves the activities of developing people, that they want to make it last as long as possible. There may be a time when someone need to go to a next level of development and pick up speed, and you may not want to "lose" them. Be careful of this.  When it becomes about your need to develop more than the persons need to be developed, you are not contributing a well managed talent.

How?  

One of the best ways to make sure your Developer do not hijack you, is through a complimentary partnership.  And one of the best talents to partner with in this, is Maximizers.  The Maximizer talent is just as keen to develop potential....but mostly they lack your patience.  Where you patiently take someone from "zero to hero", they get energized by taking someone from "good to great".  Sometimes that is exactly the next level people need. Get next to Maximizers and get to understand them.  Then work with them.  They will love you for your patience, and you will love them for their speed.  (Read more about Maximizer here).

You need to develop others.  But one of your most important needs, that you may be ignoring at your own detriment, is your need to be developed yourself. 
You cannot give what you do not have.  Developers need to be developed - constantly.  Your talent is not only linked to the skill and knowledge which goes with development, but also with your own experience and journey in being developed.  Many Developers ignore this.  And that may cause your Developer talent to be depleted.  Manage this well.

How?

This may sound simple...because it is.  "Get developed".  You may even want to be maximized.  Make sure you surround yourself with developers, mentors and influencers who can invest in you and your talent.  This should be an intentional move as it won't simply happen. Reach out to those you believe can add value to your journey.  Remember that it energize them to develop you just as it does you to develop others.

Go develop - others and yourself.  Your ability and patience is precious to the world.


Dries Lombaard is the co-owner of Strategic Leadership Institute and NeuWorx, and has more than 7000 hours of Strengths Coaching experience over the last decade.  He is leading a vibrant and growing network of Strengths Coaches in Southern Africa, and works with corporate and multinational leadership and management teams and C-level leaders as a Strengths Coach and training facilitator.  

Managing your Talents [29] - Significance

By Dries Lombaard

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

"You want to be very significant in the eyes of other people. In the truest sense of the word you want to be recognized. You want to be heard. You want to stand out. You want to be known. In particular, you want to be known and appreciated for the unique strengths you bring. You feel a need to be admired as credible, professional, and successful. Likewise, you want to associate with others who are credible, professional, and successful. And if they aren’t, you will push them to achieve until they are. Or you will move on. An independent spirit, you want your work to be a way of life rather than a job, and in that work you want to be given free rein, the leeway to do things your way. Your yearnings feel intense to you, and you honor those yearnings. And so your life is filled with goals, achievements, or qualifications that you crave. Whatever your focus — and each person is distinct — your Significance theme will keep pulling you upward, away from the mediocre toward the exceptional. It is the theme that keeps you reaching.

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 Significance?

Significance is probably one of the most misunderstood talent themes of them all.  People who do not understand this talent can very easily project on it as a negative character trait. 
One of the main reasons for this is because Significance cannot function behind the scenes. It's essence in contribution lies in its visibility, influence and impact.  This is why some people may regard this talent as "attention seeking", always seeking out the limelight and needing the applause.  This is not necessarily the case at all.  When miss managed, then Significance will for sure come over as all of the above, with an arrogant edge to it. The difficulty is that this "importance" of the stage and the limelight is exactly where the strength of this talent resides. This is why you often find Significance with politicians and celebrities - they are built for the stage.  But, management is needed for sure....

How?

First off all, realize that you have natural presence.  You need not try to create it - people already sense it in you, if you are authentic.  Thus, keep back on "trying to be significant"...just be yourself. The moment you put more nervy into creating some image of significance in yourself, it will easily be seen as arrogance.  Trust your talent to flow naturally.  Do not force it.  Study those people who you regard as being significant - your mentors, heroes and idols, and watch hoe those who achieve most are most humble.  They are also themselves.  Learn from this.  Your Significance talent will take you to the absolute top of your game, if you manage it with humility and grace.

Your talent of Significance needs guidance and mentoring.  This is crucial to achieve your need to leave a legacy. 
Without significant people who invest in you, your Significance talent may not develop into its potential ever.  Make sure you rub shoulders with people you regard as significant - but make sure it is the right people for you!

How?

Your Significance is a drive towards a purpose....a legacy.  You need to figure out what this purpose of significance is to you specifically.  This may take some time on your life journey, but be intentional to find your purpose.  Then, seek out people and resources to support you towards that exact purpose.  Get the right mentors by being bold and asking them to mentor you.  Read books that aligns with your purpose.  Remember that your Significance could be drawn off course if you are influenced by the wrong people - wrong in the sense that they do not support your purpose.  Be very intentional about this!

Go out and be significant!  It will be your legacy.

Managing your Talent [28] - Activator

By Dries Lombaard

Director:  Strategic Engagement; The Strengths Institute

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

“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that 

analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,” but this doesn’t seem to slow you. If the decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can’t. You must put yourself out there. You must take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. This does not frighten you. It pleases you."

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 Activator?

Activators are fast, impatient and energetic. They create an energy with people that results in activation, movement and urgency.
I just love the Activators in my space.  Maybe it is because I am high in Ideation, so where for me, the idea is the point, the Activators just cannot let a great idea go. They have this need to turn ideas into action.  But it is more than that....they are probably the best motivators around.  Very much like a Woo or Maximizer, they want to convince you that there is something better if you simply make the move.

Now this energy can just as easily become a detriment.  The urgency and impatience which comes with the Activator talent often cause them to "rush in", make fast and sometimes impulsive decisions and moves, and skip crucial deliberation, strategizing or planning before the move.  And, they take others with remember.  So this detriment of "over-activation" may be quite a frustration to people who, sometimes blindly, follow the Activators.  Thus, this urgency need management....

How?

The solution seems simply to everyone, except to the Activators.  It is simply to "pause".  I know, the mere word probably frustrates the Activators!  But I do not mean you should abandon, delay unnecessarily or give too much time.  I just mean you should have that intentional "pause button" in your behavior that not only give you time to be certain that the move is the right one, but it also respects the need of the deliberators, strategists and planners to "catch up" with you, or even potentially warn you against lurking problems ahead.  Activators should also realize that others may be much more engaged and resilient if they had some time to "buy in" to the idea or prepare for action.
Develop a "pause button". But, still celebrate your urgency and speed!

Ask any Activator, and many will confess that they have lots of start-ups they innitiated ...but not as many finishes. The "finishing energy" of Activators are pretty low. They get bored, and move on.
If this is part of your Activator legacy, you will also know that people around you are pretty frustrated by this tendency.  Maybe they even developed the behavior of not taking your initiatives seriously, as they expect you to let it go and move on pretty soon.
You need to realize that what you do is not wrong.  Starting things, and getting others moving, is what make you strong.  But, you will definitely have to manage this strength.

How?

The very best way for an Activator to overcome this challenge, is to surround yourself with strong finishers.  Not all Talent Themes has the same energy to finish things.  Strong finishing talents includes talents themes like Achiever, Discipline, Responsibility, Focus and Competition - among others.  Making sure that they are assisting you once you've started to drive towards the completion or finish line, is what you need.
Another way of getting some of your brilliant start-ups to end in a complete achievement, is to acquire definite finishing skills or assisting resources. There are unlimited resources available online or an mobile apps which really helps to consciously drive towards a successful finishing. 

Go Activate!! The world needs more of you.

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Feeling weak and drained at work? Fantastic!

By Dries Lombaard
Director, Strategic Engagement, The Strengths Institute


Sometimes, knowing what you resist is easier to recognize than knowing what you really love to do. People may sometimes experience their lives as a recurring search for that illusive "passion", "purpose" or "calling".  You can spend all of your most precious time aiming at what you hope to be the thing that you were made to do, or the person that you were meant to become. Just to miss it.

Here's another perspective:  missing the mark is part of achieving  success.  It is part of exploring your natural strengths.  If you know what it is that weakens you to the point of wanting to give up, you are a lot closer to where you need to be in understanding your natural talents.  Because now you know clearly where you do not belong. You are much more certain of who you are not made to be, or not to become.

Your brain, emotions and body reacts to those activities which drain you most in the same way that your hand will react if you try to keep it above a flame.  Try it...and see how long you last. Even if you do have enough willpower to keep your hand steady, the consequences will have an effect long after your hand is no longer above that burning flame.

I believe in perseverance. I believe in sticking to your goals. I also believe in sometimes just hanging on for dear life.
But, I also believe in quitting.  I believe in quitting wisely, timely and completely - when you know you absolutely should.

Sticking to something you should not be pursuing is just as foolish as not taking steps of action in order to achieve a goal.

My point is this:  knowing your natural strengths is crucial. Focussing them towards your dreams are even more important.  But the reality of life is that with joy also comes sadness...with love, there is also hate...and with strength comes weakness.   It is your ability to discern and manage the difference that makes the journey towards true purposeful living possible.

So, that consistent weakness you feel at work, the draining effect....it is an indicator to do something. Maybe not quit. But definitely make some move.


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Managing your Talents [27] - Focus

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

“Where am I headed?” you ask yourself. You ask this question every day. Guided by this theme of Focus, you need a

clear destination. Lacking one, your life and your work can quickly become frustrating. And so each year, each month, and even each week you set goals. These goals then serve as your compass, helping you determine priorities and make the necessary corrections to get back on course. Your Focus is powerful because it forces you to filter; you instinctively evaluate whether or not a particular action will help you move toward your goal. Those that don’t are ignored. In the end, then, your Focus forces you to be efficient. Naturally, the flip side of this is that it causes you to become impatient with delays, obstacles, and even tangents, no matter how intriguing they appear to be. This makes you an extremely valuable team member. When others start to wander down other avenues, you bring them back to the main road. Your Focus reminds everyone that if something is not helping you move toward your destination, then it is not important. And if it is not important, then it is not worth your time. You keep everyone on point.

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 Focus?

With the Focus talent you hit the mark: dead-on. Like an arrow flying out of a bow, once launched, you cannot be called back. You are locked on until you hit the mark.  This in itself should be managed, as it means that any disturbance can throw you of balance.
You "stick-to-it", naturally. You have this amazing ability to "zoom in" on the exact target - one at a time, aim, fire and hit.  But exactly this strength is what should be managed well and with intention. If not developed and managed well, this may become detrimental to your own productivity.  You probably know better than anyone that you do not like to be disturbed once you started with a task.  Also, you prefer to do one thing at a time, and complete it, before you move to another task.  You prefer not to multitask.

How?

As far as possible you need to communicate this to everyone who works with you, who you report to and those reporting to you.  If they can understand your "zoned" state when busy, they can accommodate it better.

Your surroundings is just as important.  The Focus talent will not prefer an open plan setting.  If possible, you will work best when as much as possible of your external environment can be set up not to disturb you:  closed door, phone on silent etc.

Obviously this will not always be possible.  But as far as you can be celebrated for your "arrow-like" accuracy and precision, you also need to be celebrated by the fact that you need to focus fully.  Create that environment yourself.

People with Focus are very often also seen as being perfectionists.  This is because of the absolute precision and attention to detail that comes with the talent.  Perfectionism can also be a detriment though...
Everything cannot be perfect.  This need to be accepted by someone with the Focus talent - especially if Focus dynamically aligns with talents like Discipline or Achiever, thus forming "Super Themes".  Focus is meticulous when it comes to detail and precision. This is what they bring as a strength.  But this also mean that Focus can be stuck within a "perfection loop" to make sure that the results are exactly as needed.  If this does not cause a detriment, you should not see this as mis-management.  Detail is what saves lives....literally at times.  But when it becomes something that keeps you and your team back, you need to "turn down the perfection volume".

How?

It may well be one of the hardest things for you to do, but it need to be managed.  Understand that although the "devil is in the details", that same "devil" can also be the one who cause you to lose effectiveness and productivity.  You need to let go then. Purposefully.  You need to decide that hitting the target is more important than the surrounding details that my hold you and the team back.  So, at the end, it is a decision of :sacrifice" from your end - but only when needed.

Meanwhile, keep hitting the mark!! That is what you do best.

- by Dries Lombaard, Director of Strategic Engagement at the Strengths Institute SA.
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.