By: Jessica Prater
My experiences this past week have caused me to evaluate other's strengths in relationship to their working behavior. For instance, I was working with a department and it occured to me that perhaps they needed some Activators to help them with their role at the college (of course, don't we all). So, with that thought in mind, I decided to research what the strengths of that department were. I found there was a concentration of five or six strengths, and that several of each person's strengths were repeated at least once. In fact only two strengths were not repeated. (This explained some of the behaviors I had come into contact with.) Now when several strengths are repeated and there aren't many of the 34 themes represented, this department may have trouble using some of the themes they lack. For instance, if no one had Ideation in the department, there would rarely be ideas of new more productive ways to perform tasks. Or if there was no Adaptability, the department would have a hard time transitioning when new hires come in, or even when new tasks arise.
So then, how would the department tap into some of those strengths they may need? Well if it was Ideation they didn't have, they could run ideas by someone with Ideation, this simple conversation could result in even more ideas. Or if it was Adaptability, maybe they could have someone with strategic help set some contingency plans in case certain circumstances arose.
So the bottom line is: even though one may not have the strengths that they want, or a department/division may not be diverse in the strengths realm, there is always someone they can consult that will give them a similiar affect. For instance, I do not have Communication. And in fact, I often find that my Strategic and Connectedness inhibit me from communicating effectively. (I can explain that statement, it just takes a long time and lots of rephrasing) So when I want to communicate effectively, I have a friend with Communication go over my thoughts. She helps me find the words that convey what I mean (that's why she is the first one to read my blogs!). I feel good becuase people can understand me, and she feels good becuase she gets to use her strength.
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