Activator, A Built In "Go Button"

The last couple of days, I have been reminded of situations where I took action at times when I did not know why I was taking action or risk but my gut told me to move forward anyway. I went through just over 40 years of my life not having any idea why I did much of what I did and it turns out that possessing high Activator is one of the reasons.

When I was introduced to CliftonStrengths, it wasn’t long before a lightbulb turned on and there it was, the answer to the question I didn’t know I had to answer. I have since learned that out of 34 traits that make up Dr. Don Clifton’s CliftonStrengths assessment that I possess a trait called Activator that only 11% of other people possess. Activator is a built-in “go button”.

If you possess Activator in your top potential strengths, you are sitting on something that is both rare and powerful.

Why Can’t I Get Started? Why Is Taking Action So Hard?

Online groups can be seriously enlightening. In one private online group I’m part of, members routinely share posts describing their roadblocks and/or inability to get started on projects or initiatives.

These people who post don’t understand why they can’t get started on a desired initiative so they frequently give up on the system they bought into and blame the system for not working.

It isn’t the system that doesn’t work, it is the user of the system that is lacking Activatorⓒ, a specific CliftonStrength™ that approximately 11% of people possess in their top potential strengths.

Activatorⓒ is a built in “GO BUTTON” for those who possess it. Activatorⓒ gives it’s owner the ability to quickly process decisions and to get moving while most people are unable to take action or to move as quickly.

No one potential CliftonStrength™ operates entirely by itself. It is important to know what other potential strengths one has and then to develop one’s strengths into polished, focused, powerful assets.  

Developing one’s strengths can be done individually but remember that only 11% of people possess the required Activatorⓒ “GO BUTTON” required to take action. Odds of developing one’s strengths are much greater when engaging the guidance of a coach who possesses a successful track record of helping others to develop their strengths.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, Performance Coaching, 719.686.8810

Why It’s So Hard to Take Action

Taking Action

Fitness advocates, healthcare professionals, your boss, perhaps even your spouse, challenge you to take action. Does this sound familiar?

Exercise more. Eat Less. Lower your stress. Get started on this project. Paint this room. Perhaps you know you need to do these things but you just can’t get going?

Sometimes, taking action or not taking action equates to inconvenience. Other times, taking action or not taking action can equate to life or death.

Do you personally find it difficult to take action? Care to know why? Keep reading.

Steve’s Challenge

 Recently, I ran into a guy named Steve who described his challenge with taking action like this.

“I know the, I think I can, I think I can approach to taking action,

will never work without a goal and a plan.”

This quote comes from a deeply talented relationship building, communicator. He has so much potential to become more than he is today but he has trouble getting started. His inability to get started is keeping him in his current comfort zone.

Alternatively, taking action to step outside his comfort zone would propel Steve to a level of personal and professional growth he’s never experienced before.

Steve was mostly right in his quote. A goal and a plan to execute by themselves are useless until they are attached to taking action. Apply action to a goal and plan and you have forward momentum.

Activator®

The CliftonStrenghs™ Assessment measures action taking in a trait called Activator®. When the numbers were crunched numbers based on 15,000,000 assessments taken worldwide, .098% of people who took the CliftonStrengths™  Assessment possessed Activator® in their Top 5 potential Strengths.

Stated another way, out of 34 total traits, Activator® comes in at number 29 in overall frequency. That’s frequency of Activator® showing up in a person’s Top 5 potential Strengths.

There are 28 traits that show up more frequently in a person’s Top 5 potential Strengths before Activator® shows up for most people.
 

Go Button

People who are gifted with the Activator® trait have a built-in “Go Button”. These people who possess the courage, confidence and “Go Button” required to propel an effort or project into motion.

People who are not high in Activator® generally have trouble getting things started.

Solution

If you are low in Activator®, find someone who is high in Activator® to partner with to help you get going.

If you possess high Activator®, it is your job to discover, to develop, to mature and to polish your Activator® into a full-blown Strength.

When you take this decisive action to develop your Activator®, you’ll turn it into a game-changing Strength that very few people around you possess. Your Activator® will become a life and career differentiator that sets you apart.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, Career Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810