Ideation, What Shall We Create Today?

This is a powerful and fascinating trait. The person who is fortunate to have high Ideation can range anywhere from an innovator to an inventor. The higher this trait shows up, the more likely it is that its owner might be a 24 x 7 idea factory.

Not all, but a significant number of people who possess high Ideation, have the capacity to become an entrepreneur. This trait, all by itself, is just the beginning of several traits a person should have before they start their own business. Two current coaching clients are in the process of launching their own startup businesses. There is zero doubt in my mind that both will be successful.

Deliberative, Maybe We Should Think About This a Bit Longer

This trait is one of the rarest Clifton strengths. It is a highly volatile trait to develop and to place on the balcony. The owner of this trait should seriously think about working in IT risk management. That could be technology risk management or perhaps financial risk management. The gift here is a gift of seeing potential risk that other people cannot see by themselves. A risk team might have thoroughly reviewed a suggested project and might not have noticed any potential risk. The Deliberative gifted person might step in and immediately identify risk that nobody else saw.

The difficulty in controlling this trait lies in its frequent desire to either stop or to slow down. For example, at number three, I possess Activator. My wife is gifted with Deliberative at number seven. I like to make immediate decisions to go places or do things or buy things. My wife, on the other hand, would prefer to slow down and think about what the weather might be like in the places I want to go, in order to know how to dress, or she may want to do some research on the things I want to buy in order to know that we are buying the right thing and/or getting a good deal. This was a challenge for us for many years until we both began to understand one another’s strengths.

Futuristic, Another Word for Visionary

I saw a LinkedIn post one day that suggested nobody could be visionary. Great news if you have high Futuristic in your CliftonStrengths. Futuristic is all about being visionary. This person can envision years down the road. Futuristic is not the same as Strategic. While Futuristic is a strategic thinking trait and strategic is a strategic thinking trait, they are totally different.

Strategic people can jump from “A” to “Z” in a single blink. Futuristic kicks in just after Strategic is finished. Futuristic and Strategic are my first two strengths. I have been working on developing, polishing, and calibrating these two strengths for myself since 2012. They are both extremely powerful and generally not properly understood. Out of 34 traits for 25 million people, Futuristic comes in at number 25. There are 24 traits that show up in the CliftonStrengths top five more frequently than  Futuristic. It is quite rare.

Context, Let's Talk About History

If Context is one of your gifts, there is a significant chance that you love history. You would have enjoyed my childhood elementary school years that were spent in Rockville, Maryland, just outside of Washington DC. For school, we went on field trips that one could only dream about. Each field trip took us to a destination such as the Smithsonian Institute, Ford’s Theater, Gettysburg, Monticello, monuments, and memorials.

Considering what has already occurred in the past can help you to bring value to activities in the present. There is a risk however, that you could spend far too much time in the past and never get caught up with present. When you encounter a person who is gifted with Futuristic, you have just found a person whose vision sees forward as opposed to backward.

Maximizer, Inspiring Others to Excellence

If your gift is Maximizer, you are sitting on what I call my signature theme. By using the word signature, I’m talking about a theme that I chose to build my business and my life around. Little did I know, that I would have to leverage my Maximizer to recover from a heart attack, to navigate open heart surgery and its recovery, recovery from cardiac arrest, recovery from a stroke, and now as a powerful tool in my battle with ALS.

Maximizer’s are interested in turning good to great. In my case, I’m even more interested in taking great to excellent. The late Dr. Don Clifton called this an Influencing theme. That sounds okay but to me, this theme is not being leveraged properly until it inspires others on a daily basis. Maybe, many different people on a daily basis.

The key to leveraging Maximizer to its fullest is to learn how to sort. Some things, processes, widgets, and deeds need to be improved upon. Some do not. Some people desire to take a quantum leap forward. Other people, are quite happy to stay where they are right now.

Individualization, Human Jigsaw Puzzle Building

This potential strength belongs to those who have the ability to instinctively build great teams. It is a relationship building trait that team leaders, managers, and senior executives should take very seriously if they are fortunate to be gifted with it. For many years, I have studied this trait and have determined that it should be part of every recruiter’s gifts as well as those who are in talent acquisition. Sadly though, I do not think this trait is often possessed by recruiters or those who work in talent acquisition.

While I am of this topic, the people I have already mentioned would be best suited to their roles if they had Relator and/or Strategic in their higher strengths. This mix of strengths would deliver a big picture thinker, connected to a deep relationship builder, connected to somebody who could intuitively understand where candidates fit into their company’s hiring needs.

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.

Positivity Can Change Someone's Day, Week, Life

If you are fortunate enough to be gifted with Positivity as a potential strength, please do everything you can to learn how to live on the balcony of that strength, while never traveling to the basement. I have many coaching clients possessing high Positivity. I think they know, but they may not know how much they have helped me to battle with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. I believe that Positivity is a gift that is meant to be given away to others. If you possess high Positivity and you keep it to yourself, you are robbing others of your gift that, in many cases, they so desperately need.

Positivity frequently shows up close to Woo and/or Communication. Woo and Communication are both Influencing themes. If you possess one of these potential strengths and it pairs with your Positivity, lean on it to share your Positivity with other people who need it.

Belief is a Powerful CliftonStrength

If this is one of your higher CliftonStrengths, you are sitting on something that is powerful. When fully developed, this trait becomes a strength that is deeply rooted in core values. Over the years, I have encountered enough different people to believe that most people have not determined their own personal core values.

To develop motivation, core values must come first. When someone is motivated, chances are strong that their motivation is rooted in their core values. When a leader taps into someone’s core values and figures out what they are, determining what motivates this person is not difficult. The leader’s job is now one of inspiration.

Relator is All About Relationships

The person who is gifted with this potential strength must develop it into a deep, meaningful, authentic relationship building strength. From my own personal experience, I can tell you that when you need this level of relationship, you need to have been making deposits into this level of relationship for many years. Only then can you expect for this relationship to stand by your side when you are struggling.

Relators build relationships that have no limit to their deepness. There is no distance that can keep two relators, who share relationship at the same value level, apart.

Learners Can Learn Anything

The owner of this potential strength frequently possesses an unlimited capacity to learn anything they put their mind to. A key to maximizing this trait is to aim it properly and to study information and material that must be learned. In order for learner to become a strength, it needs to develop discipline in order to avoid rabbit holes.

Learner that has yet to be developed and polished frequently focuses on “I” and what can be learned for the satisfaction of its owner. When Learner develops and matures, it learns to focus on what should be learned for the value of “We”. Mature Learner understands what to learn, and stays focused and aimed on what to learn the most and why a topic must be learned.

Business Skills In High Demand: Strategic / Strategy

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

Self-Awareness Coaching + Emotional Intelligence Coaching + Trusted Advisor Coaching = >$1M in new Sales (Kelly Approved)

Kelly is on a Roll!

Kelly (name changed) is a Cybersecurity, IT Risk Management, GDPR Consultant. She introduced herself to me after I gave a presentation on a stage in front of a large audience of her colleagues several years ago.

Kelly came to me for Coaching

• To find the clarity that showed her what she was uniquely gifted to do professionally.
• To gain a strategy for getting in front of the right employers to interview for the best jobs.
• To gain a strategy for Resume Writing and LinkedIn profile optimization.
• To learn how to present herself with clarity and confidence when she interviewed.
• To build Self-Confidence and to escape opportunity-limiting comfort zones she’d created in her head.
• To close the deal with an offer when she found herself in front of the right employer.
• To deliver the best version of herself in the workplace.
• To learn how to leverage her unique strengths to become the best boss her team members have ever had.
• To learn how to fine-tune her emotional intelligence skills with the goal of building deep, meaningful, trusting relationships with superiors, colleagues, peers, subordinates, and customers.
• To learn to build the relationships that positioned her to earn the right to lead her consulting firm into what is becoming more than a $1M piece of the ongoing advisory services business. Sue isn’t a sales or business development titled professional.

How Kelly is Getting Things Accomplished

By carrying herself with authentic, honest, accurate self-confidence and by crushing fear-based limiting beliefs, Sue has catapulted her career to new heights. As her employer discovers that Sue is naturally gifted to lead, guide, mentor, grow and inspire others, they’ll give her more people to develop. She’ll be promoted soon, and she’ll undoubtedly be earning more money based on her recent breakthrough accomplishments.

Jeff Snyder’s, CliftonStrengths Coaching, Emotional Intelligence Coaching, Trusted Advisor Coaching, Career Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810