This is part of a series of articles on the different types of strengths that each of us as individuals have. You can take a look at the ACHIEVER strength that I discussed in the first post in the series.
Everyone is born with talents. Talents are our natural way of thinking, feeling and behaving that can be productively applied. When we invest and develop our talents, they then become strengths. A strength is the ability to consistently do an activity to near perfection. It is about the WAY we achieve success, and all of us have a ‘way.’
There is an assessment called Clifton Strengths Finder, and it takes about 45 minutes to do online, answering various questions. Once you are done, it then sends you a strength report. There are 34 strengths in total and the assessment calculates your most dominant strengths from number 1 to number 34 in sequence of their dominance. You choose whether you want the report of your full 34 or just your dominant first 5 strengths.
In this issue we are going to look at the strengths of FOCUS, FUTURISTIC, HARMONY and IDEATION.
FOCUS
“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 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. When others start to wander down other avenues, you bring them back to the main road, which makes you a valuable team member. You keep everyone on point.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
Natasha, a Real Estate Research and Project Manager, has Focus in her top 5. For the last 5 years she has been able to do her degree and work at the same time. She used her focus to prevent distractions and stay on track. Being a young lady, this is not a small feat. She does her work with intentionality and clarity for what is to be achieved. She doesn’t need cheerleaders to be motivated. Having clear goals to achieve, does that. The goals can even be for a long time ahead, as far as 20 years. That’s how powerful it is.
She is good at keeping the team on track and quickly pointing out when there is the danger of getting side tracked. Her reports and spreadsheets are precise and chronologically lead to set goals and targets. Her team can rely on her to make sure priorities stay that way, and processes are followed through. Natasha knows how precious time is, and her Focus helps her to keep her eye on the prize.
Now let’s look at the strength of Futuristic.
FUTURISTIC
“Wouldn’t it be great if…?” You are the kind of person who loves to peer over the horizon. The future fascinates you. As if it were projected on the wall, you see in detail what the future might hold, and this detailed picture keeps pulling you forward, into tomorrow. While the exact content of the picture will depend on your other strengths and interests – a better product, a better team, a better life, or a better world – it will always be inspirational to you. You are a dreamer who sees visions of what could be and who cherishes those visions. When the present proves too frustrating and the people around you too pragmatic, you conjure up your visions of the future and they energise you. They can energise others too. People will want to latch on to the hope you bring.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
Peter, the CEO of my husband’s company, has Futuristic in his top 5. He is very charismatic and enthusiastic about what the future can look like. His presentations are always inspiring and give a lot of hope. For him, the future is always bright. He is not limited to today or yesterday’s instances, the future is always better. His greatest contribution to his business is his ability to paint the visual picture of possibilities that are positive and transformational. This makes work purposeful for those in his arena of influence.
He works with legacy in mind, wanting younger generations to have a better future. So he works closely with schools and universities, ensuring they have what it takes for the future he projects is coming. This futuristic ability makes his business a pace setter in its industry, making national leaders take notice. He is an icon of inspiration in the agricultural industry, not just for Zimbabwe, but the whole of Africa. And that’s how he sees it too.
The next strength is Harmony.
HARMONY
“You look for areas of agreement. In your view there is little to be gained from conflict and friction, so you seek to hold them to a minimum. When you know that the people around you hold differing views, you try to find the common ground. You try to steer them away from confrontation and toward harmony. When others start to argue about their pet theory or concept, you steer clear of the debate, preferring to talk about practical, down-to-earth matters on which you can all agree. In your view we are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going. It is a good boat. There is no need to rock it just to show that you can.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
I have Harmony in my top 5 strengths. I believe everyone should do the work he/she has been assigned to do. If we are all committed to the work we have been given, then there will be harmony and productivity. There is no need for shouting and unnecessary conflict. Everything can be resolved if we sit and discuss with respect and the intention for a resolution that works for all. My Harmony helps me take different viewpoints and help people find common ground.
I remember struggling with the adversarial component of practising law, and when I discovered it was because of my Harmony strength, I focused on resolving disputes before they got to court. This ended up working better for all those concerned. The anticipation of trouble and conflict that I wanted to avoid, made me good at vetting contracts to ensure possible eventualities were taken care of. Now I’m using my Harmony to help individuals understand and integrate their strengths in all that they do.
Our final strength is Ideation.
IDEATION
“You are fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. You are delighted when you discover beneath the complex surface an elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle. You love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre. For all these reasons you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you. Others may label you creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps you are all of these. Who can be sure? What you are sure of is that ideas are thrilling. And on most days this is enough.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
My sister has Ideation in her top 5. She does not run out of ideas and possibilities. At school she was popular because she always had different ways of doing things. So when she led a club, the students found it exciting. It was not surprising when at the end of her last year, she won the medal for the most popular senior in the school. Her Ideation provokes inspiration and brings excitement to life. She also loves interior designing, and her Ideation helps her have creations for any space and room.
Combined with her other strengths she is able to bring ideas to life. I have seen her transform spaces from drudgery to modern and classic. It’s from her ability to see what could be, through all sorts of ideas. She brings innovation and freshness to the team. She has an ‘anything is possible’ attitude that influences the atmosphere of her presence and motivates those around her to think outside the box. One of her goals is to break glass ceilings, especially for women.
Joyce Mutangara is a wife, mother, pastor, legal adviser and strengths coach. She loves to give inspiring personal interaction, through authentic discussion, and exploration of talents that motivate people to achieve optimum performance through intentionally deploying their strengths. For more information or access to her work and to get personal strengths coaching, you can email her: joycemut@gmail.com or visit her blog Joyce’s Blog.
