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 INCLUDER, INDIVIDUALISATION, INPUT and INTELLECTION.
INCLUDER
“Stretch the circle wider.” This is the philosophy around which you orient your life. You want to include people and make them feel part of the group. In direct contrast to those who are drawn only to exclusive groups, you actively avoid those groups that exclude others. You want to expand the group so that as many people as possible can benefit from its support. You hate the idea of someone on the outside looking in. You want to draw them in so that they can feel the warmth of the group. You are an instinctively accepting person. Regardless of race, sex, nationality, personality or faith, you cast few judgments. Judgments can hurt a person’s feelings. Why do that if you don’t have to? Your accepting nature does not necessarily rest on a belief that each of us is different and that one should respect these differences. Rather, it rests on your conviction that fundamentally we are all the same. We are all equally important. Thus, no one should be ignored. Each of us should be included. It is the least we all deserve.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
Khethiwe, our church administrator has Includer in her top 5. She is an advocate for the outcast. She does not like to see anyone missing out. She is easily accepting of everyone and loves the unity of diversity. She is first to notice if anyone is missing, has been forgotten or not participating. She is the glue of the team and makes others feel like they belong. Even the new comer is quickly swept up under her wing and made to feel at home.
She loves to visit people and is easily the life of the party. For her, the more the merrier. She helps to administrate the Women’s Ministry and is sincerely grieved when people don’t attend the meetings. She is also very welcoming in her home and has looked after plenty of youths who needed temporary housing. She collects second hand clothing for children in need in her sphere of influence and wants everyone that needs help to receive it.
Now let’s look at the strength of Individualisation.
INDIVIDUALISATION
“Your Individualisation theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalisations or ‘types’’ because you don’t want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person’s style, each person’s motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person’s life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person’s need to be shown and another’s desire to ‘figure it out as I go.’ Because you are such a keen observer of other people’s strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team “structure” or “process,” you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
I have Individualisation in my top 5. I have always seen people as the unique individuals that they are and I love to study them. I am happy sitting at a park watching people go by, and judge what kind of people they are. I am able to relate to each person in accordance to their personality, so I can tell what motivates them to do what they do. This means I am able to work with diverse people in a multicultural environment. I especially enjoy one-on-one conversations where I can get to know the person better.
In my coaching, this is the most used strength, as I help my clients see the unique contribution that they bring to the table and how they can collaborate with others. You can ask me anything about my team and I will know the most information, as it is natural for me to notice all the differences. This also allows me to ask the right questions as I build the person’s profile in my head. People are always surprised that I am able to pick the perfect gifts for individuals. Even after meeting them for just a few hours.
The next strength is Input.
INPUT
“You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information – words, facts, books, and quotations – or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artefacts and facts. These can be acquired and stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
My brother-in-law, who works in a bank has Input in his top 5. He is very resourceful, and seems to always have the needed information. He knows something about everything. It is very interesting to converse with him, as he has unique information about most subjects. Needless to say, he values education and has a doctorate in economics. He will support anyone seeking to gain more knowledge and information. For him, that is how you become a useful member of society.
You can count on him to post adhoc messages and videos on a daily basis. To him sharing information is caring. Combined with his other strengths, he prefers to focus on positive information and collects what he feels can help other people. He is always the most generous at family gatherings, able to make us all laugh with all the interesting news he would have collected. Also, he has a great memory and so can narrate a story verbatim from as long as 20 years ago. This strength is definitely the one that makes people categorise him as intelligent.
Our final strength is Intellection.
INTELLECTION
“You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.” Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0.
Intellection is my number 1 strength in my top 5. I love to think, it is like a physical activity to me. I believe in having well thought out answers and so I appreciate time to reflect on things. Because I know I need this time to think, I make sure I take time out on a daily basis to reflect on my day. Otherwise, I could easily get overwhelmed with what may be happening around me. In my thinking time, that is when solutions appear, I connect the dots and am able to plan and strategize. Once I do that, I am ready to go.
Because of my love for thinking, I enjoy my own company and can seem like a one man Island. I love to daydream and see myself in all sorts of situations, which inspire me to keep going. I need to manage and control my thought process well, so I don’t spiral into focusing on toxic thinking. I plan my route when driving beforehand, even up to which side of the double lane to drive on. My family is usually amazed at how I would have thought about every nook in a process. Even if it’s just a school run!
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.
