It’s true that James adores wheels, but then I’ve known him for two years. In about ten minutes, Alex had quietly ‘gotten’ James and taken it to the meta-level.
Alex has the strength called Strategic, which you either have or you don’t; it can’t be taught. He sees patterns where others simply see complexity. Strategic cut through the clutter. Alex then verbalized what he’d revealed. “This person [Strategic] is likely to have strength for putting his ideas and thoughts into words,” say Buckingham and Clifton. “Position this person on the leading edge of your organization.”
Alex is also exhibiting strong right-brain traits, using a simile to describe, picturesquely what he’s exposed, comparing two contrasting objects – a cat and a boy.
He’s also exhibiting appreciativeness, understanding innately how James feels about thing. James doesn’t just adore things that travel ‘round; he is passionate with them. Alex tapped into a feeling thing, and from feelings we know how to deal with people, guide them and work with them. Once you know what James is fond of, you have the key to rousing him, something that managers, therapists, and coaches need to be able to do.
These two traits of Empathy and Strategist also show up in his comment about the neighbor. He’s made a huge connection for a tiny boy – that a woman who reports her neighbor for watering on the wrong day is going to be enraged at a toddler throwing dirt on her driveway, i.e., that she’s fastidious and rigid about things.
KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS
If you’ve been lucky, your parents keyed in on things like this, and your teachers, and your counselors, and your coaches, and your managers. If not, these natural propensities were unobserved, or even considered weaknesses, and you’ve lost touch with them.
I have one client, for instance, who has Intellection, Learner and Ideation for three of her top themes. This means she’s intellectual, loves to learn and study, and loves ideas for their own sake. Her parents were farmers, and actually said to her, “Get your head out of that book and do something useful. That won’t be tolerated in this household.”
So you see how it goes.
MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK
If you were lucky in this respect, and have molded your life around your strengths, congratulations. If you were not, you can do it for yourself. Take the time this year to dive into your natural talents and strengths and take the first step on one of the paths to contentment.
Self-awareness will guide you to better understand of others and will help you notice and understand the natural strengths in others as well.
