How I Achieved Relationship by Inputting Strategic Learning

I love listening for people’s strengths. It’s such a joy to hear people talk about when they’re at their best. Whether it’s how someone connects with awe-inspiring art or nature (appreciation of beauty and excellence), the pleasure that a person gets through reading and personal growth (love of learning), the zippity glory of just being alive (zest), I get happy all over. As much as I love learning and exploring character strengths–how to apply mine, how to help other people explore and apply theirs–you’d think I’d just love the StrengthsFinder. But no.

Every time I look at the list of “themes of talent” and I see words like Achiever, Context, Input, and Woo, my teeth are on edge and my skin crawls. Pigeon holes. Jargon. What the *bleep* do they mean when they say someone has Futuristic? Does it mean they like science fiction? Are they into Nostradamus? Are they creative? Should I look for tarot cards and crystals at birthday time? Or is that for Woo? Ugh.

So I’ve avoided the StrengthsFinder like the plague. Until last week, when I finally broke down and took the damn thing.

1. Strategic
2. Achiever
3. Learner
4. Relator
5. Input

Great. I have “Input.” What the #$%%&@# does that mean?

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I want to be a team player. Really. I’m not being catty. That’s why I took the StrengthsFinder. Because Patrice asked me to. Patrice is my new boss.

Tara, did you just say what I think you said?

Yes, I have a boss. Because I have a job. I quietly joined the team at Cascade Employers at the first of the year.

I still own my own company. I still do what I do. Now I just do what I do for Cascade. Working for Cascade is a huge gift–I have actual coworkers. People with expertise in marketing, accounting, management, human relations, leadership, law, and lots of other cool stuff. There’s an actual team and they help me do stuff, like book speaking and training events, serve my clients, and reach lots more people than I could before.

One of the biggest gifts of working at Cascade is working with and for Patrice. She’s one of my champions–one of those people I identify as someone who really believes in me, way more sometimes (ok, maybe most of the time) than I believe in myself. So when Patrice asked me to take the StrengthsFinder, I choked down my distaste and took the test. Because I love her and quite frankly, I’d walk through fire for her if she asked me to.

Label that, StrengthsFinder! I dare you.

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Strategic: “…enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught.” Show me point B. Just show me the map. Forget the map, just give me a compass. No road to that destination? No problem, I’ll get there. I’ll create the trail, the process, the technique, the method, the knowledge base. And once I see where it is I’m trying to get to, I act. Bam. Ready-fire-aim Girl!

Describes me to a T. Oh hell. The damn test nailed me. Perfectly. Strategic is my number one theme.

Achiever. I didn’t need to read the description on page 37 to know this one. But I read it anyway. “…describes a constant need for achievement.” Yep. See previous post. “By the end of the day, you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself.” Yep. Try going on vacation with me. I’ll hike, snorkel, walk, write, read, plan, think. I’ll do tons of stuff and come back as tired or tireder than I was before I left.

Crap. The damn test nailed me again.

Learner. I have a Ph.D. Nuff said.

Relator. “[you]…derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends.” Being with someone–hearing their joys, their sadnesses, their strengths, their stories–makes my heart sing. I talk to homeless people and strangers on airplanes because of this. I became a coach and before that, was a professor, and before that, was a nurse and because of my love of relationship. This is where vulnerability and intimacy happens. Oh yeah. That’s me.

Input. This word makes my skin crawl. What the hell do they mean by Input? “You are inquisitive.” Yes. “You collect things.” Uh-huh. Rocks. Shells. Religious iconography. Tin types. Feathers I find in the forest. Fall leaves. Information. Oh. My. God. I have Input. Boy-oh-boy, do I ever have Input. My mom still laughs when she talks about how I, at the age of two, started collecting shells. I went for quantity over quality. And every shell was greeted with “Shewls! Look Mama, shewls!”

Thank god I didn’t test positive for woo-woo.

OK. So I may never love the terminology. I may still diss their corporate sponsored, conflict of interest laced research and their proprietary assessment test. I may resist but I have been assimilated… and described with extreme accuracy by the StrengthsFinder. Oh well. It’s knowledge and I love learning (Learner), thrive on acquiring new information (Input), and derive joy from teaching (Relator). I get a kick out of writing blog posts on my day off (Achiever) and I felt inspired in the moment (Strategic).