Guaranteed, you have the same relationship to your StrengthsFinder Top 5 Strengths as you do to your own face.
You know you have a face. It works for you. Through your face you see and smell and taste and hear. It keeps your head together and adds life to your skull.
You wake up with your face, every day. You take it with you wherever you go.
You affect others through it. Your face can change the tone of a room. Your face can make someone’s day or crush it.
Yet, even though you walk around with your face and you have a sense what it can do for you and to others…you do not actually see it. In fact, you rarely even think about your own face.
You do not see it, that is, until you glance into a mirror or walk by a recently polished window (or perhaps in your quickly snapped selfie??). Only in the reflection from an outside source can you really see and know your face. Only when you glance at your own image can you begin to describe the details and nuances of your face.
Your Strengths are very much the same. You know you have Strengths, at least at the deepest level you hope it is true. They are always on and working for you. They help you experience the world and impact it. They give you the unique filter and perspective through which you approach your world. They give you the power to influence, get things done, be in relationship, think critically — yet, often, we do not see them. Nor do we even think about them.
Only when we hold a mirror to our Strengths do we begin to really see them. We start to be able to define them. We see their nuances, what they look like when they are working well, and what they look like when they are used immaturely.
To live the life-changing experience of StrengthsFinder, to know our Strengths and how to wield them for good at work and at home, we need a mirror.
So what it is our mirror?
Our mirrors are the people around us. Like our faces, they see our Strengths all the time. They see our idiosynracies, our highs, and our lows. We need people to reflect back to us so we can see how our Strengths really show up, in beauty and in overstepping rawness.
So, Step 3 of using your Strengths for Life-change is to find that mirror: Share your Strengths with a Friend or Coworker.
Depending on your relationship with your most natural Talents and your filter of the world, the idea of sharing your natural wiring with people around you can feel supremely divine or extremely daring or ridiculously daunting.
Wherever you land on the spectrum, you will find that others are better mirrors of your Strengths than the inside of your head.
Find TWO trusted friends or reflective colleagues and share your StrengthsFinder Top 5 Strengths with them. You can tell them that I made you do it or just fess up that you are working on getting clear on who you are so you can enjoy your life and work more (and be a better contributor!). I am confident they will be interested and willing…in fact, it’s a bit like the tabloids, so I’m sure they will be intrigued to see your interworking.
However you introduce it, choose one of these two ways to share your Strengths and get started, today.
1) Give them a copy of your Signature Themes Report. This gives them something undoubtedly entertaining to read as they see your face (Strengths!) reflected in the pages.
OR
2) Tell them about the words or phrases you chose to describe your Strengths (from Step #2). This starts with the most important, meaningful parts of your Strengths AND gives you practice in describing who you really are to others.
Talk them through your StrengthsFinder Top 5 Strengths and see what they have to say about them. Ask where they have seen your Strengths do well and make an impact on them or your team or family. If you’re really brave, ask where they have seen your Strengths get in the way.
Let them reflect the facial expressions of your Talents!
After this little glance in the mirror, you will come away with an even deeper and significant understanding of your Strengths — what they look like and how you use them to approach your work and life. If you need to, go back and modify your descriptions from Step 2, refining what your Strengths are and mean to you and others.
{Check out the FREE 2 page fillable OR printable Checklist to follow along with this step and the 8 others as you intentionally use your Strengths for life-change}
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Wherever you are on your “Strengths Journey” I want to help you! So connect with Isogo over on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn…would love to be a positive part of your life-changing story through YOUR own unique, and powerful Strengths.
Stay tuned for next week as we dive into STEP 4. Or check out the summary of Steps 1-9 in last week’s blog post.
And if you’re ready for expert insights about your StrengthsFinder Top 5 that go beyond your standard report, I’ll send you my maven insights and a real story on each of your Top 5 Strengths. Would love to send them your way as you make your Strengths “work” for you so that you can better understand what your personal brand is.
Until next time! Be strong!
