11.03.2011 | By: Morgan

Relator

Relator

Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people -- in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends -- but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk -- you might be taken advantage of -- but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.

Action Items for This Theme

Find a workplace in which friendships are encouraged. You will not do well in an overly formal organization. In a job interview, ask about work styles and company culture.
Deliberately learn as much as you can about the people that you meet. You like knowing about people, and other people like being known. In this way, you will be a catalyst for trusting relationships.
Show people that you trust them and they will be more likely to trust others. You can be an important role model in this area.
Let it be known that you are more interested in the character and personality of others than in their status or job title. This is one of your strengths and can serve as model for others.
Let your caring show. For example, find people in your company to mentor, or help your colleagues to know each other better, or extend your relationships "beyond the office."
No matter how busy you are, stay in contact with your friends. They are your fuel.

Be ready to:

Be honest with your friends. True caring means helping the other person be successful and fulfilled. Thus, giving honest feedback or encouraging your friend to move out of a role in which he or she is struggling is a caring act.
Forgive a close friend. When someone lets you down, you take it seriously, and might become skittish about renewing the relationship. Honor this reluctance, but don't let it stop you from extending trust again.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder and the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are protected by copyright of Gallup Inc., 2000. All rights reserved.

Command

Command

Command leads you to take charge. Unlike some people, you feel no discomfort with imposing your views on others. On the contrary, once your opinion is formed, you need to share it with others. Once your goal is set, you feel restless until you have aligned others with you. You are not frightened by confrontation; rather, you know that confrontation is the first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life's unpleasantness, you feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. You need things to be clear between people and challenge them to be clear-eyed and honest. You push them to take risks. You may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this, labeling you opinionated, they often willingly hand you the reins. People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence. You have Command.

Action Items for This Theme

Seek roles in which you will be asked to persuade others. Consider whether selling would be a good career for you.
You will always be ready to confront. Practice the words, the tone, and the techniques that will turn your ability to confront into real persuasiveness.
In your relationships, seize opportunities to speak plainly and directly about sensitive subjects. Your unwillingness to hide from the truth can become a source of strength and constancy for your colleagues and friends. Strive to become known as a candid person.
Help your colleagues and friends make commitments. You can provide the spark that will inspire them to act.
Find a cause you believe in and support it. You might discover yourself at your best when defending a cause in the face of resistance.

Be ready to:

Ask people for their opinions. Sometimes your candor will prove intimidating, causing others to tread very lightly for fear of your reaction. Watch for this. If necessary, explain that you are candid simply because it feels so uncomfortable to keep things bottled up, not because you want to frighten other people into silence.
Partner with someone with a strong Woo or Empathy theme. Some obstacles do not need to be confronted; they can be circumvented. This person can help you to circumvent obstacles through relationships.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder and the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are protected by copyright of Gallup Inc., 2000. All rights reserved.

Belief

Belief

If you possess a strong Belief theme, you have certain core values that are enduring. These values vary from one person to another, but ordinarily your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics -- both in yourself and others. These core values affect your behavior in many ways. They give your life meaning and satisfaction; in your view, success is more than money and prestige. They provide you with direction, guiding you through the temptations and distractions of life toward a consistent set of priorities. This consistency is the foundation for all your relationships. Your friends call you dependable. "I know where you stand," they say. Your Belief makes you easy to trust. It also demands that you find work that meshes with your values. Your work must be meaningful; it must matter to you. And guided by your Belief theme it will matter only if it gives you a chance to live out your values.

Action Items for This Theme

Clarify your values by thinking about one of your best days ever. How did your values play into the satisfaction that you received from your best day? How can you organize your life to repeat that day as often as possible?
Don't be afraid to give voice to your values. This will help others know whom you are and how to relate to you.
Actively seek roles that fit your values. In particular, think about joining organizations that define their purpose by the contribution they make to society.
Express your values outside of the workplace by volunteering for a hospital board or a school board, or by running for an elected office.
Actively cultivate friends who share your basic values. Consider your best friend. Does this person share your value system?

Be ready to:

Partner with someone with a strong Futuristic theme. This person can energize you by painting a vivid picture of the direction in which your values will lead.
Accept that other people might have values different from your own. Having strong Belief does not equate with being judgmental.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder and the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are protected by copyright of Gallup Inc., 2000. All rights reserved.

Achiever

Achiever

Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by "every day" you mean every single day -- workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.

Action Items for This Theme

Select jobs in which you have the leeway to work as hard as you want, and in which you are encouraged to measure your own productivity. You will feel stretched and alive in these environments.
You do not require much motivation from your supervisor. Take advantage of your self-motivation by setting challenging goals. Set a more stretching goal every time you finish a project.
Own the fact that you might work longer hours than most people, and that you might not need as much sleep as many other people do.
Choose to work with other hard workers. Share your goals with them so they can help you.
Accept that you might be discontented even when you achieve.

Be ready to:

Take a moment to appreciate your successes. You can look ahead tomorrow. Today, celebrate.
Partner with someone with a strong Discipline or Focus theme. This person can help you use your energy as efficiently as possible.
Count personal achievements in your scoring "system." This will help you direct your Achiever theme toward family as well as work.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder and the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are protected by copyright of Gallup Inc., 2000. All rights reserved.

Competition

I know that this is one is one of my 5 right off the bat.

Competition

Competition is rooted in comparison. When you look at the world, you are instinctively aware of other people's performance. Their performance is the ultimate yardstick. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how worthy your intentions, if you reached your goal but did not outperform your peers, the achievement feels hollow. Like all competitors, you need other people. You need to compare. If you can compare, you can compete, and if you can compete, you can win. And when you win, there is no feeling quite like it. You like measurement because it facilitates comparisons. You like other competitors because they invigorate you. You like contests because they must produce a winner. You particularly like contests where you know you have the inside track to be the winner. Although you are gracious to your fellow competitors and even stoic in defeat, you don't compete for the fun of competing. You compete to win. Over time you will come to avoid contests where winning seems unlikely.

Action Items for This Theme
Select work environments in which you can measure your achievements. You might never be able to discover how good you can be without competing.
List the performance scores that can help you know where you stand every day. What scores should you pay attention to daily?
Identify an achieving person against whom you can measure your own achievement. If there is more than one, list all the people with whom you currently compete. Without measurement, how will you know if you won?
Take the time to celebrate your wins. In your world, there is no victory without celebration.
Seek competitive friends.
Try to turn ordinary tasks into competitive games. You will get more done this way.
When you win, take the time to investigate why you won. Counterintuitively, you can learn a great deal more from a victory than from a loss.

Be ready to:
Design some mental strategies that can help you deal with a loss. Armed with these strategies, you will be able to move on to the next challenge much more quickly.
Let people know that being competitive does not equate with putting other people down. Explain that you derive your satisfaction from pitting yourself against good, strong competitors and winning. It is not satisfying to outperform a "hobbled" player.