Transcript
Hi everyone, I recently ran a CliftonStrengths workshop and realized that there are many people with a misunderstanding of contrasting Talent Themes.
Firstly, what are contrasting Talent Themes? Contrasting Talent Themes are talent themes which seems to be different or almost opposite of each other. And here’s the first thing, unlike other tools like the MBTI, the CliftonStrengths Profile is not based on Polar Opposites. Just because Talent Themes are contrasting doesn’t naturally mean that they are in Conflict. Here are some examples of what contrasting talent themes are.
Relator and WOO. People with WOO likes to know more people and people with Relator wants to know people more.
Futuristic and Context. People with the Futuristic Talent Theme likes to think about the future, and people with Context likes to think about the past or likes to take reference from the past.
Activator and Achiever. People with Activator likes to initiate and start tasks and people with Achiever likes to complete tasks.
When a person has two contrasting Talent Themes, but is not aware of it, or not able to use it effectively. It can result in some internal conflict or confusion, right?
So I was running a workshop once, and a participant came up to me to ask if a Talent Theme was innate, or it shows up due to the circumstances that a person is in? It turned out that she had the Activator Talent Theme but she told me that many times, she would lay back, go with the flow, have someone else lead. And it was apparent to the group that it was because of her Adaptability Talent Theme. Once she understood that it was due to two contrasting Talent Themes that she had – Activator, which wanted to get things started and moving, and Adaptability, which would rather be told what to do and to go to flow – she had come to understand the source of her internal conflict. And with that she was able to clarify which context she needed to use which talent theme more, and be able to get more internal congruence within herself.
Now, understanding your Talent Themes can help you to gain that internal congruence, resulting in greater peace – inner peace, as well as greater performance. That was an example of someone who experienced internal conflict due to not having understood her Talent Themes and how they showed up. Now that doesn’t then mean that having contrasting Talent Themes automatically result in internal conflict. So let’s explore a few additional examples.
Let’s look at Relator and WOO. If a person has WOO and Relator, it just means that the person likes to meet new people, and also likes to build deep relationships with the people he or she meets. This can result in a lack of time in being able to maintain the relationships, or an overemphasis on relationships so much so that necessary tasks may not be done. But in and of itself, this doesn’t cause internal conflict for the person.
Let’s look at another example – Activator and Achiever. This person likes to start new projects as well as complete them. If we are able to place this person in a position where he or she deals with short and fast-paced projects which are constantly being started and completed, this person would probably thrive. Again, in no way does this automatically constitute an internal conflict for this person.
So there we go! It is important for all of us to be able to name, claim and aim all our talent themes. And that understanding can definitely clear up any internal conflict, create congruence and generate performance. But it doesn’t mean that if you have contrasting talent themes that you would automatically have internal conflict. It could just mean that you have the unique ability of moderating yourself. Thanks and see you around.
