leadership

your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

Developer

You see the potential in others. Very often, in fact, potential is all you see. In your view no individual is

fully formed. On the contrary, each individual is a work in progress, alive with possibilities. And you

are drawn toward people for this very reason. When you interact with others, your goal is to help them

experience success. You look for ways to challenge them. You devise interesting experiences that

can stretch them and help them grow. And all the while you are on the lookout for the signs of

growth—a new behavior learned or modified, a slight improvement in a skill, a glimpse of excellence

or of “flow” where previously there were only halting steps. For you these small increments—invisible

to some—are clear signs of potential being realized. These signs of growth in others are your fuel.

They bring you strength and satisfaction. Over time many will seek you out for help and

encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling

to you.

Learner

You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes

and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The

process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the

steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early

efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is

the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning

experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work

environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a

lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This

Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that

you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome

of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”

Empathy

You can sense the emotions of those around you. You can feel what they are feeling as though their

feelings are your own. Intuitively, you are able to see the world through their eyes and share their

perspective. You do not necessarily agree with each person’s perspective. You do not necessarily feel

pity for each person’s predicament—this would be sympathy, not Empathy. You do not necessarily

condone the choices each person makes, but you do understand. This instinctive ability to understand

is powerful. You hear the unvoiced questions. You anticipate the need. Where others grapple for

words, you seem to find the right words and the right tone. You help people find the right phrases to

express their feelings—to themselves as well as to others. You help them give voice to their emotional

life. For all these reasons other people are drawn to you.

Ideation

You are fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. You are delighted when you discover beneath the complex surface an elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle. You love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre. For all these reasons you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you. Others may label you creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps you are all of these. Who can be sure? What you are sure of is that ideas are thrilling. And on most days this is enough.