Learner. Discipline. Achiever. Arranger. Focus.

At my job (FYI – my sister currently works for the same company, in the same department – you’ll get a sense early on that we spend A LOT of time together) we do the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessments and training. The strengths listed above were my top 5 strengths when I joined the company back in 2013. And while I feel like I’ve grown and changed a fair deal in the last three years those strengths still hold pretty true today.

Learner.

I truly love to learn. As a matter of fact I went back to grad school not because I had always wanted to but just because I had missed school (crazy I know). Ended up as one of the best decisions of my life because I met my amazing husband there. I enjoy and appreciate the thrill I get from tackling something new, navigating my way through it and the accomplishment that comes with learning.

Discipline.

I’m a rule follower – sometimes to my detriment. I crave order, structure and predictability. And I do best when in control – just ask my sister or my husband. I’m learning to adapt and compromise, to respect the need for flexibility. It the corporate world – especially in marketing – you have to be agile and responsive so I’m learning to read a situation before instinctively implementing “rules”. It’s a process.

Achiever.

Check. Check. And double check. I’m an oldest child who embodies this to the letter. I love checklists and task oriented projects. I thrive in the planning and strategic side of my job more frequently but it’s a stressful day for me when I don’t feel like I actually “accomplished” anything.

Arranger.

This is one that I would say was less true a couple years ago but is pretty accurate now (which is fun, since I took the assessment a couple years ago). My boss describes this by saying (repeatedly) that I “just think differently.” I have, I feel, this ability to look at a situation, problem or project and, given a little time (I’m not a great on my feet thinker. I need time to digest things) come up with a unique, creative and comprehensive take on how to tackle it.

Focus.

This one has changed for me in the last few years, remaining true but taking on a different form. I used to think I need to have it all figured out. The job. The husband. The house. The kids. I need to know what I was doing and how I was going to do it. I would stress when I though maybe I wasn’t on the “right path”. Now (in my old age) I knew there is no “right path” there is the path I want, the priorities I make and the values I hold dear. Everything else is just stuff. This perspective had given me true focus. It drives me to focus on the things that matter and leave behind the guilt, stress or what have you of the things that don’t.
Oh yeah, by the way…if brevity was a strength it would not be anywhere on my list. Kelli is a little better at that than me (not much though). Check back later for our next post/epic novel.