“I’ve been conducting for years, and I suddenly had a realization. The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. [His power depends] on his ability to make other people powerful. And that changed everything for me. I realized my job was to awake possibility in other people.
If their eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it. If the eyes are not shining, you get to ask a question: who am I being that my players’ eyes are not shining”
–Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra since 1979.
Source: “EntreLeadership”, by Dave Ramsey, chapter 1; Benjamin Zander’s TED presentation.
Archives For Leadership
Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
By nature, you periodically go out of your way to generate laughter and merriment by amusing specific people with stories, jokes, or comical actions. When individuals’ spirits are lifted, perhaps they have an easier time getting along or cooperating with one another. Having a little bit of fun may not strike you as silly at all. Although you are practical and realistic, you sometimes understand that human beings need to experience moments of exuberance — that is, unrestrained happiness and delight. It’s very likely that you sometimes ease the worries of individuals who become overanxious about certain situations, rumors, or comments. Perhaps your straightforward presentation of facts offers a bit of comfort to people who feel upset or overwhelmed. You might be able help a few of them put things in perspective — that is, in order of importance or in relation to other information. Maybe you know it is right to share your knowledge with everyone rather than with a chosen few. Driven by your talents, you might engage some individuals in friendly and matter-of-fact conversations when the situation demands it. Perhaps being uniformly sociable and responsive to certain types of people is practical in your opinion. Chances are good that you can sometimes resist jumping on the bandwagon — that is, taking the popular position or joining the popular side. Rather than act on impulse, you might think before speaking. Perhaps this behavior reflects how your objective and practical mind works. You may see certain things the way they actually are. Being a realist, you occasionally pose questions to understand what particular individuals are thinking, seeing, accepting, or endorsing. Maybe you promote peace and cooperation by helping people build on their common ideas and interests.
Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
Instinctively, you sometimes practice using your natural abilities rather than dwell on your limitations. You may choose to gather as many insights as you can about your dominant talents. It’s very likely that you sometimes forge ahead to build the life you envision. You might reach goals by identifying specific opportunities to use your unique abilities and natural gifts. Chances are good that you may realize you have a soothing and quieting effect on certain kinds of people. As a result, some of them may think more clearly or be more sure of themselves in your presence. Driven by your talents, you may realize you are careful and thorough if you are performing certain tasks. Once in a while, you pay close attention to specific details. Perhaps doing the little things right matters more to you than it does to some people.
Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
Chances are good that you may do some of your best work when you can bring your expertise to a particular enterprise — that is, undertaking. Perhaps you like activities that keep you busy from start to finish. Instinctively, you may enjoy helping people by performing tasks they dislike or do not have time to complete. Perhaps this is one way you keep yourself busy and make their lives less burdensome. Driven by your talents, you sometimes describe reading as a pleasure, not a chore. You might acquire special insights or other knowledge, whether you prefer fiction or nonfiction. Maybe you pull together ideas from printed materials or Internet sites. You might be able to talk about complicated topics or situations by highlighting only the basic points. Some people can grasp what you are saying the first time. Why? You refrain from burdening them with every detail you know. It’s very likely that you sometimes use sound reasoning to identify the basic components of a complicated situation, process, event, or decision. Perhaps you describe certain types of intricate things in ways that people can easily understand. Occasionally you direct their attention to specific points. You might avoid overwhelming particular individuals with every fact or detail you know.
Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out??
Because of your strengths, you might present yourself as a no-nonsense person to certain people. Sometimes this perception is amplified when you acquire additional knowledge or skills in your area of specialization. Perhaps this proficiency enhances your ability to perform your job, progress in your studies, pursue your hobbies, or plan your travel. By nature, you sometimes present yourself to others as a no-nonsense person. Maybe some of them understand that you prefer to work or study by yourself. Chances are good that you may enjoy reading, as it gives you some topics to talk about other than yourself. You might prefer to discuss specific kinds of ideas rather than delve — that is, make a detailed search for information — into your own or another’s personal life. Instinctively, you periodically choose to keep certain facts about your life to yourself. You might avoid some jobs, projects, or titles, especially when they cause you to be regarded as a public figure.
Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
It’s very likely that you might refuse to live a meaningless existence. Perhaps you seek a vocation that allows you to express certain values every day. Work or school may provide you with the opportunity to enrich or deepen the quality of your life. Sometimes you want to do what you love doing. This partially explains why your job or studies need to be much more than a means to an end — that is, a paycheck or a diploma. Chances are good that you sometimes use your passion for reading to collect a few ideas for resolving issues, correcting mistakes, or overcoming obstacles. Maybe the act of reading allows you to generate some options for dealing with certain kinds of predicaments — that is, difficult, perplexing, or trying situations. Instinctively, you have clearly defined principles that set the tone for your life and influence your behavior. They reflect who and what is most important to you. They guide your decision-making. As a result, the people with whom you live, work, and study can usually predict what you will say or do. Driven by your talents, you often argue that people should be held to the highest moral standards. You insist that those who break the law be required to accept the consequences of their deeds. You have little sympathy for people who are caught in the act of taking things that do not belong to them.
In light of the other personality test results, I decided I would post my Strengths Finder results from January as well. My top five strengths, in order are: Belief, Deliberative, Relator, Maximizer, Harmony. The next five posts will be an abbreviated version of the explanation for each part.
(Disclosure: Clicking on the image of the book it will take you to Amazon.com and my affiliate page. If you buy the book from that link, I make a few pennies from it.)
I just took this personality survey kind of thing for World Changers called “D.I.S.C”. It asks a series of four words that you pick the highest and lowest of the four for your perceived personality traits in your work environment. After the groups of words, you pick a matching graph out of a bunch of them that is the closest match your results. These are my two closest ones.
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Director
Outstanding Traits
Other people see you as aggressive, analytical, impatient, and independent. You are inwardly-driven and try hard to overcome obstacles and reach your goals, which can often become obsessions. You like difficult problems that you can overcome with brainpower, logic, and tactics. You are very factual, cool, and competitive, and you like to run the show your own way. You are eager to accept responsibility and make decisions on your own.
Potential for Growth
Your impact on others can be stronger than you realize. You can be cold, blunt, and critical. When people don’t measure up to your standards you tell it like it is, and that often hurts others. In your impatience to get things done, you don’t hesitate to do it all yourself; you can therefore be a poor delegator and communicator. You are likely to become impatient and irritable when things don’t go your way. Routine tasks can become boring very quickly.
Basic Desires
Underneath, you are dominant, reflective, active, and very determined. In your daily activities you see the need to initiate action, exercise authority, and produce tangible results. You are an individualist, and you want both power and freedom. You work well in fast-moving environments. The more difficult the problem, the more you are interested. You usually move with determination.
Work Setting
You work best for a direct, straightforward manager with whom you can ‘level’ and negotiate commitments on an equal basis. You need to be given difficult assignments that will challenge your logic and analytical ability. You often need to be made aware of your biting impact on co-workers and subordinates.
Prevailer
Outstanding Traits
Others see you as positive, logical, and systematic. You push for results but with sensitivity and tact, and you seem to have an instinctive knack for picking your battles. You are dogged in pursuing the solutions to problems, and you are adept at creating processes and procedures to achieve your goals. Although you drive for what you think is important, your assertiveness comes across as low key and respectful of others. You lead by example as well as by direction, and you dominate with patience and persistence. You are results-oriented, but you are willing to take the time to do it right, often without a sense of urgency.
Potential for Growth
You can be slow to communicate, often unwilling to share information or authority. When you do communicate you may be perceived as either blunt and intimidating or apathetic and pessimistic. Once you make up your mind, it is extremely difficult for you to change it. If you are immersed in a project, you may ignore or neglect other obligations or the needs of others.
Basic Desires
You are resolute, methodical, and driven by a need to weigh the pros and cons of a situation. You are motivated by achieving goals that allow you to work independently or with trusted associates. You take a measured approach to change—not avoiding it but not being too quick to embrace it. You prefer to find answers to situations for yourself, and you do not want people looking over your shoulder or second-guessing your decisions.
Work Setting
You prefer working for a manager who respects your need for independence and self-pacing. On the other hand, when the situation turns stressful, you want your manager to give you the support that you need, primarily by creating a supportive infrastructure in which to operate. You like to receive praise and recognition for a job well done in a low-key, no-nonsense way, without involving other people. Primarily, you want appreciation for your hard work and commitment. To you, the best reward comes in the form of continuing responsibilities and opportunities to identify and solve problems.
We all have a lot of goals in life. Things we dream up; businesses we want to start; jobs we want to have. Most of those never come to fruition because we don’t follow through and take the initiative to follow up.
I’ve experienced that and I have several ideas for businesses I would like to start after I graduate, but I know most of them probably won’t happen. One of those ideas is to start a booking agency that works with churches to bring Christian artists in for concerts. I came up with this idea while I was thinking about things I could do if I move back home after college. This is actually something I could do because of my understanding of church politics and the things I’ve learned at Belmont. The reason I say it probably won’t happen is as simple as not knowing how to start. I find that not knowing where to start is what limits my initiative most of the time. I know what I want, I just don’t know how to start.
Of the 10 chapters I’ve read at this point, I have to admit that initiative is probably one area of my leadership abilities that needs the most work. I can be a self-starter, and I am many times, but often I wait for something to come to me before I jump on board with it. Because I’m afraid of failing in front of others I don’t take more risks or make more mistakes than others; two qualities Maxwell says identify an initiator. I will take a risk if I’m fairly certain of the outcome, but not if I know the chance of failure is greater than the chance of success.
This has been one of the harder responses to write because I can think of several things where I wish I had taken the initiative to do something and didn’t. I would like to say I’ll try more to take more initiative and follow through with some of the larger plans of my life. Right now I don’t know if that will be true or not. It needs to be though.
“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you”, John Bunyan. I had this quote as part of my email signature for several months, but I don’t think I ever put it into the larger picture of generosity. I knew it was about doing something for others, but in the context of Maxwell’s chapter it has a deeper meaning.
My friends and I joke at times that I don’t like to help people. Or that when I do help someone I make a point about making sure they realize it’s inconvenient for me. I guess at times I do that, although usually I’m joking with the person about it being inconvenient. Serving others is something that I really enjoy doing. Every summer I go on at least one mission trip, usually two. I have taken several foreign mission trips as well as numerous domestic trips. I pay to go work for others and give up my time, and I love every minute (except the early wake up calls) of it. Some of my best stories and most enjoyable times are spent serving on these trips. Being generous with my time during a planned mission trip is easy. The hard part is being generous with my time and abilities here. That’s when the catch comes in. It’s easy to leave and serve people you don’t know. It’s hard to stay and serve those you do know.
Thinking over this, I have realized that time is my most valuable resource to give. I don’t have a lot of money to do anything with. What I do have a lot of is time. I’m willing to set aside my busy schedule and help someone when they need it. I have tried to make my friends aware that if they need to call me for any reason they can at any time. They know I may not be able to answer my phone right away, but I will get back to them as soon as I can. For a couple of my closest friends I’m a safe confidante they can talk to.
I’ve brought up the showcase series (probably in the other eight posts at least once each) before. For the last two and a half years I have been heavily involved in the showcases. Except for the first one my freshman year when I didn’t know how to get involved I have spent countless hours during showcase weekend helping make sure things happen. When I don’t have a titled position I’m there doing the miscellaneous things that need to get done that others don’t realize need to be done or don’t know how to get done. Because of the fact that I work for the event center and for the showcases, as well as my background in other areas, I have taken a unique position in the showcases. I complain bitterly at times about them, yet everyone knows that I’ll be there helping make sure the show happens. I’ve never been recognized for the amount of work I do, but it is recognized by those around me. During the country showcase I was asked if I was being paid to be there and do so many different things because I had switched from lighting, to building the set pieces, to hanging the projector screen, to basically anything someone else wasn’t doing yet. My answer was “no, not until tomorrow afternoon when I go on the clock for the event center.” It astonished the people I was talking to that I would be willing to put so much work into a show that my name wasn’t even on. When I applied to be a producer of a showcase, one of my strengths I listed was servant leadership. I want those around me to see that I will work hard before I ask them to do something.
I have to thank my parents and some mentors I had in high school for helping me develop an attitude of generosity. I still have a lot of work to do, but I’ve come a long way. The list of accomplishment I just rattled off used to be mentioned so that I could brag about what I’ve done. Now I just list them as things I’ve done for other people, not as things that I’ve done to make myself look better. When I got on a mission trip it’s no longer about what I’m capable of individually. It’s about what I can add to my team as a whole. What strengths and abilities do I have to give to the big picture. Then as a team, we aren’t concerned about what we can do as a group, but what God is doing through us for those we are in contact with.
By paying to go work for others or working hard without being payed says a lot to those around you. Making money is important, sure; it enables me to be able to do more. Most of the time when I spend large amounts of money at one time or whenever I take a trip that isn’t just to go home, it’s usually to go on a mission trip. My family and I haven’t taken a family vacation in years because my dad and I are gone one or two weeks each summer on mission trips. Our family “vacation” now involves a trip to El Salvador to work with my church back home at an orphanage in San Salvador. I’ve asked that my graduation trip be taken with my church in Nashville to go to South Africa. If we are going to spend a couple thousand dollars a person for a trip, I do want to go somewhere memorable, but I want those memories to be more than me and my parents arguing about where we want to go or what we want to see. I’ve done the international traveling thing for vacation and for mission work and I have to say the best international trips are the ones where I’m serving and being generous with my time and abilities.
