To advance in life, personally and professionally, I believe that you need to know and own your strengths and weaknesses. Then take the necessary steps to strengthen your strengths.
A few months ago I took the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessement again. According to the results,
After I took time to read the description*, I could not but agree. It's interesting how you do some things "naturally" only to find out that they have high-sounding names.
Over the following months, I became more aware of that strength and it amazed me how much I only noticed it after I had displayed it.
Then one Saturday morning, I had a Eureka moment. I was thinking about all the specific birthday, Christmas and even wedding anniversary cards I have bought...waiting for those dates to come.
Let me tell you something about this special "clutter":
My family knows that as much as I don't like shopping**, I don't like to be rushed or interrupted when I go card-shopping. The reason is simple, I pick out cards that say how I feel about the individual the card is meant for - family or friends. This was something I learned from my Mum mainly by observation and dare I say involuntary participation. So you can imagine what a Eureka! moment it was when I realized that my Mum (of blessed memory) showed me the way of individualization. I imbibed it such that it now pervades my personal and professional relationships and is one of my very visible and vibrant strengths.
I have found that recognizing and treating each person as unique has helped me help them be the best that they can be - which is my purpose in life. Without meaning to, I have noticed in hindsight that that is how I show up. Which reiterates why I can confidently call myself the "Diamond Cutter". The bottom line here is whatever you do - personally and professionally - you are inadvertently mentoring someone. Take a moment to think about how you are showing up wherever you show up...and there's no need to show off. Your strengths will shine and show you off in a good way.
References:
Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalizations or "types" because you don't want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person's style, each person's motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person's life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person's need to be shown and another's desire to "figure it out as I go." Because you are such a keen observer of other people's strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team "structure" or "process," you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.
https://www.strengthsquest.com/193541/themes-full-description.aspx
**You can check out posts on my Walking on Water blog for more on that
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