Friday, December 21, 2007

Does this describe me?

Almost 6 years later, I completed StrengthsQuest again. It's an online 'test' which highlights your top strengths out of 34 areas.

It's interesting to see how my strengths have shifted since I was a freshman in college. I'm still a "feeler" and much more of a "thinker." I live more in the gray area than I do in the black and white. My experiences back up what I believe and I've figured out more of who I am instead of who I want to be.
  • Adaptability
    • Prefers to "go with the flow."
    • They tend to be "now" people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.
    • Flexible, can stay productive when the demands of work are pulling you in many different directions at once.
    • Don't resent sudden requests or unforeseen detours.
    • The genius of adaptability talents lie in the way you respond to chaos. (haha!)
  • Empathy
    • Senses the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others' lives or others' situations.
    • Doesn't condone anyone's choices, but does understands why they made them.
    • Hears the unvoiced questions.
    • Anticipates need.
    • Other people feel heard by you and experience your compassion
  • Includer:
    • Accepting of others.
    • Shows awareness of those who feel left out, and makes an effort to include them.
    • No one should be ignored.
    • Notices people who might feel like outsiders or who feel unappreciated.
  • Input:
    • A craving to know more.
    • Likes to collect and archive all kinds of information.
    • Inquisitive/ active curiosity.
  • Strategic:
    • Creates alternative ways to proceed.
    • Faced with any given scenario, you can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
    • Thinks through every possible "what if?" (aka: over-analyzing!)
  • Relator:
    • Enjoys close relationships with others.
    • Finds deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.
    • Derives a great deal of pleasure and strength by being around close friends.
    • Wants to understand their friends' feelings, fears, dreams, goals
    • Vulnerable
During my staff retreat, I was asked to describe a time when I was at my "best" - exercising my strengths at work:
I was the HAC On-Site Director at Tilikum. I created the middle school curriculum for the week, strategically designed the schedule, and incorporated creative input from my amazing staff. I got to be empathetic with the campers who were afraid of heights, relate with my staff who became family, try to include the left-out camper, and adapt to the weekly chaos of camp!

I remember feeling refreshed, energetic, creative, peaceful, and FULL.

4 comments:

meredith said...

Hmmmm...those things ring true.

In the spirit of Christmas, take a moment to check out this website: http://members.shaw.ca/cybernana/html/funpage/hippoxmas/hippoxmas.html

Hope all is well,
Meredith

meredith said...

http://members.shaw.ca/cybernana/html
/funpage/hippoxmas/hippoxmas.html

Alrighty...here is the whole link. I think you'll need to cut and paste it in but, oh my goodness, you're gonna love it!

:) MD

Alisa said...

I think it describes you pretty well. I miss you. Hope your holidays were great (even without Mariah Carey).

Hannah Jo said...

I would love to talk with you, El. It was so good to see you, although brief. Reading your blog has been helpful for me. Although such different cultures, the hurts of the women, and in us as a result, are the same. It's nice just to know I don't have to explain it to you. Thanks for your comment, lovely.