Do you ever find yourself saying, “I sure wish I was more like her?” Or maybe, “He does that so much better than me, I wish I were good at that?” I’m sure we all have said this or had these thoughts somewhere along our journey, but did you ever stop and consider that someone is saying the same thing about you as they watch you?
It is said that there are about four or five talent buckets that make up everyone on this planet. We all have some level of skill/ passion in each area but normally one or two really stand out as we live and move everyday.
Charles Clark boiled everyone down into four categories. Bull, Owl, Tiger and Lamb. The Bull is direct and just wants the facts so they can make a decision. The Owl wants all the details they can get before they make a decision. The Lamb wants everyone to get along, be safe and help in whatever way possible. The Tiger wants to have fun, talk to everyone, more spontaneous and inspirational. Most people have two that dominate how they live. I am a Bull/ Tiger. Just the facts, make a decision, lets go and I love to motivate and connect people and make sure everyone is making progress. My wife is a Lamb/ Owl. She wants more details and wants everyone to be taken care of and not be a bother. No drama or conflict please! This makes for a great balance and great team in our marriage. ( And yes, lots of frustrating days as we process everything from the opposite point of view! But I really love her). (By the way, after 39 years together, I’m still trying to get better at understanding her point of view and how she is processing!).
The good book suggest there are five buckets of skills/ passions. (Ephesians 4:11) The Apostle or administrator. Get things done operational type of person. The Pastor, caring for people and keeping us on task with the vision. The Prophet or someone that is hyper sensitive and aware and that speaks into culture like a writer or song writer. The Teacher who wants everyone to understand and to make sure things are clear. The Evangelist which is the person that wants to let everyone know what’s going and to have some fun. We should be using our gifts to impact this world as much as we possibly can!
What’s interesting as you begin to dig in and understand how you are made is the understanding that it is OK to be just like you are. The reason I rub people the wrong way a lot of times is because I want us to make a decision and go! Let’s do this. Let’s make a task list. Let’s check off some boxes. That can come across as cold and uncaring. It can come across as “flying by the seat of my pants” and not really planning every detail. That’s ok because the person on my team has a Pastors heart and wants to hear the story and has empathy and a heart to really care or maybe an Owl that thinks about all the details of what we are doing. Individually, neither one of us get far but as a team we can rock. In other words, the greatest teams are diverse and that diversity brings much better conversation, perspective, details, communication and results!
So begin to discover how you are made and understand that it is OK that you are not like the next person. Your gifts and passions allow you to use your unique filter to get things done and knock it out of the park through who you are. That’s awesome! Take some time this week to reflect on your gifts and passions but also things that frustrate you and that you are not good at. Find people around you to help support you in your weak areas and empower them to help you manage your blind spots. Then, you begin to understand, grow and move forward in your gifting’s and passions!
For more insight on your next steps, order a copy of my book. “Choices”. https://www.choiceconsultingman.com/choices/
Charles Clark. http://www.personalityselling.com/bolt_system.php