Signature Themes
I read Now, Discover Your Strengths yesterday and took the strengthsfinder assessment online today. It was pretty interesting. I love the underlying premise of the book. Instead of trying to help people by focusing on what's wrong with them. They take a positive approach. The book is all about maximizing your strengths while managing your weaknesses.
The strengthsfinder revealed five "signature themes." My top five were:
Strategic
Learner
Futuristic
Ideation
Self-Assurance
I thought I'd do a little online introspection. By the way, I highly recommend the book and assessment. You can't know too much about yourself. I think one of the big mistakes people make is trying to figure out what to do instead of trying to figure out who they are. What you do ought to come out of who you are.
I think I'm what I'd call a 30,000 foot person. I'm really good at perspective. Not sure how else to say it. I can reframe things and explain things from a God's eye view. I think I'm part Eagle. Eagles can use thermal drafts to fly thousands of feet up into the atmosphere and they dive at 100 mph. Eagle have about six times the visual acuity of humans (something like 2000/2000 vision). And they have two centers of focus. They can actually look forward and sideways at the same time! They can spot another eagle fifty miles away! An eagle can see a rabbit from a mile away. An eagle flying at an altitude of 1000 feet can spot prey over almost three square miles! Anywho. I tend to look at things from 30,000 feet but I'm also detail-oriented. It's a weird combination. I love big idea stuff, but I care about little stuff. Call it eagle vision.
There were times when the strengthsfinder report "nailed" me! It said, "This is your strategic theme at work: what if?" I laughed when I read that. Bingo. I'd get bored if we weren't trying new stuff all the time. I also produce about a twenty-five page strategic plan going into every year. Strategic is definitely a signature theme!
Learner is a no brainer. Pun intended. I'm interested in everything. I'm energized by new ideas. I love to read. See this week's evotional.
Futuristic is another bulls-eye. Emily Dickinson said, "I dwell in possibility." That's me. I love imagining possibilities! The strengthsfinder said "loves to peer over the horizon." I often say that NCC is part of the R & D (Research and Development) department of the Kingdom of God. That's part of my DNA. I've been saying lately that "there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet." That energizes me. I feel called to try new things. One of our core values is: everything is an experiment.
Strengthsfinder said, "People want a picture that can raise their sights and thereby their spirits. You can paint it for them." I'm all about painting pictures of what could be!
Ideation is another dead ringer. I'm always talking about "God ideas." I'd rather have one God idea than a thousand good ideas! I think the kaleidoscope is a metaphor for the way I think and talk. I love seeing and saying things from a slightly different angle. I love saying old things in new ways. I love cross-polinization--taking ideas from one arena and redeeming them for theological purposes. The strengthsfinder said "you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you." Bingo. I think my conviction that the greatest message deserves the greatest marketing comes out of this signature theme. I want to present the gospel in new ways and appealing ways. I just don't think your can "over sell" the good news! I think my entrepreneurial tendencies come from this ideation theme as well. For me, an idea a day keeps the doctor away!
Even the last signature theme, self-assurance, nailed me. I have a profound sense of destiny that can't even be put into words. I know that I know that God is around the corner of my life setting me up. I say it all the time: God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. I don't just say it. I believe it. I like the way strengthsfinder says it. "Self-assurance is more than just self-confidence." I have supreme confidence in the sovereignty of God. It also means I can't be swayed when I really think something is from God (that's a nice way of saying I'm stubborn when it comes to convictions). I'm an incredibly laid back person. But if you mess with my kids or my wife or my God-given vision I'm like an uncaged Liger (only my favorite animal). I also have a hard time hearing "no." My common response is: we put a man on the moon. Don't tell me we can't do this!
Enough introspection for one day!
The strengthsfinder revealed five "signature themes." My top five were:
Strategic
Learner
Futuristic
Ideation
Self-Assurance
I thought I'd do a little online introspection. By the way, I highly recommend the book and assessment. You can't know too much about yourself. I think one of the big mistakes people make is trying to figure out what to do instead of trying to figure out who they are. What you do ought to come out of who you are.
I think I'm what I'd call a 30,000 foot person. I'm really good at perspective. Not sure how else to say it. I can reframe things and explain things from a God's eye view. I think I'm part Eagle. Eagles can use thermal drafts to fly thousands of feet up into the atmosphere and they dive at 100 mph. Eagle have about six times the visual acuity of humans (something like 2000/2000 vision). And they have two centers of focus. They can actually look forward and sideways at the same time! They can spot another eagle fifty miles away! An eagle can see a rabbit from a mile away. An eagle flying at an altitude of 1000 feet can spot prey over almost three square miles! Anywho. I tend to look at things from 30,000 feet but I'm also detail-oriented. It's a weird combination. I love big idea stuff, but I care about little stuff. Call it eagle vision.
There were times when the strengthsfinder report "nailed" me! It said, "This is your strategic theme at work: what if?" I laughed when I read that. Bingo. I'd get bored if we weren't trying new stuff all the time. I also produce about a twenty-five page strategic plan going into every year. Strategic is definitely a signature theme!
Learner is a no brainer. Pun intended. I'm interested in everything. I'm energized by new ideas. I love to read. See this week's evotional.
Futuristic is another bulls-eye. Emily Dickinson said, "I dwell in possibility." That's me. I love imagining possibilities! The strengthsfinder said "loves to peer over the horizon." I often say that NCC is part of the R & D (Research and Development) department of the Kingdom of God. That's part of my DNA. I've been saying lately that "there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet." That energizes me. I feel called to try new things. One of our core values is: everything is an experiment.
Strengthsfinder said, "People want a picture that can raise their sights and thereby their spirits. You can paint it for them." I'm all about painting pictures of what could be!
Ideation is another dead ringer. I'm always talking about "God ideas." I'd rather have one God idea than a thousand good ideas! I think the kaleidoscope is a metaphor for the way I think and talk. I love seeing and saying things from a slightly different angle. I love saying old things in new ways. I love cross-polinization--taking ideas from one arena and redeeming them for theological purposes. The strengthsfinder said "you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you." Bingo. I think my conviction that the greatest message deserves the greatest marketing comes out of this signature theme. I want to present the gospel in new ways and appealing ways. I just don't think your can "over sell" the good news! I think my entrepreneurial tendencies come from this ideation theme as well. For me, an idea a day keeps the doctor away!
Even the last signature theme, self-assurance, nailed me. I have a profound sense of destiny that can't even be put into words. I know that I know that God is around the corner of my life setting me up. I say it all the time: God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. I don't just say it. I believe it. I like the way strengthsfinder says it. "Self-assurance is more than just self-confidence." I have supreme confidence in the sovereignty of God. It also means I can't be swayed when I really think something is from God (that's a nice way of saying I'm stubborn when it comes to convictions). I'm an incredibly laid back person. But if you mess with my kids or my wife or my God-given vision I'm like an uncaged Liger (only my favorite animal). I also have a hard time hearing "no." My common response is: we put a man on the moon. Don't tell me we can't do this!
Enough introspection for one day!
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